CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Charlotte Douglas International Airport service workers plan to go on strike during a busy Thanksgiving travel week to protest what they consider unlivable wages.

ABM and Prospect Airport Services employees vote on Friday to authorize the work stoppage in North Carolina, which is scheduled to begin Monday at 5 a.m.

Officials with the Service Employees International Union announced the impending strike in a statement early Monday, saying workers would demand “an end to poverty wages and respect in the workplace during the holiday period.”

ABM and Prospect Airport Services contract with American Airlines to provide services including cleaning aircraft interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs.

Workers say they have already sounded the alarm over their growing inability to pay for basic necessities, including food and housing. They described living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover expenses such as auto repairs while performing work that keeps countless planes running on schedule.

“We are on strike today because it is our last resort. We cannot continue to live like this,” Priscilla Hoyle, a housekeeper at ABM, said in a statement. “We are acting because our families cannot survive. »

Several hundred workers were expected to leave their jobs and continue the work stoppage throughout the day Monday.

Most of them earn between $12.50 and $19 an hour, which is well below the living wage for a single person without children in the Charlotte area, union officials said.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials said this holiday travel season is expected to be the busiest on record, with about 1.02 million passengers leaving the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.

In addition to walking off their jobs, the strikers plan to hold a rally at 11 a.m. and a “strike” lunch at 1 p.m. “in place of the Thanksgiving meal that many workers will not be able to afford later this week.” , declared the union. » officials said.

“Airport service workers make vacation travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean and operating,” the union said. “Despite their critical role in driving the profits enjoyed by large corporations, many airport service workers must work two or three jobs to make ends meet. »

ABM said it would take steps to minimize disruption from any protests.

“At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members do every day to support our customers and help keep spaces clean and people healthy,” the company said in a statement last week.

Prospect Airport Services said last week that the company recognized the seriousness of the strike risk during the busy holiday travel period.