CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Pressure is growing as a September 30 deadline approaches for Congress to fund the Federal Aviation Administration.

In the meantime, airport workers across the country are taking matters into their own hands.

What You Need To Know

  • Airport workers across the country gathered in Charlotte as part of the SEIU, protesting better pay, working conditions and time off

  • Workers claim they've passed out on the job and are not provided sick days while working for various airlines

  • Five individuals were arrested last week in an act of civil disobedience 

  • September 30 is the deadline for Congress to fund the FAA

Last week roughly 340 employees rallied outside of Charlotte Douglas International Airport as part of the Service Employees International Union.

With picket signs in hands and blue shirts with slogans, they walked over a mile outside of the airport chanting demands.

At one point, protesters blocked the entrance to the airport. They sat down on a sign and sang as members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department arrived.

Five individuals were arrested in an act of civil disobedience.

Several cabin cleaners said they've passed out on the job, can’t afford basic necessities and are without health care working for these airlines. They also said they’re unable to take sick days, so if they miss a day, they go without pay.

Chris Baumann, regional director for Workers United, was one of the many standing in solidarity demanding change.

He said these issues go beyond the employees but also the flying public. Because of the large turnover rate, he said, these individuals can’t properly train to keep the airport running the right way, and with the low pay many of them don’t want to stay.

Baumann was the first to be arrested, making a statement for others.

“Planes become ovens in the hot summer sun. They turn the air conditioners off, and workers are out in the heat. We’ve had workers here at the Charlotte airport fall out and go to the hospital with serious medical conditions ... and then, you know, so it's a very serious problem. It's not only here at Charlotte, it's airports across the country ... and we're sick and tired of putting workers at risk. We're sick and tired of putting the flying public at risk, and it's time for the federal government to step up and take action," Baumann said.

Cabin cleaner Bessette Haymes agrees.

"I'm very passionate about what I do here at the airport. I'm glad we're showing light, trying to shine in a lot more light on what's actually happening behind closed doors," Haymes said.

Jet Streamer cabin cleaner Damarkus Hudson shares a similar frustration. He claims it was a health scare, while working, that was the final straw.

"We want change, and it's sad that we have to go through it. It's not the first time people came out like this and want the same things we want because we deserve it," Hudson said.

Following arrests, workers continued to chant and line up along the entrance of the airport.

Protesters say this is just the very beginning, and Charlotte was the first stop on this path for change.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to the airport regarding these claims. It responded with this statement: "These workers are not employed by the City of Charlotte’s aviation department, they are employed by the airlines or its various contractors.”

American Airlines also responded: “Today’s picketing involves the SEIU, which does not represent American Airlines team members. Though we respect the collective bargaining process, American Airlines is not involved in discussions between the SEIU and the companies which employ their represented employees.”