CLT airport union calls for better conditions after cleaning worker’s death
Colleen Coates, a cabin cleaner at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, told colleagues she wasn’t feeling well in the days leading up to her Sept. 17 shift. She showed up for work anyway because she needed the paycheck.
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Coates collapsed “on a jet bridge in intense heat” while waiting to clean an American Airlines aircraft, according to the Service Employees International Union 32BJ. Coates could not be resuscitated. She was 55.
“She was afraid that taking care of herself would cost her job. Instead, it cost her life,” said LaShonda Barber, a friend and coworker. “She should never have had to choose between her health and her job.”
The union held a vigil outside the airport Thursday highlighting Coates’ death in its rallying call for better working conditions and pay. Coates was an active participant in union organizing and was employed by ABM, a facility management company that did contract work for the airport.
In a written statement to The Charlotte Observer, ABM said it was saddened by Coates’ passing. Alan Marcus, director of external communications, declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Coates’ death out of respect for her family and to protect employees’ privacy. He did not comment on workers’ calls to improve workplace conditions or suggestions that the company should take responsibility. American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We are providing support and resources to our team members at Charlotte Douglas International Airport who have been impacted by this loss,” Marcus said. “Our thoughts remain with all those who knew and worked alongside Colleen.”
The death occurred as American Airlines and the city of Charlotte negotiate the terms of a new Airline Use and Lease Agreement. The last contract was set to expire in June before the parties agreed on a one-year extension so talks could continue. Several carriers are on the lease, including Delta, United, Frontier and Southwest. American accounts for around 90% of the airport’s flights, though.
North Carolina is not a collective bargaining state, meaning 32BJ SEIU does not have a seat at the negotiating table. But the union has continued to push for the city to use its leverage and award contracts to companies that promise to increase pay and improve working conditions.
Two Charlotte City Council members who attended the vigil decried the conditions surrounding Coates’ death but cautioned the city has limited power in enforcing stronger working conditions.
Charlotte cannot set wages for private companies such as ABM. And the General Assembly passed a state budget in July that further restricts local governments from requiring businesses to set wage or benefits levels as contract terms.
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“(State lawmakers) are the ones that still have the minimum wage at $7.25. They are the ones that are very pro-business to the point where corporations can go to them directly and create language that limits us on what we can demand for any of our vendors that are working within the airport,” at-large Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield said. “It’s a challenge.”
District 6 Councilwoman Kimberly Owens called airport working conditions a public safety issue.
“People who are sick should be able to stay home and not put their health at risk. This is the most extreme example of why that shouldn’t happen, but couple that with the fact that they’re having interaction with people all day every day coming in and out of Charlotte,” Owens said.
Coates had known health concerns, according to a written statement from Chris Baumann, SEIU southern regional director. She was hospitalized shortly before her death but continued working “because she needed to pay her bills.”
“We have questions for ABM management. Did Colleen tell management that she was feeling unwell that day? Did she ask to go home? If so, why was she still working?” Baumann said. “These are not questions that can be ignored. When a worker collapses and dies on the job, her family and coworkers deserve a full and transparent accounting of what management knew, when it knew it and how it responded.”
Baumann called for American and its contractors to improve working conditions, increase pay and provide affordable healthcare. He said the new contract should have reporting requirements that track working conditions for contracted workers like Coates, including safety complaints, injuries, medical emergencies and outcomes.
Barber, Coates’ coworker, described her friend as a good listener who talked to anybody who crossed her path. She was a smiling face amid the hardest of days on the job.
When Coates died, Barber said ABM gave employees a moment of silence before telling them to return to work.
“The company needs to take full responsibility,” Mayfield said. “Having a moment of silence and then immediately expecting individuals to go back to work that just witnessed the passing of their coworker, of their extended family, is a bit heartless. And it shows that we live at a time of business at all costs and business first and not taking the time to recognize the value of human life.”
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