LAX Security Screeners Vote to Join Union

In a nonbinding election, hundreds of security screeners at Los Angeles International Airport overwhelmingly voted to join the Service Employees International Union. The union sponsored the election Friday to put pressure on Argenbright Security of Atlanta, which employs about 930 security screeners and baggage handlers. The election was sanctioned by the Los Angeles City Council. But Argenbright officials said they wouldn’t recognize the results. The final tally was 384 to 21 in favor of joining the union. “What happens now is really a political and moral question,” said Vivian Rothstein of Respect at LAX, a coalition of labor and community groups.