Refuelers in New York Airport Walk Off Job As Holiday Exodus Starts

Refuelers in New York airport walk off job as holiday exodus starts

NEW YORK, July 1 (Xinhua) — Hundreds of aircraft refuelers at the JFK International Airport in New York walked off the job late Thursday night, putting the Independence holiday exodus to a rocky start that began Friday.

Trade Union Teamsters Local 553 with more than 300 members, decided to strike after the union could not agree on a new contract with Allied Aviation Services (AAS), the company that refuels planes at JFK and maintains the airport’s fuel storage facility. The existing contract of the union expired at midnight Thursday.

The AAS brought in more than 80 replacement workers, and promised to be able to handle the refueling of 300 to 400 planes a day, but there are still concerns about delays.

The key issues between the union and the AAS are salary increases, health care and the pension package. The union said the AAS would raise salaries an average of 80 dollars a month, but then workers would have to pay out three times that amount back into their health plan.

A spokesman for the Port Authority, the agency that administers the airport, said the agency does not expect the strike to have any impact on airport operations.

The last time the union went out on strike was in 1996, which lasted 12 days.