Policy Brief - Labor standards and airport safety and security - POLICY BRIEF

Policy Brief UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education July 2023 Labor standards and airport safety and security By Ken Jacobs As Congress considers new standards for the five-year re-authorization of the Federal Aviation Act, a focal point among Congressional leadership from both parties are issues of safety and security.1 The Biden Administration and Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schum. [...] airports, including 12 of the 20 busiest airports.4 Safety and security concerns were frequently cited in the rationales for passing these policies.5 For example, in the proposal to create an Airport Minimum Wage Policy by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Port Authority found: Virtually every major airport in the United States has grappled with the same set of problems—post-9/11. [...] Over and over, throughout the United States, this cluster of problems has been solved in the same way—by raising the minimum wage paid to airport workers, to reduce turnover and to help ensure that workers are appropriately experienced, skilled, trained, and motivated.6 In this brief I review the evidence of how airport minimum labor standards promote safety and security. [...] Between 1990 and 2012, average weekly wages for airport operations fell in real terms by 14%, while rising across all industries by 18%.8 Between 2015 and 2019, half of airport cleaners and more than a third of baggage handlers earned less than the minimum wage for federal contractors of $16.20 an hour.9 High turnover affects airport safety and security In 2017, the UC Berkeley Labor Center and th. [...] A less experienced workforce is correlated with greater numbers of accidents and security violations, and may undermine airport security procedures in the event of an emergency.11 In 2014 the Port of Seattle conducted a six-month study of safety and security at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.