This week, O’Hare Airport cabin cleaners, baggage handlers, janitors, and wheelchair attendants, joined by Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and SEIU Local 1, outlined major violations of standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. The workers who are in the process of filing OSHA complaints allege that the major violations are committed by O’Hare contractors Scrub Inc., Prospect Airport Services, and AirServ. Congressman Gutierrez, SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff and airport workers called on the Chicago Department of Aviation to step in and launch an investigation into these contractors and to help ensure airport workers are safe while keeping the world’s fourth-busiest airport running. “From concussions to broken bones, from burns to chemical exposure, O’Hare Airport workers deal with hazardous situations on the job every day,” said SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff. “But without a set standard of safety at O’Hare, and without affordable healthcare to help when these injuries do occur, working people are falling through the cracks at what should be an economic engine for our entire city.” After allegations of rampant wage theft at O’Hare prompted investigation by the city, O’Hare workers are organizing to make their place of work safe. The lack of affordable healthcare offered to O’Hare workers makes any injury on the job even more frightening, and without a voice on the job, these workers have no recourse to address these problems.