Hundreds of workers at the Big Apple’s airports are constantly risking their lives due to deplorable unsafe working conditions, according to a major complaint.
Fed-up Alliance Ground International workers gathered outside John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday to share shocking news about their time at an airline and tarmac they say doesn’t care about its workers.
“Every day I come to work, I wonder if I’m going to make it home safe at the end of my shift. A lot of the stuff we use is old, broken, and not really safe,” said John Mosquera, who has worked as an AGI ramp agent with Frontier Airlines in LGA for nearly two years.
Mosquera, from the Bronx, told the crowd that he died on the job during a hot streak last summer after being forced to load bags into the belly of an airless plane.
“No one should risk their life or their health just to earn a minimum wage. We all deserve to work with dignity and make a home a home for our family… No purse, plane and no company is worth our life.”
The meeting comes one week after SEIU Local 32BJ filed two official “bombshell” complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on behalf of 21 different AGI workers throughout the JFK and LGA.
These non-union workers have filed a number of allegations against AGI including malfunctioning brakes, existing injuries, vehicles in unsatisfactory condition, unsafe working conditions, lack of mirrors in vehicles, lack of training and more.
At JFK in particular, workers are often exposed to hazards up to 30 feet without fall protection, the complaints say.
At LGA, workers are allegedly forced to share protective gear and face shields that are not regularly cleaned and are used to rent aircraft wash tanks.
“AGI doesn’t care about workers, they care about money. This winter has been long and cruel. My colleagues and I spent many hours working in the freezing cold. It didn’t matter if we were cold, tired, sick or tired. We still had to show up to do this work because we have families who depend on us,” said Shadequia Mercer, who worked at AGI on the road for two years at Spirit working for the non-working Airlines in Lagdia. last week.
Mercer said AGI had little sympathy for its workers when Spirit closed, saying many were still waiting to be paid.
“Workers are still fighting to get the leave we’ve already got … people with families, debts, children, health issues, and responsibilities, people who deserve to be treated like human beings,” she said.
These complaints come a few weeks after AGI was named in the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) “Dirty Dozen” list of companies that interfere with occupational safety.
AGI entered the list because of broken equipment, because of injuries, because of contaminated PPI, because of untrained workers but also because of the risk of excessive heat, according to Charlene Obernauer, Executive Director of the New York Committee for Occupational Health and Safety.
In April 2026, AGI was named to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health’s “Dirty Dozen” list of companies with significant occupational safety issues.
The company is still under investigation by the National Labor Relations Board following a complaint by Garvey Barrett, a baggage handler at AGI in LGA, who said he was stopped for asking for water on one of the hottest days in 2025.
“We are here today because the JFK and LaGuardia workers at AGI are really fighting for their lives,” said Manny Pastreich, president of SEIU Local 32BJ.
“Definitely this will wake up AGI because safety at work is very important. Today is a milestone because these allegations of gunfire will be investigated.”
