$13.45-an-hour wage ready for takeoff at O'Hare, Midway airports

Oliwia Pac is in line for a $2.45-an-hour pay raise, but she feels like she won the lottery. On Wednesday, the City Council is poised to guarantee Pac and nearly 8,000 other contract employees at O'Hare and Midway Airports "no less than" $13.45-an-hour and preserve their right to join unions.

"This raise means that I can finally afford my rent, get groceries, not have a hassle trying to pay off my student loans," said Pac, who helps passengers in wheelchairs, escorts children traveling alone onto flights and works security at O'Hare Airport.

The pay raise is not the only benefit in store for contract employees at O'Hare and Midway. The ordinance poised for approval Wednesday also includes a "labor peace agreement that allows baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, aircraft maintenance workers, security guards and other contract employees to organize without interference.

In exchange, contract employees would be prohibited from "engaging in strikes, picketing, work stoppages, boycotts or other economic interference."

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