Bag workers picket Southwest Air over flight delays

INDIANAPOLIS — Southwest Airlines baggage handlers picketed at Indianapolis International Airport and other airfields Tuesday, contending that increased flights are causing unprecedented delays and overworked employees.

Members of Transport Workers Union Local 555 say workers are being asked to do more without any increase in hiring.

Throughout the afternoon, about 20 employees chanted, "Bags fly free because of me" and "People before profits."

The pickets, in about 15 cities, are intended to inform the flying public that working conditions are increasing delays. And on Wednesday, the baggage handlers' union hopes to make the point nationally with an ad in USA TODAY.

"We love our airline and our jobs, but we want what's fair," said Shaun Burris, the union representative for Indianapolis.

In Indianapolis, the action came a day before Southwest and airport officials were to tout new flights from Indianapolis.

Southwest already has 33 nonstop flights a day leaving Indianapolis for 12 cities. But union officials said that sort of flight stacking nationwide is taxing their ground crew workers and slowing down departures.

"The airline has more flights, bigger airplanes and more luggage, and we are not increasing manpower," said Mark Waters, the TWU district representative for the Indiana area. "The airline, in turn, has had record profits. You can only get so much blood out of a rock."

Southwest operates more than 3,400 flights a day, has 46,000 employees across the country and reported a record profit in the third quarter of 2014 on net revenues of $382 million.

But U.S. Department of Transportation records show that Southwest's on-time rate declined from 83.1 % in 2012 to 72.3 % so far this year. The average on-time rate for all airlines in 75.9 % in 2014.

In Indianapolis, Southwest has 129 ground crew workers who stock the planes, load and unload baggage, de-ice the planes and direct the jets to the gates.

The airline and the union have been unable to agree on a contract since July 2011, and the union said many ground crew workers haven't had a raise in four years.

But Southwest said its workers are the best paid in the industry.

Brandy King, Southwest communications director, said that since 2000, while other airlines have slashed pay and benefits, "our base rates for our employees have increased more than 37 %" and are "the highest pay rates in the industry."

"We have always supported our employees and their right to express their opinions," King said in a statement e-mailed to The Indianapolis Star. "Furthermore, we share the union's sense of urgency to secure an agreement that is fair to all employees, enables the company to grow and protects our position as a low-cost leader in the industry."

The union claims the airline's customer-friendly culture has changed since co-founder and former CEO Herb Kelleher stepped down in 2008 and was replaced by Gary Kelly, an accountant who served for years in a variety of financial offices for the airline.

"In the past, Southwest has been a successful company for all stakeholders because of a culture that valued workers and put a premium on industry-leading customer service," said Charles Cerf, union president. "Under current leadership, both customers and workers have been devalued."

Workers also staged informational picketing at airports in Dallas; Denver; Los Angeles/Ontario; Buffalo, New York; Cleveland; Detroit; Fort Myers, Fla.; Indianapolis; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Pittsburgh; San Diego; San Jose, Calif.; and Seattle.