HUNDREDS of service workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport have gone on strike during a busy week of Thanksgiving travel to protest against low wages.

Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots on Friday to authorise the work stoppage in North Carolina, which a spokesperson said began this morning.

Officials with Service Employees International Union announced the strike early today, saying that the workers would demand “an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.”

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

ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said: “This is a last resort. We’re taking action because our families can’t survive.”

Most of the workers earn between $12.50 and $19 (between £10 and £15) an hour — well below the living wage for a single person with no children in the Charlotte area, union officials said.

The Thanksgiving holiday travel season is expected to be the busiest on record, with an estimated 1.02 million passengers departing the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.

ABM said in a statement last week: “We appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our clients and help keep spaces clean and people healthy.”