WASHINGTON, D.C./SEATTLE
Employees at nine U.S. airports were planning to carry out civil disobedience protests on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 18), according to the Washington Post and other published reports.
Reports indicated that workers from nine U.S. airports were planning to block bridges, march through terminals and protest at airline headquarters; the protesters are said to be comprised of cleaners, baggage handlers, fuelers and wheelchair attendants. Their plans include risking arrest at airports and other locations (including the National Mall in Washington, D.C.), to bring attention to their campaign for better wages, the Service Employees International Union (SEID) announced.
The protest is reportedly the latest in the workers’ ongoing effort towards a $15-per-hour minimum wage, improved benefits and job protections. They are additionally protesting threats against their efforts to unionize.
In D.C., up to 200 workers from Reagan National Airport and their backers were intending to block traffic from Independence Avenue SW, near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial at the Mall, in what could potentially cause major gridlock to the major downtown thoroughfare, according to the Washington Post. The protesters were then planning to march from the memorial along Independence Avenue, finishing with the takeover of Kutz Bridge over the Tidal Basin.
Similar actions were also organized in Boston, New York, Newark, N.J., Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, Portland, Ore., and Seattle, according to reports.
Additional Resources:
Washington Post article
Crosscut Website (NW News Source)
