THOUSANDS OF NEW JERSEY AIRPORT WORKERS ARE CLOSER TO HEALTH CARE SUPPORT WITH HEALTHY TERMINALS ACT

The bill was approved by the NJ Assembly with a 47 to 25 vote

NEWARK, NJ – New Jersey’s State Assembly voted (a party-line vote/with bi-partisan) today to approve the Healthy Terminals Act, historic legislation which will make it possible for thousands of workers at Newark Liberty International Airport to have access to health care.

Based upon the union’s survey 1/3 of airport workers have no healthcare. The Healthy Terminals Act will require the employers to pay a benefit supplement that will allow meaningful and sustainable healthcare coverage for airport workers, including cabin and terminal cleaners, wheelchair attendants, baggage claim attendants, security officers and passenger service representatives at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The bill, which passed two Assembly committees this month and the state Senate last month, now awaits Governor Murphy’s signature to pass into law.  A similar law was by Governor Cuomo on December 31 that provides protections to thousands of workers at LaGuardia and JFK airports.

“It has been a long fight, and we could not be happier the Assembly has voted to support these critical protections for frontline airport workers,” said Kevin Brown, 32BJ SEIU Vice President. Thanks  to the leadership of Speaker Coughlin and our Prime Sponsor, Assemblywoman Quijano, airport workers can now finally aspire to affordable quality healthcare, which in turn would mean improvements to their lives, while making airports safer.”

Currently, workers struggle to obtain healthcare, as they are stuck between employer plans with sky-high costs, and earning too much to qualify for Medicaid or Affordable Care Act subsidies.  Once signed by Governor Murphy, the bill will benefit over 10,000 workers.

Cabin cleaners, terminal cleaners, baggage handlers, security officers and other subcontracted workers, many of whom are Black, Brown and immigrant, deal with the daily consequences of living without healthcare, like Andre Cooper, a cabin cleaner.

“We have waited for this moment for so long. We came together, we lobbied, we rallied, we testified, and now we can look forward to a better, healthier future,” said Andre Cooper. “I clean airplanes from all over the world during this pandemic, and I did it without health insurance. Now we just need Governor Murphy to sign the bill as soon as possible.”

Rhina Hernandez, who currently works cleaning food coolers at Newark International Airport and is a single mother of three children, said, “This vote comes at a time of great need for me and my family. Today, I breathed a sigh of relief to know that we will now have the peace of mind this protection brings.”

The union estimates that the total cost to airlines accounts for just 0.11% of the airline industry’s $86 billion federal bailout. Moreover, it provides Medicaid savings to the state when individuals switch to employer plans to the tune of $7 million a year.

With more than 175,000 members in 11 states and 13,000 members in New Jersey, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country.