Get ready for a possible security workers' strike at JFK

About 300 security officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport are threatening to walk off their jobs Dec. 20 if they do not get greatly improved working conditions. The employees are seeking increases to their $8-an-hour, no-benefits compensation; replacement of shoddy equipment; better training; and an end to what they call illegal practices prohibiting them from talking to co-workers about working conditions and organizing into a union.

The 200 Air Serv workers who are threatening to strike perform various duties: guarding alarm doors, directing traffic in front of terminals and conducting secondary screenings of passengers boarding overseas flights. Another 100 officers employed by Global Elite Group who are threatening to strike are in charge of inspecting planes when they touch down.