By John Gregory/Illinois Radio network
CHICAGO – A strike by security workers at O’Hare International Airport won’t stretch into the one of the busiest travel weeks of the year-at least for now.
More than 150 security officers at the airport are trying to form a union, and say their employer, Universal Security, has responded to workers trying to organize by firing two employees.
Genie Kastrup, vice president of Service Employees International Union Local 1, said workers want better pay and benefits, and extra emergency response training. The strike hasn’t appeared to sway Universal Security to meeting their demands.
“What they’ve offered is threats that we are leaving the airport unsafe, which we disagree with,” Kastrup said.
These workers aren’t the people who screen airport passengers. Security officers are responsible for tasks like guarding doors and gates in the airport, controlling vehicle traffic to the airfield, and roaming terminals looking for suspicious activity.
Kastrup says only 14 workers took part in the strike, and gave the airport more than three days’ notice as part of what’s called an unfair labor practice strike.
“It is a one-day strike,” Kastrup said, adding the workers expect to be back at work Friday.
Workers participated in similar strikes at 11 of the busiest airports in the U.S.
For now, no additional strike actions are planned as the holiday travel season begins, though the union isn’t ruling anything out.
