Washington, DC-–Frontline union members and service workers at DC’s major airports are celebrating this week as their four-year fight for paid sick leave has ended in victory. Starting in January of 2025, workers at Reagan National and Dulles International Airports will receive 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. For the first time, frontline airport workers will have paid time off to care for themselves and their family members when they get sick. Without paid sick leave, workers face an impossible choice: forgo a paycheck in order to take a day off or go to work while they’re still ill.  In a situation where people work in close contact with each other and interact with travelers from all over the world, those decisions can have broader impact on public health and safety, and paid sick leave prevents workers from having to make that choice. 

“The fight for paid sick leave has been years in the making, and seeing it finally happen is a huge relief for workers who have to make the tough decisions about taking care of themselves and supporting their families every day,” said LaTwyla Mathias, Executive Director of Progress Virginia. “That said, it’s a travesty that the airports are still dragging their heels on providing  other critical benefits to their workers like employer-paid health care. 50 million people a year fly through the DC airports, and the workers there are crucial to making that happen, but they’re not compensated like workers at other huge transportation hubs.  The airline industry got massive bailouts that supported it during the pandemic, but that money didn’t make its way to frontline workers. We call on the Metro Washington Airport Authority to do right by the people who make their business possible every day.”

Background:

• The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA), which governs DC’s major airports, agreed to enact a policy to guarantee 40 days of paid sick leave for all airport workers, both union and not-yet-union members. The MWAA has not yet agreed to several other benefits requested by the unions, including employer-covered health care benefits.
• In 2023, the MWAA saw more passengers than at any other time in the airport’s history, topping 50 million passengers
• DC and Virginia lawmakers have supported the multi-year worker-led campaign, including DC Mayor Murial Bowser, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, and others.