{"id":2373,"date":"2021-03-16T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=2373"},"modified":"2021-03-15T15:35:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T15:35:42","slug":"travel-industry-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/travel-industry-workers","title":{"rendered":"Travel Industry Workers Are Struggling. Here\u2019s What Unions Are Doing To Help."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ken Green
CEO & Founder
UnionTrack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The travel industry has taken a significant hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Airline, cruise and hotel workers have faced significant economic security threats as travel continues to be severely restricted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The travel industry has seen some of the biggest employment losses. According to data from the U.S. Travel Association<\/a>, the industry\u2019s unemployment rate peaked at nearly 15 percent in April 2020. It has also suffered about 36 percent of all COVID-related job losses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many travel industry workers have been able to do little more than sit and wait for travel restrictions to be lifted. During that time, many have struggled to make ends meet.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one expected this,\u201d says Santra Denis<\/a>, interim executive director for worker advocacy group Miami Workers Center. \u201cFor people who work day-to-day without any benefits or fallback, it\u2019s traumatizing. They\u2019re looking at each other at home like, how are we going to survive?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where unions have stepped in to help. Travel worker unions have been actively lobbying for the protections these people need during this difficult time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airline Workers Struggle With Job Security and Safety<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe COVID-19 crisis hit airline workers with speed and devastation\u201d writes Sara Nelson<\/a>, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From pilots to TSA agents to baggage handlers, the industry\u2019s workers have spent the last year worrying about not only their job security \u2014 due to ongoing layoffs and furloughs \u2014 but also their safety at work. And they have relied on their unions to secure as many protections as possible during this difficult time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unions have responded by lobbying for financial assistance from the government and negotiating workplace protections for their members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union leaders were instrumental in securing $25 billion in the first Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020 and nearly $15 billion in the second CARES Act in December 2020. That money was used in part to curb the layoffs and furloughs in the industry. At the time of the second act, CNBC airline reporter Leslie Joseph<\/a> wrote that more than 100,000 air travel workers had lost their jobs, with nearly 50,000 more on the line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unions have also been negotiating contracts that better protect workers on the job. A survey and report by Airport Workers United<\/a>, an initiative of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), shows that 80 percent of essential airport workers feel they are at an increased risk of exposure to the virus at work. The majority of survey respondents also say employers haven\u2019t offered enough COVID-related training or personal protective equipment (PPE). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to such concerns, early on in the crisis the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE, AFL-CIO) expressed frustration with the Travel Safety Administration (TSA) for not protecting workers. \u201cDespite our union\u2019s numerous requests for adequate masks and protective equipment, TSA has failed to properly equip our officers with the resources they need to prevent infection,\u201d said AFGE National President Everett Kelley<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union demanded better. For example, it argued for the right for vulnerable TSA workers to stay home amid the pandemic by using weather and safety leave. It was a policy that was extended in the beginning but canceled in June 2020, even as cases continued to rise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour decision to implement WSL for high-risk employees correctly recognized that the Agency could continue to carry out its mission without having to sacrifice its most vulnerable employees, and this calculus has not changed,\u201d said Hydrick Thomas<\/a>, president of the AFGE Council 100, wrote to the TSA, arguing for reinstatement of the policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As vaccines become more readily available, unions are lobbying for airline workers to be a priority group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Air<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cruise Workers Have Been Stranded at Sea and at Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Workers in the cruise industry have been stranded in more ways than one as a result of the global health crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the novel coronavirus first broke out, hundreds of cruise ship workers were stranded on ships with nowhere to dock \u2014 and repatriation challenges holding them back from land as the virus spread on board. Many of those were stranded without pay, reports CNN\u2019s Francesca Street<\/a>. That is still the case for thousands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, in May 2020, three months after the first report of a case about a ship, there were more than 57,000 crew members aboard 74 ships in and around U.S. ports. That number was down to 10,000 crew in September 2020. Unions such as the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have been doing what they can to help these workers repatriate safely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Action Network<\/a> started a petition to demand better treatment of workers stuck at sea. The petition, supported by allies, issues demands such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n