UNITE HERE Local 11: As LAX Welcomes the World, Los Angeles “Truth Commission” Report Documents Systemic Labor Abuses at Airline Caterer Flying Food Group

Report on City licensee documents fire safety hazards, wage theft, sexual harassment allegations, and retaliation allegations as City Leaders consider license renewal

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With mega-events set to bring tens of millions of visitors through Los Angeles International Airport, a new report endorsed by a distinguished panel of community and labor leaders documents a pattern of serious labor violations at Flying Food Group, an airline catering company that operates under a special license from the City of Los Angeles. The workers at Flying Food Group are represented by UNITE HERE Local 11.

The Report of the Los Angeles Truth Commission on Labor Abuses at Flying Food Group is based on often emotional testimony from fifteen FFG workers and extensive evidence presented at a public hearing convened on April 13, 2026. The Commission was convened as the City considers whether to renew the company’s license next month.

Chaired by Yvonne Wheeler, President of the 800,000-member Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Commission also includes Frank Lima, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Association of Firefighters; Reverend William Smart Jr., President and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Chloe Osmer, Executive Director of the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund; and Kevin Riley, Director of the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (who participated in his personal capacity).

“What is happening at Flying Food Group is not a series of isolated incidents. It is a deeply rooted pattern of worker mistreatment and neglect,” said Commission Chair Yvonne Wheeler. “The testimony I heard makes it abundantly clear that the City must act immediately to hold Flying Food Group accountable.”

Elisa Valencia who works at Flying Food Group and is a member of UNITE HERE Local 11 said: “No one should have to endure the kinds of unsafe and abusive conditions we have endured at Flying Food Group preparing food for wealthy airlines. We have often felt invisible, and we need to be seen and taken seriously.”

Flying Food Group is required to comply with city and state worker protection laws as a condition of maintaining its license, and a company’s compliance history must be considered in determining whether the City renews a license. Given its record of violations, the Commission is urging the City to not renew FFG’s license.

Fire Safety: A Pattern of Locked Doors

The Commission’s most urgent findings concern fire safety. During a fire at the facility on January 22, 2026—the second in four months—after the facility’s other staff were evacuated, two workers were found inside a cooler whose entrance door had been chained shut from the outside. The workers had been shouting and banging on the door to get out until a supervisor finally heard them.

The incident was especially troubling because Cal/OSHA had cited FFG in 2023 for this exact hazard—failing to ensure that refrigerated rooms could be opened from the inside. The Commission also received video evidence showing that FFG bolted shut a facility exit door from the outside on the day of a planned worker picket line in February 2023, resulting in enforcement actions by both Cal/OSHA and the NLRB.

Over $5 Million in Wage Theft Recoveries

The report documents FFG’s long record of wage theft. The Los Angeles Bureau of Contract Administration has issued at least six citations to FFG and its subcontractors for violations of the City’s Living Wage Ordinance since 2022 alone. Over the last decade, FFG has paid workers more than $5 million in settlements and enforcement actions, including a $675,000 state citation for failing to recall workers in accordance with California’s post-COVID return-to-work law.

Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

Seven current and former FFG employees—the “Silence Breakers”—have filed charges with the California Civil Rights Department alleging that FFG failed to protect them from unwanted sexual harassment by a supervisor. The supervisor was not terminated until seven months after the first complaint was filed. Three of the seven women have since filed additional complaints alleging that FFG retaliated against them for coming forward.

The Commission also received evidence that, following a multi-year investigation, the NLRB filed a multi-complaint lawsuit against FFG last year. On the eve of trial, FFG settled and admitted to interrogating workers about their union sympathies, supporting an effort to decertify the union, and other violations—conduct that occurred during and after a worker strike in February 2023.

The Truth Commission report concludes by stating: “A company with a record like this has no business operating with the privilege of a special City license. The Commission urges City leaders to hold its licensees to the standards the law requires.”

The full Truth Commission report is available here.

The Truth Commission report comes on the heels of an independent report by Deborah Greenfield, former Deputy Director-General of the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, and Lance Compa, Senior Lecturer Emeritus at Cornell University, concluding that FFG’s conduct violated ILO core labor standards. Professor Compa also testified before the Commission at the April 13 hearing. The report, entitled “Lax Standards: Assessing Flying Food Group LLC’s Labor Practices under International Labor Standards,” is available here.

UNITE HERE Local 11 represents more than 30,000 workers in airports, hotels, restaurants, sports arenas, convention centers, and other venues throughout Southern California and Arizona.