Airline service workers at Los Angeles International Airport have voted to authorize a strike, but no immediate work stoppage is expected at the world's fifth largest airport, their union said on Aug. 21.

The workers are seeking higher wages and better benefits, and complain that their employers -- nine companies that contract with major airlines -- have stalled contract negotiations and threatened workers who show support for the union.

"According to the service workers, inadequate training, lack of proper equipment, poverty-level wages and lack of access to healthcare are causing record turnover rates among workers and driving a race to the bottom in service and safety standards," a union statement said.

The strike authorization vote took place on Aug. 20. If the union declares a strike, it could affect not only the Los Angeles airport but also airports in Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco.

However, with labor talks scheduled to resume next week, no immediate work stoppage was expected.

The union also said it was calling on airline giants such as United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines to take a leadership role in calling for higher standards for service and security.

The workers, who earn about US$10 an hour to clean airplanes and perform such services as providing wheelchairs for passengers who need them, are not employed by the airlines, but by sub-contractors.

A 2007 report released by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy found that airlines at Los Angeles International Airport tend to hire contractors that do not adequately train their employees.

In that report, 80 percent of security workers who were surveyed said they were not trained how to spot fake identification cards, and about 75 percent said they were not trained to identify suspicious behavior of passengers and could not spot dangerous items while conducting pre-boarding searches on airplanes.