(Reuters) -Southwest Airlines Co said on Tuesday it had reached a tentative agreement with the union that represents about 17,120 transport workers who handle ramp, operations, provisioning and cargo.
The workers will now earn $36.72 per hour, higher than the hourly wages at United Airlines Holdings and Delta Air Lines Inc, based on the tentative agreement uploaded on Transport Workers Union Local 555’s website.
The contract also meets the union’s other demands such as improvement in retirement medical coverage, increasing the company’s 401(k) match and additional holidays at premium pay rates.
In the past two years, unions across the aerospace, construction, airline and rail industries have put up fights for higher wages and more benefits in a tight labor market.
Recently, pilots at rival Delta Air Lines and American Airlines also reached new labor agreements with the companies, while Southwest is yet to strike a new deal with its pilots.
In June, Southwest agreed to a tentative agreement with its more than 2,800 mechanics and related employees.
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(Reporting by Ananta agarwal; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Shinjini Ganguli)