The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is absolutely beaming this afternoon because the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced a plan to raise wages for “baggage handlers, security officers, wheelchair agents, terminal and airplane cleaners and other airport workers” at the area’s 3 major airports under its control. Forty thousand employees at at New York JFK, New York LaGuardia and Newark will see their pay rise to $19 an hour by 2023. New York workers are starting out at $13, and New Jersey airport workers are now at $10.55. So this is a significant increase. In fact today’s decision was a staff recommendation that’s expected to be formally adopted by the Port Authority board in June. Under the proposal, the annual increases would begin Sept. 1. The first one would raise the…
