Southwest Airline's baggage workers on Tuesday took up informational pickets at San Diego's main airport.
Union workers hoped the pickets at Lindbergh Field and a dozen other airports around the nation get the attention of passengers. Southwest carries more passengers in and out of San Diego than any other airline.
The airline's baggage handlers said Southwest is making money at the expense of workers and customers.
"When we don't get sufficient staffing to take care of the customer, when the flight schedules are crunched so much and we don't have enough guys on the ground to get the planes in and out, the customers suffer," said Johnny Kaczmerek of Transportation Workers Union Local 555.
Kaczmerek said the dispute over wages and benefits has been going since 2011.
"For the last two years, we've been under the guise of federal mediation and even the mediators cancelled any sessions with us over a year ago because they said the two sides were too far apart," Kaczmerek said.
Southwest officials said they respect the worker's right to picket, but they said the union is making unrealistic wage demands. Company spokeswoman Brandy King offered a statement when KPBS reached out for comment.
"TWU 555 Employees (Ramp, Operations, Provisioning, and Cargo Agents) at Southwest have the highest pay rates in the industry. Agents with less than 12 years seniority continue to receive guaranteed annual raises. Our top-of-scale Ramp, Operations, Provisioning, and Cargo Agents have not only kept pace with the cost of living, but they earn eight to 45 percent more than their counterparts at other airlines. From 2000 until now, during which time our competitors slashed pay and benefits, our base rates for our employees have increased more than 37 percent."
We've made multiple offers to TWU 555 that have gone unaccepted or ignored. Our proposals would put more money in Employees' pockets, improving individual compensation by thousands of dollars per year. In exchange for increased compensation, the Company is seeking more operational flexibility in a manner that safeguards Employees from negative impacts in a competitive industry - helping preserve and add more jobs in the future."
