PFAA Press Release
Washington, D.C. Â March 11, 2003 Â Today the Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA) filed for an election with the National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C. The PFAA is striving to unseat the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as the bargaining representative for the Northwest Airlines flight attendants. With over 11,000 members, the NWA flight attendant group is the largest local in the Teamster Airline Division. The news of their intended secession follows on the heels of IBT''s loss of the Southwest Airlines mechanics and related to AMFA, also an independent union, despite Hoffa''s personal involvement in the election campaign and even a promise to lower their union dues.
This past year Teamsters International President Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., placed the Northwest work group''s local union into trusteeship. According to PFAA spokesperson Gary Helton, Hoffa''s imposition of a trusteeship upon our local forced thousands of co-workers to question the IBT''s motives behind such a heavy handed tactic. You just don''t remove democratically elected officials without solid proof of your actions and not expect a backlash of resentment. Through the successful collection of authorization cards, the NWA work group has begun the process for a complete overhaul and eventual removal of anything remotely related to Hoffa and his organization. Today''s filing clearly illustrates that an overwhelming majority of NWA flight attendants have become disenchanted with the 26 years of disrespectful and undemocratic IBT representation, said Helton.
The PFAA is an independent, skilled craft union that would represent the NWA flight attendants exclusively. PFAA interim president Guy Meek remarked, The Teamsters have been steadily losing members by the thousands, yet independent unions are becoming increasingly popular. Serious efforts are also underway to unseat the Teamsters at Continental Airlines and UPS. Meek, who has assisted in numerous flight attendant contract negotiations, commented, The most successful flight attendant strike in history took place in 1993 at the world''s largest airline--American. The American Airlines flight attendants are now proudly represented by an independent union. When asked to comment on the PFAA, noted airline labor analyst and Macalester College history professor Peter Rachleff said the new union organizers might be signaling to other dissidents within the Teamsters union that they all ought to look at walking away and creating their own organizations. It could be a kind of poking a hole in the dike. With today''s filing, the hole has been poked in the ever weakening dike. The flight attendant members will now have their say, as the National Mediation Board begins its process for notifying the group of an upcoming election.
Washington, D.C. Â March 11, 2003 Â Today the Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA) filed for an election with the National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C. The PFAA is striving to unseat the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as the bargaining representative for the Northwest Airlines flight attendants. With over 11,000 members, the NWA flight attendant group is the largest local in the Teamster Airline Division. The news of their intended secession follows on the heels of IBT''s loss of the Southwest Airlines mechanics and related to AMFA, also an independent union, despite Hoffa''s personal involvement in the election campaign and even a promise to lower their union dues.
This past year Teamsters International President Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., placed the Northwest work group''s local union into trusteeship. According to PFAA spokesperson Gary Helton, Hoffa''s imposition of a trusteeship upon our local forced thousands of co-workers to question the IBT''s motives behind such a heavy handed tactic. You just don''t remove democratically elected officials without solid proof of your actions and not expect a backlash of resentment. Through the successful collection of authorization cards, the NWA work group has begun the process for a complete overhaul and eventual removal of anything remotely related to Hoffa and his organization. Today''s filing clearly illustrates that an overwhelming majority of NWA flight attendants have become disenchanted with the 26 years of disrespectful and undemocratic IBT representation, said Helton.
The PFAA is an independent, skilled craft union that would represent the NWA flight attendants exclusively. PFAA interim president Guy Meek remarked, The Teamsters have been steadily losing members by the thousands, yet independent unions are becoming increasingly popular. Serious efforts are also underway to unseat the Teamsters at Continental Airlines and UPS. Meek, who has assisted in numerous flight attendant contract negotiations, commented, The most successful flight attendant strike in history took place in 1993 at the world''s largest airline--American. The American Airlines flight attendants are now proudly represented by an independent union. When asked to comment on the PFAA, noted airline labor analyst and Macalester College history professor Peter Rachleff said the new union organizers might be signaling to other dissidents within the Teamsters union that they all ought to look at walking away and creating their own organizations. It could be a kind of poking a hole in the dike. With today''s filing, the hole has been poked in the ever weakening dike. The flight attendant members will now have their say, as the National Mediation Board begins its process for notifying the group of an upcoming election.