City Council Pushes For Better Labor Deals With PHL Workers
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A city councilman wants labor deals in place for employees of contractors at Philadelphia International Airport before the city signs a new lease with the airlines.
The Nutter Administration is currently negotiating a new "Use and Lease Agreement" with the airlines that fly in and out of Philly International.
Councilman Wilson Goode says before agreeing to a lease, the city should insist that the airlines' subcontractors have finished new labor deals with their unionized workers.
Goode has now introduced a bill mandating exactly that, and he says without fair deals, there could be labor unrest:
"I believe that there's the potential, if we still are far away from a lease, that there could be disruption. If the airport were to be shut down by workers because they're being treated unfairly, we stand to lose a lot of money."
This is Goode's latest proposal on behalf of employees of airport contractors. His earlier efforts resulted, this past May, in Mayor Nutter extending the city's living wage requirement to subcontractors. Nutter also raised the wage rate from $10.88 an hour to $12 an hour effective next January.
The city's current lease with the airlines expires in 2015, and negotiations toward a new one are ongoing. The lease would cover all 16 airlines that operate at PHL.
