A planned strike by fuel employees at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens during Memorial Day weekend was averted after Gov. Kathy Hochul intervened to assist settle the labor dispute, The Post has learned.
Teamsters Local 553 — representing 300 employees and mechanics who fuel business and cargo jets on the airport — announced a tentative deal for a latest labor contract with Allied Aviation Services, the private firm that services the planes on the regional airports.
The union had been working with out a latest contract since June 30, 2023, and planned to walk off the job on Friday — the primary day of Memorial Day weekend — potentially leaving unfueled planes stranded on runways.
It was not an idle threat. The union went on strike in 2005 in a dispute over compensation and health care.
Hochul personally called Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton to nudge the parties to interrupt the impasse, and her office also reached out to reps with the Teamsters, a source near the negotiations said.
The Port Authority of Recent York and Recent Jersey oversees the JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports.
Hochul and Recent Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy appointed the leadership that runs the bi-state agency.
“Recent Yorkers have invested their hard-earned money to travel to see their families and friends, and we won’t let those holiday weekend plans get disrupted,” Hochul said in a press release to The Post.
“We’re glad an agreement has been reached, a necessity for a strike averted, and we’re hopeful that the deal will likely be ratified by our members,” said Demos Demopoulos, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 553.
The union declined to debate the main points of the contract until it’s approved by the membership.
A PA spokesperson said, “We’re pleased that the union and the corporate have reached a tentative agreement.”
Brian Xavier, general manager for Allied Aviation Services at JFK airport, declined comment.
A planned strike by fuel employees at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens during Memorial Day weekend was averted after Gov. Kathy Hochul intervened to assist settle the labor dispute, The Post has learned.
Teamsters Local 553 — representing 300 employees and mechanics who fuel business and cargo jets on the airport — announced a tentative deal for a latest labor contract with Allied Aviation Services, the private firm that services the planes on the regional airports.
The union had been working with out a latest contract since June 30, 2023, and planned to walk off the job on Friday — the primary day of Memorial Day weekend — potentially leaving unfueled planes stranded on runways.
It was not an idle threat. The union went on strike in 2005 in a dispute over compensation and health care.
Hochul personally called Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton to nudge the parties to interrupt the impasse, and her office also reached out to reps with the Teamsters, a source near the negotiations said.
The Port Authority of Recent York and Recent Jersey oversees the JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports.
Hochul and Recent Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy appointed the leadership that runs the bi-state agency.
“Recent Yorkers have invested their hard-earned money to travel to see their families and friends, and we won’t let those holiday weekend plans get disrupted,” Hochul said in a press release to The Post.
“We’re glad an agreement has been reached, a necessity for a strike averted, and we’re hopeful that the deal will likely be ratified by our members,” said Demos Demopoulos, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 553.
The union declined to debate the main points of the contract until it’s approved by the membership.
A PA spokesperson said, “We’re pleased that the union and the corporate have reached a tentative agreement.”
Brian Xavier, general manager for Allied Aviation Services at JFK airport, declined comment.
