Alstate Maintenance LLC staffs Kennedy International Airport with tipped baggage handlers.
Two managers from Lufthansa asked a group of Alstate skycaps to assist a VIP soccer team with their baggage. A skycap stated to his Alstate manager, in front of others, “We did a similar job a year prior and we didn’t receive a tip for it.”
The skycaps initially refused to help with the baggage but ended up pitching in. Alstate terminated the skycap. An unfair labor practice was filed alleging Alstate terminated the skycap for engaging in concerted activity. The National Labor Relations Act provides employees the right to engage in “concerted activities” for purposes of their “mutual aid or protection.”
