Oscar Morales, 51, said it felt good to skip his noon shift and instead don the purple cap worn by all of the striking airport workers in the boisterous crowd. Morales, who works as a gate assistant collecting baggage from customers when airplanes run out of overhead bin space, said it was his first time striking and he was heartened by the turnout, which far exceeded the last strike at the airport in March when only about 60 people walked off the job, he said.