Food service employees seeking 5-cent hike in airline tickets

More than two dozen airline food service workers were arrested outside the headquarters of Airlines for America Thursday during a protest against the association's opposition to higher airline fees, according to Vice News.

Some 200 people gathered in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., as part of campaign called "nickel a ticket." They want airlines to raise ticket prices by 5 cents to help pay for employee health insurance.

Most food service workers are not employed directly by airlines but by the catering companies airlines use, the news site reported. Still, the protestors argue airlines could do more to help, with only about $2.50 of every airline ticket spent on food services.

"A nickel a ticket is not much to ask for when it's your health," Chris Barnes, an employee of the airline caterer Sky Chefs, told Vice News.

Twenty-seven protestors were arrested when they staged a sit-in at the plaza.

A4A has lobbied against higher government-mandated fees and taxes on airline tickets. However, when it came to the protestors' complaints, the association said their ire was misplaced.

"Their request for an increase would more appropriately be addressed to their union and their employer, rather than airline passengers who are already overly taxed," A4A spokesman Vaughn Jennings said.http://bit.ly/1ARhWyS