32BJ Service Employees International Union

Protestors during a 32BJ Service Employees International Union scheduled event.

(32BJ SEIU)

More than 100 airport employees are scheduled to go on strike Wednesday morning, picketing outside of Logan International Airport and on the steps of the Massachusetts State House.

The employees are non-union contracted airplane cleaners and baggage handlers who allege their employers, G2 Secure Staff and ReadyJet Flight Support, committed unfair labor practices.

The workers, whose tasks vary from cleaning airplane lavatory holding tanks to transporting passengers with limited mobility, earn between $8 and 10 per hour and do not receive benefits.

The strike is scheduled to begin Wednesday morning. At 5 a.m., union officials say more than 100 employees will picket outside of the airport, near the Blue Line T stop. Later in the afternoon, a rally is expected to be held outside of the State House.

The companies are contracted to work with several airlines including: Delta, JetBlue, US Airways and others. Workers have filed complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health and Administration alleging various issues from rats in a warehouse where passenger food is stored to a lack of safety equipment for cleaning airplane cabins.

Additionally, union officials allege contractors for ReadyJet fired employees for seeking to organize a union and complaining of working conditions.

"Workers have been playing by the rules," said Eugenio H. Villasante, of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union, largest property service workers union in the country. "They work hard every day to keep the airport running. Now they are demanding their legal right their right to organize."

Both were cited by the federal agency for workplace violations in recent years. OSHA ordered ReadyJet pay close to $30,000 for multiple violations varying from protective equipment for employees to use of hazardous chemicals in the workplace. One fine was ordered after an investigation determined workers were not provided with protective equipment - such as gloves and safety goggles - when cleaning lavatory waste water spills. One case is currently classified as open by OSHA.

G2 also paid two penalties following investigations into safety concerns in the workplace.

ReadyJet has also been ordered to pay a penalty by the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General.

In 2014, then-Attorney General Martha Coakley ordered ReadyJet to pay employees $13,045 for back wages not paid in a timely matter and a $5,400 fine. Additionally, her office said the company failed to allow employees working a 10-hour shift to take mandated breaks.