Newark Airport subcontractor employees to strike

Subcontracted workers at Newark Liberty International Airport plan to walk off the job Wednesday night to protest wages and conditions.

The Newark Airport workers, who clean United Airlines planes for contractor PrimeFlight Aviation Services, are scheduled to kick off their strike Wednesday night at 9 p.m. with a public rally and press conference according to a statement issued by 32BJ, part of the the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Ramp workers, baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, cabin cleaners, terminal cleaners and passenger service workers are expected to join the strike in Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and Fort Lauderdale on Thursday. The workers, according to SEIU, are protesting "poverty wages, few benefits and subpar working conditions."

The union said the workers are "struggling to survive in jobs that pay poverty wages, provide little to no affordable health care, and few paid days off" and hope to see their wages increased to $15 per hour. "As airport workers have been organizing for better lives, many of the subcontractors they work for have committed health and safety violations and many of their demands for better treatment have been met with illegal repression."

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey did not return a phone call regarding the effect the strike would have on their facilities.