Colleen Coates was a 55-year-old cabin cleaner at Charlotte Douglas International Airport when she collapsed on a jet bridge while waiting to clean an American Airlines aircraft. She could not be resuscitated. Her death has since become a rallying point for airport contractors demanding safer conditions and basic protections on the job.
Coates had told colleagues before her shift that she was not feeling well, but she came to work anyway because she needed the paycheck, according to the Charlotte Observer. She collapsed on a jet bridge in intense heat while waiting to clean the plane, the paper reported, and was pronounced dead after efforts to revive her failed. Coates worked as a contract employee for ABM, the company that handles cabin cleaning and wheelchair assistance services at the airport, rather than as a direct airport hire, according to Yahoo News.
Weeks after her death, Charlotte airport workers represented by 32BJ SEIU walked out for a one-day unfair labor practice strike, according to Cardinal & Pine, which later reported on the walkout. The strike lasted 24 hours, per WFAE. Around 100 people picketed near the airport that afternoon, including ABM workers, union organizers, community members and political figures, Yahoo News reported.
Workers Demand Safety Protections and Answers on Harassment
Workers signed a petition asking for basic protections and a safe working environment, WFAE reported, along with clearer information about paid time off. The petition also called on ABM to start taking concerns about safety, harassment, verbal abuse and intimidation seriously, according to the same report.
ABM responded that the safety and well-being of its team members remain fundamental to its operations, and that the company remains committed to safe working conditions and competitive wages and benefits, the station's report said. The strike highlighted broader concerns about working conditions for cabin cleaners, who workers say should not have to choose between protecting their health and keeping their jobs.
Years of Complaints About Heat, Water and Staffing
The Wednesday strike was not the first labor action at the airport. ABM workers last struck during the Thanksgiving holidays in 2024, according to Spectrum News, and Charlotte airport workers held a separate one-day strike during the 2024 Thanksgiving travel period to push for better wages and working conditions, per the Charlotte Post.
Complaints about heat exposure at the airport go back years. In 2023, cabin cleaners working for Jetstream described conditions where the heat index could exceed 100 degrees, according to a prior WFAE report. One Jetstream worker said the company sometimes provided only two cases of water, a few dozen bottles, for a shift of 150 people, and workers said they carried trash bags weighing between 20 and 70 pounds across the tarmac. Jetstream workers in Charlotte had unionized that May and planned a joint march with colleagues in Dallas and Phoenix for better pay and conditions.
Survey Found Workers Showing Up Sick
A report released by SEIU 32BJ in April said low pay, faulty equipment and high turnover at Charlotte Douglas put both workers and passengers at risk. More than 70 percent of surveyed workers said they had come to work sick, according to the union's findings.
Heat Exposure Can Harm Workers
OSHA has said heat stress can impair worker performance and that heat illness can lead to lost productivity, hospitalization and, in some cases, death, according to the agency's rulemaking page.
North Carolina's Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina is set out in Article 16 of Chapter 95, according to the state legislature's statute. For now, the push for change at Charlotte Douglas rests largely with the workers themselves, their union and the pressure built by walkouts like Wednesday's.
