By cbslocal.com
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has fired a company that cleans many airplanes at Miami International Airport.
The mayor ended the contract of Eulen America, a company beset by allegations of worker abuse and intimidation.
Those allegations were the subject of an extensive investigation by CBS4’s Jim DeFede.
Miami-Dade commissioner Eileen Higgins had called for the contract to be ended. Higgins says she saw first-hand Eulen employees who were being bullied during an airport tour.
Eulen’s CEO Xavi Rabell released the following statement: “Mayor Levine Cava has issued a memo cancelling our permit to operate at Miami International Airport for convenience. This means she has done so without having to give Eulen America any reason or prior notice.
“We are deeply disappointed and frankly concerned that Mayor Levine Cava has taken this surprise action against our company. This puts the jobs of more than 900 of our employees at MIA in jeopardy during a global pandemic and the worst economic downturn in the history of the aviation industry.
“We have tried to reach the Mayor, however, she has refused our numerous attempts to speak with her to reach a resolution to the surprising and devastating action. What’s odd to us is that our permit to operate at MIA was just renewed in November 2020.
“In addition, there have been no recent issues that any Miami-Dade County or Miami International Airport officials have told us needed to be corrected. Let me be absolutely clear. Eulen America is willing to find a way to save the jobs of the more than 900 employees at MIA that Mayor Levine Cava’s surprise action will take away, further hurting families already struggling through this pandemic. Her timing could not be worse, and we cannot imagine any rationale which would support her abrupt and unjustifiable decision.”
