Charlotte City Council Weighs 10.5-Year Airport Lease as Workers Seek Protections – Country 103.7 Charlotte

Charlotte City Council Weighs 10.5-Year Airport Lease as Workers Seek Protections  Country 103.7 Charlotte

The City of Charlotte is working on a new 10.5-year lease for the city’s airport. If the city reaches a deal with the airlines, it agrees to provide $2.1 billion in airport upgrades, including a tunnel and new gates. Airport workers see the lease negotiations as a chance to secure workplace protections as part of the new agreement. “You can build a world-class airport with tunnels and other, you know, longer runways. But you have to think about the workforce that’s working in the airport too,” said Catherine Poneros, co-director of organizing for Local SEIU 32BJ, in a statement shared with WCCB Charlotte. Airport workers and community members are speaking out about incorporating language into the lease agreement that requires wage transparency among airport employees and sets workplace standards.

Some city council members, however, are reluctant to go too far with demands for the airlines, fearing the state would take over the airport as it attempted to do in 2013. “The city receives a lot of money from the airport,” Councilmember Joi Mayo said in a statement shared with WCCB. “As district three rep, that’s something that I’m really delving into, like what are the actual financial aspects when it comes to the airport?” Mayo sees the lease as a way to examine how best to support all workers across