Placards dance and songs fly at protest over firing of restaurant workers. : Spirits Soar as Protests Meet at Airport

For a double-barreled labor action, there was an unusual amount of singing, laughing and joking--and not a single arrest.

Former food service employees at Burbank Airport were serious about their sit-in at the airport Wednesday morning in an attempt to get their jobs back.

But circumstances overwhelmed the gravity of the occasion.

About 35 food-service employees--who staffed the airport bar and restaurant, and prepared meals for airlines to serve to passengers--lost their jobs at midnight Tuesday when Host International took over the airport’s food concession from Greyhound Food Management.

Just before 9 a.m., three women and a man sat down in the entrance to the airport restaurant, which was opening for its first day under Host International management. Carrying signs that read “Jobs, Not Unemployment” and “Boycott Host,” they sang variations, with verses suited to the occasion, of the protest songs “We Shall Overcome” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around.”

The four were not actually former airport workers, but representatives of their union, Local 11 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union.

“We didn’t want to use real workers because that might affect their chances for employment,” union representative Lupe Cruz said.

Shortly afterwards, another union opened a second front.

A non-union camera crew was covering the sit-in for NBC-TV news, where the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees and Technicians is on strike. Three NABET pickets showed up and began picketing the camera crew.

The restaurant-union protesters, who managed to sing virtually non-stop for an hour, improvised verses in support of the striking camera operators, drawing thumbs-up gestures of support and smiles. Word that pickets were protesting a news crew covering a protest spread through the airport, drawing a crowd of laughing spectators.

“What next?” exclaimed T. E. Greer, the airport manager. “This is becoming the best show in town. I feel like getting out a sign myself.”

Restaurant union representatives said they hoped the sit-in would lead to the arrest of the protesters. But police were uncooperative.

The airport’s former police officers lost their arrest powers in May, when it was discovered that the department was not created in accordance with state law, and were downgraded to security guards and traffic officers.

“They don’t look like they’re hurting anyone to me,” said Lt. Duane Dow, labor relations officer with the Burbank Police Department, which is now responsible for the airport.

“They’re on private property in a labor dispute. The public does not appear to be in danger. Management and union rights are being upheld. Unless something happens, or somebody wants to make a citizen’s arrest, I think we’ll just leave them alone,” he said with a smile.

“We think the best thing to do is just let it happen so they can voice their opinion,” airport spokesman Victor Gill said.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which runs the airport, last month requested that Host International give preference to Greyhound employees in hiring workers for the takeover, and to hold recruiting sessions at the airport for their convenience.

The union had complained that Host International advertised for new workers without giving Greyhound employees a chance to apply first. But Charles Conine, Host International vice president, said in a letter to the commission that Greyhound workers were given first notice of the job openings and that the company held two recruiting sessions at the airport in June.

Val Delaney, Host International regional vice president, said in an interview that only about 20 of the Greyhound employees applied to continue in their jobs. Fourteen were hired, he said, and the others were told they would receive preference for future jobs at Burbank Airport and any openings at Los Angeles International Airport, where Host International runs a much larger food-service operation.

“They’re complaining we fired them,” Delaney said of the protesters. “We didn’t fire anyone. They never worked for us.”

The protest broke up after an hour on a note of civility all around. Even the picketing cameramen stopped to chat with the non-striking TV crew.

Airport restaurant customers and would-be customers were the exception to the rule of good humor.

Although many persons who appeared to be prospective customers turned away at the sight of the protesters, others stepped over them. Eight customers were inside when the protest ended.

“This is crazy,” complained Elsie Crane of Pasadena, as her husband Robert passed bags over the heads of the singing protesters to exit the restaurant. “We have a plane to catch.”

“I’m about to punch somebody out to get a cup of coffee,” muttered a man in a blue baseball cap. He didn’t.

A spokeswoman for the protesters vowed that they would return every day “and cut into Host International’s business” until all former employees are hired.

“Why not?” airport services manager R. M. Vacar said. “We’ve had live entertainment at Burbank Airport before.”