Outsourcing at US airport / 26 percent in 2011 says a report

The outsourcing of airport jobs that once sustained middle-class careers has left many airport workers in jobs characterized by insecurity and low wages, according to a new UC Berkeley study released Monday, Nov. 4. According to the study, this trend poses problems for workers, the communities surrounding airports and the flying public.

The report, “Course Correction,” comes as voters in SeaTac, Wash., a city adjacent to the  Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, consider a local ordinance that would set a $15-per-hour minimum wage for many airport and airport-related workers, and do so just as the holiday season and air travel begin to pick up. Agencies also are considering similar measures at other airports.

Airport baggage handlers are among the many workers at American airports who have seen declining wages and jobs impacted by outsourcing. A new report from the UC Berkeley Labor Center says the problems are of concern to workers as well as the general public. Photo by iStock.

According to the report, airport and airport-related workers saw real hourly wages fall by an average of 15 percent from 2002 to 2012. The report also notes that, while the total number of workers in air transport-related industries has declined since 2001, the share of outsourced workers grew from 19 percent to 26 percent by 2011.

The authors – Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education; Labor Center research data analyst Miranda Dietz; and Peter V. Hall, associate professor of urban studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver – say airport workers’ declining pay and job insecurity impact not just their health and economic welfare, but also airport efficiency, safety and security.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via UC Berkeley report raises alarm about falling wages, outsourcing at U.S. airports.