BY KEVIN BROWN 

Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis after marching with sanitation workers who were fighting for decent pay and respect on the job. As we remember the life and mission of the civil rights icon who fought for workers’ rights, better pay and safe working conditions, we also have the opportunity to recognize a new call for justice from thousands of airport workers in New Jersey and New York who have followed in Dr. King’s footsteps.

Thousands of airport workers at Newark, JFK and LaGuardia airports have been earning less in real wages than the Memphis sanitation workers earned 50 years ago. Like Dr. King, they have fought for change with peaceful protests of all kinds— rallies, marches, strikes, civil disobedience and more. And, for years, they have celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Day each January with marches and protests for better pay at all three airports.

Last month, after years of fighting for family-sustaining salaries, airport workers won a huge victory: the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey announced it plans to raise wages to $19 an hour by 2023 at Newark, JFK and LaGuardia.

When the Port Authority Commissioners announced their plan on March 22, Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said it’s “crystal clear in listening to these workers that low wages have undermined employee morale, served as a deep workplace distraction, encouraged turnover, and raised the specter of labor disruption. All of this has a negative impact on the Port Authority’s operation of the airports.”

The rising wages will enable workers— who serve as our eyes and ears at the airport, keep the airport clean and support passengers throughout their travel— to support their families, remain on the job longer and build their expertise to make our airports safer and more efficient. More than 8,000 airport workers have already joined 32BJ SEIU and won their first contract, which protects their rights on the job.

Like Dr. King, airport service workers were able to win the workplace changes they deserve by standing together in solidarity and forming a movement for change. They organized and engaged their elected officials to improve not only their own lives, but the lives of 40,000 airport workers on both sides of the Hudson River who will be covered by the Port’s wage mandate.  

For airport workers here in New Jersey, it also means they will finally win pay equity with their brothers and sisters in the New York City airports and be paid the same wage for the same work.  

Airport workers fought tirelessly for this win but this victory also comes thanks to the support of Governor Murphy in New Jersey, Governor Cuomo in New York and the Port Authority Board, all of whom stood with workers and recognized their call for the fair wage they deserve.

As we face a national political climate where corporations, billionaires and right-wing politicians try to chip away workers’ rights every day, we’re proud to be part of the movement of workers fighting back, standing up and demanding justice. From the Memphis sanitation workers striking in 1968 to the brave teachers who’ve been striking for their rights in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma, airport workers are part of a movement across history and across the United States to demand their fair share.  

While the challenges mount for working people, so too does our desire to join together and fight back.

As Dr. King said more than 50 years ago, “the time is always right to do what is right.”

The Port commissioners pledged to do what’s right for airport workers and set a family-sustaining wage standard. We expect them to maintain their support as they hold a final vote on the wage plan in June. Workers will also continue their fight to make airport jobs even stronger

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Kevin Brown is New Jersey State Director and Vice President of 32BJ SEIU.