LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Airport workers staged a rally at LAX on Monday to protest what they said is a decision by their employer to cancel their contract and take away their health benefits.

The protesters, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union, are employed by Aviation Safeguards, a contractor that
supplies passenger-services workers at LAX.

They provide some security services, move bags from security checkpoints to luggage vehicles and offer wheelchair and other escort services.

The rally was prompted by a recent announcement by Aviation Safeguards that it “is terminating its contract with employees and as a
result, workers will lose their health care benefits on Feb. 1,” the Good Jobs LA coalition said in a statement.

Neither the contractor nor its parent company could immediately be reached to comment on the reported contract cancellation.

“Aviation Safeguards is leading a race to the bottom by the greediest 1 percent at LAX to make even bigger profits by breaking agreements with workers and taking away health care,” said Mike Garcia, president of SEIU United Service Workers.

Some of Aviation Safeguards’ top clients at LAX include Virgin Atlantic, United Continental, Air France, and Alaska Airlines.

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