Support for Increased Atlanta Airport Custodian Pay May Not Lead to Raise

Amid a national worker shortage and concerns about cleanliness during a pandemic, support for raising the salary of custodians has increased. The Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee last week unanimously voted to pay custodial workers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at least US$15 an hour, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Atlanta officials face increasing pressure to support higher wages at the airport, which is owned and operated by the City of Atlanta. However, the committee vote may be merely symbolic, even if it is approved by the entire council. Georgia state law preempts locally set minimum wages, which prohibits municipalities from mandating a minimum wage for private-sector workers or city contractors.

According to the transportation committee’s resolution, starting hourly wages for some jobs at janitorial contractors which service the Atlanta airport are as low as $8.50 per hour. More than 700 janitorial and maintenance workers clean 3 million square feet at the airport, including restrooms, gate areas, and other public areas.

Georgia’s minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, but employers are generally subject to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. While the City of Atlanta has already raised the minimum wage it pays its own government employees to $15 an hour, airport janitorial workers are a few steps removed from direct city control.

Responsibility for cleaning and maintenance of the airport terminal falls to the airlines, which formed a cooperative to jointly handle the work using contractors ABM Industries and CSM America. ABM workers are members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is negotiating for a new contract for the workers.

Many businesses are paying more to attract employees amid a worker shortage. But some contractors make a set amount of money for the work they perform under a long-term contract, regardless of how much the cost of labor increases.