Know why the airlines are so tightfisted about battening everywhere they can on the flying public? It's because they can't batten on their workers. In the general workforce, only about 10% of all workers are unionized. Nearly one out of two air transportation workers on the other hand are unionized. It's very hard for the airlines to try anything funny with them. And oh – you hate those $25 baggage check-in fees that the airlines routinely charge, don’t you? Those are directly because of how unionized the baggage handlers are.
You probably think you're being a smart money saver stuffing as much into your one suitcase as possible. For baggage handlers though, those heavy bags are to be manhandled from carts to the plane, to the conveyor belt and so on. There are all kinds of health problems they have to put up with because of this.
Baggage handlers in general have a better reputation these days than they used to. A large part of that is down to how there are fewer bags lost in transit these days. But is that really what's going on? Are baggage handlers really deserving of credit for this?
You probably think you're being a smart money saver stuffing as much into your one suitcase as possible. For baggage handlers though, those heavy bags are to be manhandled from carts to the plane, to the conveyor belt and so on. There are all kinds of health problems they have to put up with because of this.
Baggage handlers in general have a better reputation these days than they used to. A large part of that is down to how there are fewer bags lost in transit these days. But is that really what's going on? Are baggage handlers really deserving of credit for this?