As calls for additional screening of those traveling from Ebola-ravaged countries intensifies, nearly 200 LaGuardia Airport airline cabin cleaners in New York went on strike Wednesday night after complaining of unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, including fears over possible exposure to Ebola, ABC News reported. It remains unclear if any early Thursday morning flights have faced disruption due to the strike.
Air Serv cabin cleaners, a contractor that serves Delta and whose workers operate out of Terminal D at the airport, continued to protest with workers from La Guardia and JFK International airports well into Thursday morning, chanting complaints of not being properly equipped to handle the hazardous materials which their regularly forced to come in contact with-including hypodermic needles, vomit, blood, and feces, New York Daily News reported.
"I have to deal with vomit, feces and a lot of chemicals, without proper equipment," cleaner Johanna Cruz, 33 and from Queens, told the Daily News. "They give us gloves, but they might as well be made of paper because they rip so easily."
"We don't have the right safety gear," said 33-year-old Wendy Arellano, a single mother from Queens who was infected with a rash on her elbow after a mixture of disinfectant and fecal matter dripped onto her. "When you're dealing with feces, you should have the right attire for dealing with that, like a body suit."
Another Air Serv employee revealed how vans lacking seat belts were used to transport workers from the planes. When pleas were made for better training to properly dispose of blood and other bodily fluids, it was ignored, Cruz said.
"They don't care about our safety," he said.
While an Air Serv rep didn't immediately return a request for comment, a Port Authority spokeswoman declined to comment on Wednesday night.
However, an infectious disease training for airport cabin cleaners, terminal cleaners and wheelchair attendants was scheduled to be conducted on Thursday by the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ.
"The training will cover current guidance from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA)," the union said in a release. "This includes guidelines for cleaning airplane cabins and lavatories, for cleaning an area with possible Ebola exposure, and for determining which equipment employers are required to supply."
"Amid rising fears of the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, the training will help workers better identify infectious disease hazards and protect against exposure and spread," the union added.
Meanwhile, five main U.S. airports, including JFK, is scheduled to begin additional screening of about 150 travelers a day, checking their temperatures through no-touch thermometers in case travelers are carrying the deadly Ebola disease.
At least 3,800 people have died in West Africa since the outbreak, with no signs of the disease abating. On Thursday, the presidents of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, whose countries received minimal health support before Ebola's outbreak, appealed to the World Bank for providing more help to their nations, according to ABC News.
"What we're paying for now is our failure to have invested in those countries before," said Francisco Ferreira, the World Bank's chief economist for Africa.
