Lynner fighting for bag-toting coworkers

LYNN – Tony Pasuy is one man among nine fighting a battle to allow American Airlines passengers to tip Pasuy and his fellow skycaps.The Lynn resident earns $5.15 an hour and since 1993, when he started working for American, he has supplemented his hourly wage with about $200 a day in tips.Pasuy and his fellow curbside baggage checkers claim their tip income dropped by two thirds in 2005 when American instituted a $2 fee for every bag checked in at curbside.Boston attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan filed a lawsuit on behalf of the skycaps and a U.S. District Court judge last month awarded $325,000 in income compensation to Pasuy and other checkers.American is appealing the suit and banning passengers from tipping skycaps. Liss-Riordan filed a motion Thursday in federal court challenging the ban.”We filed a motion after we learned of American Airlines’ illegal retaliation,” said Riordan’s assistant Hillary Schwab.American said in a statement it banned tipping in light of the jury verdict, as well as a new amendment to state wage and hour laws that will make triple damages automatic for companies who do not pay full wages or overtime. The policy does not apply to skycaps at other airports around the country.The airline also said the company it contracts with to provide curbside check-in, G2 Services, will raise the hourly wages of skycaps to $12 to $15 per hour, which is well above the state’s $8-per-hour minimum wage.Don DiFiore, a skycap from Dracut who has worked for American airlines for 25 years, said the pay raise will not nearly make up for the amount of tip money he has lost since American started charging the baggage fee.Liss-Riordan said tipping “is a universal practice among passengers, and this is how skycaps have earned their livings for decades.””Clearly, American’s decision to try to stop people from tipping skycaps is in retaliation against these skycaps who asserted their rights under the state tipping law.”Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said airline officials decided to prohibit tips altogether to ensure the company does not violate the state’s tips and wage laws. He said the policy is ‘in no way” a retaliatory move against the Boston skycaps.”We have to ensure we’re in full compliance because we can’t put ourselves at even more risk,” he said.