WHEREAS, The Philadelphia International Airport has, in recent months,
become a flash point for labor disputes as subcontracted workers have gone on strike numerous times to protest poor working conditions, often citing basic health and safety concerns; and
WHEREAS, Airport subcontractors have previously defied the City’s $12 per hour wage law until being forced to comply. These violations undermine City efforts to improve working conditions and evidence a resistance to City authority that must be addressed; and
WHEREAS, Many airport subcontractors perform the same jobs as their unionized counterparts but lack the basic mechanisms for ensuring proper working conditions that unions provide; and
WHEREAS, No hard working individuals should be deprived of proper workplace safety protections or the ability to earn a living wage. These are basic rights that must be upheld; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia International Airport, as one of our City’s most important transportation hubs, must serve as a model for proper workplace conditions; and
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia will begin to receive a great deal of publicity due to the upcoming Democratic National Convention in July. Workplace disruptions, particularly those related to improper workplace safety, would become a source of civic shame at a time when we should be celebrating our City’s many accomplishments; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby authorizes the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to hold hearings regarding working conditions for workers employed by subcontractors at the Philadelphia International Airport such as Prime Flight and Prospect, examining the implementation of the 21st Century Minimum Wage Ordinance, and determining whether action should be taken to suspend or cancel certain contracts where repeated violations of workers’ rights have been observed and recorded.
End