Last month, community, labor and faith leaders came together to call for the City of San Jose to assure that it is truly building a better airport – by ensuring a living wage, establishing increased oversight of subcontractors, and guaranteeing the highest quality, most skilled employees serving the airports millions of annual passengers.
Stemming from a report by Working Partnerships USA which documented alarming security and retention challenges at Mineta San Jose International Airport, Vice Mayor Dave Cortese and Councilmember Forrest Williams asked the Councils Transportation committee to consider extending a living wage to all airport employees. The report found that over half of airport employees responding to a survey werent trained in critical emergency procedures, such as facility evacuation. Additionally, while over half of employees earning a living wage had been at the Airport for over three years, the percentage of those earning less who remained that long was 6% or lower.