Immigrant Women Will Swarm Reagan National Airport Tuesday

ARLINGTON, VA — Immigrant women and their allies will be protesting at Reagan National Airport on Tuesday to demand "equality, respect and an end to sexual harassment" at the Arlington airport.

Immigrant women, UNITE HERE Local 23 members and "community allies" will be on the Terminal A sidewalk at Reagan National Airport from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, protesting how immigrant women are treated at the airport, according to a statement from the group.

"Immigrant workers at the restaurants and newsstands at Reagan National Airport have been organizing publicly for months," the statement reads. "Conditions for workers at the airports serving the nation’s capital lag far behind thousands of food and retail workers in other U.S. airports. At 62 airports, 35,000 airport food and retail workers have won raises and affordable health insurance by organizing with UNITE HERE."

The protesters will wear red T-shirts with UNITE HERE on them, as well as hold signs that say "I Am Not Afraid."

UNITE HERE says that 17 percent of immigrant mothers experience sexual harassment at work, and 80 percent of them were Ethiopian. Also, just 43 percent of immigrant mothers at the airport haven't been able to take their child to the doctor or dentist because of the cost, and 39 percent have had scheduling requests denied for personal illness or a doctor's appointment, the statement says, adding that 16 percent of mothers hadn't been able to afford enough food for their child.

Image via Wikimedia user Jonathunder