UNITE-HERE Organizes Food Vendors at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport

Submitted by Jesse Russell on December 24, 2004 - 11:31am
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"Norma Rae's" union ­ UNITE HERE ­ has a new target in the south ­ HMSHost, the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport food vendor. The Charlotte Observer says the union organizing campaign is underway to try to get the 700 retail and food service workers at the airport to join the union. UNITE HERE started in the southern textile mills and recently organized one in Alabama that has a U.S. military contract ­ so the jobs there are likely to stay in the U.S. The south is often a hard sell for unions but UNITE HERE¹s Harris Raynor says with the growth in the service sector that¹s where the workers are now in the south and so organizing efforts are underway. UNITE HERE has been holding meetings with the airport workers touting union membership. The target of UNITE HERE¹s organizing drive is owned by an Italian company and operates food concessions at 70 airports around the world. The Carolinas are among the least unionized states in the nation.