Workers who prepare and deliver the food served on board major airlines at O’Hare International Airport have voted to authorize a strike as they push for higher wages and more affordable health care in their contracts.


UNITE HERE Local 1, which represents some 1,400 airline catering workers at O’Hare, announced late Thursday that 98% of votes cast went in favor of going on strike if the union can get permission to do so from the National Mediation Board.


The workers, whose responsibilities range from stocking the drink carts to packaging cutlery into plastic sleeves, are employed by LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet, subcontractors that service American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Their vote is the latest in a national campaign by UNITE HERE, which represents some 300,000 hospitality workers in the U.S. and Canada, to authorize strike votes among airline kitchen workers across the country.