Unifi Service fired employees who joined a picket right outside the Missoula International Airport demanding better wages. Unifi Service is an Atlanta-based company that works for different airlines such as Delta and United Airlines. The company also provides workers for Missoula International Airport.
The workers perform different tasks including baggage handling, aircraft cleaning, customer service at the gates, and marshaling airplanes on the tarmac.
The company’s employees decided to walk out of their job to protest against the low wage. The starting hourly wage is at $9.65 and has a cap of up to $10.40. Their wage is lower in comparison to employees working for the company in Spokane and Kalispell.
Jared Bonney who works as a ramp agent for Unifi Service said that “On Friday, we protested and at about 3:30 pm phone calls started happening”. He explained that “they were calling us up, letting us know we were officially terminated for intentional disruption of operations and abandonment of assignment”. According to Bonney, they didn’t abandon their post and even tried to work when they were suspended.
The walk-out started on Monday, April 12 in the middle of their shift. They picketed in front of the airport. On Tuesday, employees who participated in the picket received calls from the company. Then, the company informed them that Unifi Service is going to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident. In addition to this, employees who took part in the picket were suspended. By Friday, employees were informed that the investigation was complete. As a result, they lost their job.
The workers who were fired weren’t part of a union. Employees from Spokane replaced those who did their protest.
On the bright side, fired employees are offered to work for Alaska Airlines in Missoula with a starting wage of $12.51 per hour.
Airport interim director Brian Ellestad said that he can’t comment on the company’s employment practices. He added that “those workers are more than welcome to apply for any other tenant jobs here at the airport”.
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