‘The lavatory waste comes on us’: unsafe, unsanitary work conditions, airport workers claim

These days Omar Rodriguez, a ramp worker and cabin cleaner at LaGuardia airport in New York, dreads cleaning planes - especially the toilets.

The 19-year-old works for Swissport USA, which services Spirit Airlines and Air Canada at LaGuardia, and claims that faulty equipment used for cleaning airplane lavatories often results in workers getting sprayed with human waste. When it happens, he said, workers are expected to continue cleaning the airplane cabins without being provided time or products to properly clean themselves.

"There are holes, and all the lavatory waste comes on us and they don't give us products to clean up. It's broken, they've never fixed it, are still using it, and people are getting dirty because of that," said Rodriguez. "We have to go upstairs and clean the plane after we just did the lavatory, and we can have some waste on our shirt, and they send us right up to go upstairs to clean."

In light of these conditions and other issues, Rodriguez and other workers at the airport are pushing to organize a union among their colleagues and claim their efforts have triggered retaliation from their employer.

Ramp and cargo workers for Swissport USA, an airline contractor, argue they are working while severely understaffed, do not receive proper or promised compensation for taking on extra duties because of short staffing, including overtime and paid sick day violations, and have to work with broken or faulty equipment.

Since organizing a protest in early December 2022, workers heavily involved in the union organizing effort say they have faced unfair suspensions and have been intimidated by their supervisors, prompting them to file an unfair labor practice charge against the contractor. Other unfair labor practice charges have recently been filed against the same contractor at Newark international airport.

The protest was part of a nationwide campaign in which airport workers demanded better pay, benefits and working conditions, and called on Congress to pass the good jobs for good airports act, highlighting the work and sacrifices essential airport workers made throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rodriguez claims that after participating in a protest with his co-workers on 8 December 2022 over low pay and poor working conditions and speaking out to the media, he's been suspended several times in retaliation.

According to filed unfair labor practice charges, nearly a dozen workers have faced suspensions after participating in protests and speaking out about working conditions. Complaints have also been filed with New York City's department of consumer and worker protection alleging Swissport USA failed to provide paid time off that workers had earned, in violation of local paid safe and sick leave laws.

"I was denied my sick pay, even though I had a crippling migraine and a doctor's note," said Chad Infiesta, an airport service worker with Swissport USA organizing with SEIU, in a statement. He was terminated in December 2022 after participating in the protest. "I've been through so much. I had to work through injuries and pain because I was the only person in the bag room, lifting hundreds of bags a day." He also experienced being sprayed with human waste due to a faulty hose while emptying airplane bathrooms.

A third ramp worker at Swissport USA, who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation, also criticized the lack of protective equipment and resources - such as gloves or opportunities to change uniforms or dry off when employees are sprayed with wastewater when emptying the airplane bathrooms - provided to workers to perform their duties, and the company's retaliation against employees for speaking out about the poor conditions.

"You don't have a chance to wipe yourself down. You have to go right back up to clean the plane," the worker said. "I have issues where the water has fallen on me, because the tubes that connect to the aircraft don't connect very good, and then when I'm standing on the ladder, there's water that just goes on me, and it could be a day when it's cold, and I have to deal with it. I just keep those clothes on because they don't have anything else to provide me with."

William Alston, another ramp agent and cabin cleaner for Swissport USA at LaGuardia, also claimed he has received retaliatory suspensions since the December 2022 protest and echoed similar complaints about working conditions, broken equipment, understaffing and low pay.

He makes $18 an hour and claims he has yet to receive a pay raise to the $21 an hour he said was promised to him and other workers for adding cabin cleaner job duties to their work handling plane cargo.

"We only have six minutes or less to clean the cabins and it's not a thorough clean. It's just time to clean behind the seat pockets, and another person would just take out the trash that's in the front and rear of the plane and take the garbage out that's in the restrooms and that's about it," said Alston.

Alston also said that workers are retaliated against for not coming in on days off when requested or for not working overtime with suspensions, write-ups or retaliatory changes to their schedules. He was suspended twice this year in what he alleges to be retaliation - the first time for calling out sick and attempting to use his accrued sick time, which he was never paid for, and the second time for not completing a training he claims other workers have also not completed but had not received any reprimand for missing it and are still working.

"We're working too many hours for the bare minimum," said Alston. "The retaliation has been affecting me a lot. I really want to get back to work, and I have credit cards and bills to pay."

A spokesperson for Swissport USA did not comment on specific allegations, but denied all allegations of retaliation, unfair labor practice charges, and health and safety claims.

"Swissport denies any unfair labor practices, fully complies with applicable labor regulations, and provides competitive wages and benefits. In all the cities we operate in the United States, Swissport fully complies with operating permit requirements," the spokesperson said in an email. "The health and safety of all our employees is the highest priority for Swissport, as evidenced by our Best-in-Class record."