Catering Workers Hold Protest At LAX As Holiday Travel Rush Picks Up, 6 Arrested
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Six people were arrested Friday night as unionized airline caterers staged another demonstration at Los Angeles International Airport to highlight their demand for higher wages and expanded benefits.
The protest was staged just as the holiday travel crunch got underway with 115 million people expected to travel by plane, train and car between Friday and New Years Day.
"Very hectic," one traveler said. "I sprinted a lot faster and longer than I expected to today, but I made my connection by 10 seconds, and I'm about to get on a plane to Australia."
The Transportation Security Administration cautioned that it would be screening a record number of passengers, but on Friday security lines at LAX were moving better than expected, and the protest did not have any major impact on airline operations — despite the arrests.
The arrested protesters had blocked traffic on Century Boulevard just outside the airport entrance. Los Angeles police said the arrests happened after the protesters failed to disperse.
The caterers' union, UNITE HERE Local 11, staged a similar protest at LAX two days before Thanksgiving, resulting in 16 arrests for alleged failure to disperse.
Officials at LAX are still warning people to leave time for delays with "super peak" travel days expected to include Sunday, Monday, the day after Christmas, Dec. 29 and Dec. 30.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)