Sen. Edwards files bill to extend wage parity to airline catering workers at Logan Airport

Sen. Lydia Edwards filed Senate Bill No. 1309 on Jan. 17, 2025, proposing to require airline‑catering companies that hold commercial‑service operating agreements or leases with the Massachusetts Port Authority to pay their employees who perform work on Logan airport property—or off‑site work related to those agreements—the same hourly wage as other airport service workers.

The bill, entitled "An Act allowing for airline catering to be considered covered employees," is presented to the One Hundred and Ninety‑Fourth General Court and was referred to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. The filing includes an emergency preamble declaring that delayed operation would defeat the bill’s purpose.

Under the text, the wage parity would apply to employees of an "airline catering company" that holds a commercial services operating agreement or lease with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) and who perform work related to that agreement or lease on Logan airport property or off‑site. The bill lists comparable service workers whose wages are used as the parity benchmark, including wheelchair assistants, skycaps, ticket agents, janitorial staff, aircraft and cabin cleaners, and baggage handlers.

The bill defines "airline catering" to include the preparation or assembly of food, beverages, provisions or related supplies for delivery and the delivery of such items directly to aircraft at Logan airport or to a location on or near airport property for subsequent delivery to aircraft. Section 2 states that any change in the hourly wage required by Section 1 "shall take effect within 30 days of the effective date of this act."

The filing does not specify the numerical wage rate; it ties catering workers’ hourly pay to the prevailing hourly wage paid to the listed categories of airport service workers. The proposal applies only to employees of catering companies that hold the specified agreements or leases with Massport and to work performed in furtherance of those agreements.

Sen. Lydia Edwards presented the bill to the Senate docket as Senate No. 1309 (Senate Docket No. 2367). The next procedural step is consideration by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and any subsequent committee reports or floor action; the bill’s text frames the change as an emergency measure that, if enacted as written, would make any required wage adjustments effective within 30 days of the law taking effect.