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Airline Food Workers Vote To Authorize Strike If Negotiations Fail

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As summer travel season takes off, airline food workers are threatening to strike.

Union members at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport joined workers in 20 other cities who make the food for American, United and Delta Air Lines, overwhelmingly voting to strike if negotiations don't find a common ground soon.

In all, about 11,000 airline food workers are voting on the issue this week. These ballots represent a first step towards a potential strike.

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They say many of them make just $12 an hour, and their health care costs are too high.

CBS News reports that the airline workers will still need an official release from the National Mediation Board to legally call a strike. As opposed to most in the private sector, transportation-related jobs are covered by the Railway Labor Act, intended to prevent disruptions in the travel industry due to its potential impact on interstate commerce.

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