Airline Catering Workers Are Protesting at JFK During Peak Thanksgiving Rush

Gate Gourmet and Sky Chefs will picket

In the midst of the Thanksgiving travel rush, airline catering workers plan to protest today at JFK, potentially disrupting travel in their fight for better wages and benefits. Specifically, workers will “call on American Airlines to take urgent and necessary steps to ensure that workers who cater inflight meals and beverages are able to escape poverty and access decent medical care,” according to a spokesperson for protesters from Unite Here Local 100, which represents the workers.

The employees of food service subcontractors LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet plan to block airport roads and stage sit-ins around ticket counters in pre-security areas. The effort is national, with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Philadelphia airports also facing protests. At JFK, workers will stage a “die-in” at American Airlines’ Terminal 8 and an “informational picket.” CNBC spoke to one worker who makes $18 an hour driving a catering truck at JFK for LSG Sky Chefs. “Eighteen dollars in New York is nothing,” the worker, Robert Ortiz, told CNBC — he wants at least $22. “We know what we deserve. We’re not asking that much.”

Representatives for Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet say negotiations are ongoing, and gesture toward talks to be held in December.

Hot chocolate from City Bakery lives on

Maury Rubin, the founder and former CEO of erstwhile City Bakery, is still reportedly carrying on with his hot chocolate tradition. The Maury Rubin Me and My Hot Chocolate Tour will take him and his frothy beverage to Zabar’s, Essex Market, and the rink at 30 Rock this season. The first stop is this Friday at Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream, from noon until he sells out.

In other news

— More Holiday pop-up bars are joining the festivities, including one at the East Village Tavern that’s styled after The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. For an idea of the vibe, consider that complementary red and green jello shots will be passed out hourly.

— This is what Little Italy looked like when Netflix had it “de-aged” to 1974 in a promo for their new mob film, The Irishman.

— Area couple with a death wish hosts West Village Thanksgiving for people they met on Reddit.

— A new book on cocktails called Last Call by Brad Thomas Parsons reportedly includes a deep dive into the NYC invention of the cosmopolitan by Toby Cecchini at the Odeon.

— Beware: