Council sends proposed 23-year United Airlines lease back to Airport Commission to add worker protections

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to send a proposed 23‑year United Airlines lease back to the Board of Airport Commissioners so the commission can insert language to protect airport workers and ensure subcontractors follow city labor policies.

Miguel Contreras, speaking as a member of the Board of Airport Commissioners, urged the council to refer the lease and said the airport commission could “insert the language consistent with this city council’s policies in the areas of worker protection and job retention at LAX.” Contreras told the council the lease extends for 23 years and argued that protecting subcontractors’ compliance with local living‑wage and worker‑retention requirements is important because the document will affect airport workers for many years.

The referral followed public testimony from Greg Garrett, who identified himself as a former Argenbright Security employee at Terminal 2. Garrett told the council that he and coworkers were harassed and intimidated by management and that he was terminated after questioning company practices. “We’ve also been fighting for the union to get the living wage at our jobs,” Garrett said, describing what he called management threats to fire employees who associated with union organizers.

A councilmember moved the personnel committee report recommending the referral so the airport commission could incorporate explicit subcontractor protections; another councilmember seconded the motion, noting that scheduling the commission discussion after the commission’s June 15 meeting would not meaningfully delay a 23‑year lease but would allow an airport commissioner to attend in person. The council then prepared the roll and recorded 11 ayes; the motion passed.

The referral means the Airport Commission will revisit the proposed lease and return it to the council after amending it to include the requested protections. Council members and witnesses stressed that the changes are intended to bind subcontractors to the city’s living‑wage and worker‑retention ordinances.

The council did not adopt the lease at the meeting; instead it directed the personnel committee report be implemented by sending the draft back to the Board of Airport Commissioners for amendment and expedited consideration.