Hearing set on stalled SFO labor talks as workers push for higher pay

San Francisco supervisors are set to hear testimony on stalled labor talks involving airport service workers, bringing the dispute at San Francisco International Airport into City Hall scrutiny as workers press for higher pay and better conditions.

The hearing follows weeks of public pressure from baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, cabin cleaners and other passenger service workers who say contract negotiations have been stalled. Reports have said the workers are earning an average of about $22 an hour and are seeking higher wages.

A May Day protest at SFO drew arrests and intensified attention on the dispute. That demonstration, along with an earlier public session held by supervisors on May 7, helped push the issue higher on the city’s agenda.

The city’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee, which handles labor agreements and meets on the first and third Thursdays at 10 a.m., is expected to take up the matter.

The immediate question is whether the hearing produces any movement in the bargaining process or prompts a public response from SFO or the contractors involved. For now, the dispute remains centered on pay and working conditions at one of the city’s busiest public-facing workplaces.