More than 100 cargo agents, ticket agents, and cabin cleaners at Newark Liberty International Airport, many of whom are immigrants, may be owed nearly $2 million in benefits supplements from their employer, according to a survey conducted by the union, 32BJ SEIU. The union filed a complaint with the New Jersey Department of Labor against the employer, Alliance Ground International (AGI), for possibly violating New Jersey’s Healthy Terminals Act (HTA).
Passed in 2021, the law requires employers to commit to a number of requirements regarding wages and paid leave. Under the HTA, employers must pay airport workers a benefits supplement of $4.54 per hour, which can be used to cover health insurance costs. The rate has since increased to $5.36 per hour in 2024.
On June 5, the union filed a formal complaint with the New Jersey Department of Labor regarding the alleged violations of HTA. The complaint, which was reviewed by Documented, stated that 10 AGI employees were not paid the required employer-paid healthcare supplement.
Alongside the complaint, the union submitted the pay stubs of 11 workers from August 2023, which do not appear to include payments of the benefits supplement in their checks.
In the survey the union conducted of workers’ paystubs, the union claims to have found that 124 workers were either underpaid the benefits supplement or were not paid it altogether. They allege that workers are owed $1,976,150.06.
Responding to Documented’s detailed request for comment regarding the unions’ charge against them, Sarah Andrews, vice president of marketing, communications, & government relations for AGI, denied that they have violated New Jersey’s HTA law.
“AGI denies all of the union’s unproven allegations regarding its compliance with the Healthy Terminals Act and federal labor law,” she said in a statement. “Anyone can make allegations; that does not make them true.”
HTA also requires that employers provide airport workers with paid vacation and paid holiday time off, and that they pay at least the prevailing wage as determined by New Jersey state law. (Prevailing wages are a set of wage standards on public works projects or public services determined by the state.)
However, according to the complaint filed by the union, AGI is allegedly also not complying with HTA by failing to provide workers with the required paid time off and holidays the law requires.
“The fact that some AGI workers have had to forgo healthcare because it looks like AGI isn’t following New Jersey law is unacceptable,” said Rob Hill, 32BJ SEIU executive vice president, in a statement to Documented. “These workers deserve better, and frankly, New Jersey deserves better.”
Miami-based AGI provides airports with ground, cargo, mail handling, and security services. The company employs over 12,000 employees across 62 airports in the United States and Canada and claims to be one of the fastest-growing ground handling companies in North America. At Newark, the company employs about 350 workers.
Michael Wynter, a Jamaican AGI ramp agent, says the difficult nature of his job deserves to be treated with respect.
“Loading tons of cargo at a time is delicate work that ensures planes can operate safely,” he said in a statement to Documented. “It involves digitally tracking the cargo and deciding where to load it on the plane. It’s skilled and important work that deserves good pay and benefits.”
Similarly to Wynter, Kareen Paine, an AGI warehouse worker for seven years, had to cover emergency dental treatment even though she could not afford it.
“I went almost a month before getting emergency treatment for my teeth because I couldn’t afford it,” she said in a statement to Documented. “And even then, a family member had to help with payments. It hurts to have seven years under your belt [and] to be disrespected like this.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka signaled his support for the struggling workers.
“What Alliance Ground International and their owners are accused of doing is disgraceful, and it’s exactly why we passed the Healthy Terminals Act in the first place, to protect workers from this kind of exploitation,” he said in a statement issued in early June, and shared with Documented. “I hope AGI is held accountable with remedies strong enough to make any company think twice before violating workers’ rights.”
In addition to their claim that they are violating HTA, 32BJ SEIU also alleges that AGI has violated federal labor laws and has filed multiple claims with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Last July, the union filed a charge with Region 22 of the NLRB because AGI management allegedly forbade a worker from distributing union literature. The case is pending investigation by the NLRB and remains open.
The following September, the union filed another charge with the NLRB because AGI management allegedly removed staff organizers from the airport property. That case is pending investigation by the NLRB and remains open.
Asked about the NLRB charges, AGI denied all the allegations.
The company has also accumulated numerous violations with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Nationally, from 2016 to 2024, OSHA cited AGI with 18 workplace safety citations across multiple states, totaling $338,881 in penalties. The penalties were later reduced to $169,440. None of the violations took place in Newark Airport.
“Since 2019, AGI has had an executive safety leader in place to reaffirm AGI’s commitment to employee health and safety,” said Andrews in a statement to Documented in May. “We have a thriving safety culture and a productive relationship with OSHA. At AGI, safety is a core value.”
As Documented previously reported, this isn’t the first time AGI’s employment practices have come under scrutiny. An AGI worker at LaGuardia Airport filed an unfair labor practice charge against AGI with the NLRB for allegedly suspending him when he asked his manager to be provided water during his shift. The case is still pending, and the NLRB has yet to take any action.
Andrews, AGI’s spokesperson, denied LaGuardia Airport worker Garvey Barrett and the unions’ claims when Documented asked for their response to the accusations in May.
“Due to lack of evidence to support 32BJ’s claim, there was no action from the NLRB,” she said in a statement at the time. “This did not happen, and we vehemently refute any accusation to the contrary.”
