That would have more to do with how the contract negotiations and member vote went. Not, simply because the work force was under one union.
Union Decertification--CWA Thread 1/29 to 2/5
- Thread starter wench1
- Start date
That would have more to do with how the contract negotiations and member vote went. Not, simply because the work force was under one union.
Yep and you know who put it out to vote and let the hubs and focus cities decide on small and medium cities fate. I don’t want to have any thing to due with an union that did this .Too much water under the bridge to go back now unless there’s a merge then all bets are off, Some days I wish I could throw bags or sit in ops and due W/B I used to love doing it all
tea42
Advanced
Wench,
I am not laughing....why couldn't we just try to go all IBT-Teamsters? How would this work? Teamsters represent those west of the Mississippi. How can this be done so we all are represented by the IBT? I don't know if it would be any better but this thought has been running in my head for months now. They may try to tell us we are now the "association" but , hell, the "association" doesn't communicate...currently they don't agree on the boarding process so east of the river has an arbitration but west doesn't....does ths even make sense? Thought we were one??? Every union person I have talked to has never heard of what the pax service group did---form an "association". CLearly, it is screwed up. The whole point of becoming union was to be on one page....this has not happened.
The reason the 'association' was formed between IBT/CWA was simply because if there was a runoff election between the two and the election did not garner enough of votes for either then the union representation for Cust Svc would have been dissolved and we would not have had a union at all. Both sides agreed that they didn't feel either would win, so by teaming up we now have 2 unions going to bat for the members.
I realize that you may have issues with CWA, but I believe the west was still without a contract under the Teamsters with AWA for quite some time, and also the 'association' created a large boost to the incomes of the west group by assuming the payscales of the east.
I am a CWA executive board member and I have had issues both positive and negative with this union, but then again who on any of these posts throughout this whole forum does not have issues with their respective union.
Everyone needs to come together and work together as a 'unionized' group instead of being divided and conquered. That is the only way any union will flourish and thrive. If we end up without a union down the road, god bless everyone, because like the company did back in 1991, they took our pensions without any recourse and we weren't unionized to fight it, while the other union groups held on to theirs until the unforseen bankruptcies occurred 14 yrs later. We will be taken full advantage of and there would be no way to fight it but quit the company. Just my opinion.
leprechaun
Senior
Your on the CWA executive board? I find it interesting you can post on this board, but you can't comunicate with your memebership. Right now, the CWA is about nothing but grabbing dues. Cohen spoons nightly with Dougie. The CWA leadership is no better than US management.
tea42
Advanced
Thank you!!! Nicely said!! We get communication after the LOA's have been voted on ---and not by the members. Other than that the communication is null and void.
Im sorry, I should have been more clear. I am on the Executive Board for one of the Locals, not the National Board. We do communicate with our members in our local, if your local board or president does not, then i suggest you contact them and ask for updates.
Do you get involved with your local? Im sure they need shop stewards. This is the part where i reiterate how important it is for the members to be involved so the 'union' flourishes and becomes stronger. Sitting on this forum complaining about your union, while you sit back and do nothing to better it is my case in point. No matter what union you put into place they will always fail if no one gets involved. There is no magic here.
tea42
Advanced
I do believe in getting involved but why should I have to ask my local for updates? They should be getting them to us. OUr cty has never even met our local rep...always to "busy". The updates we get are the ones we stumble across by accident.
I see you show yourself as being from PHX. Is your city part of the IBT where u work at now?...or did you move out east and are part of CWA.....if your part of the CWA I have no problem getting in touch with the people running your local and advising them of your situation and lack of information being given. If your out west and are part of the IBT then I can only suggest you contact your Local President and demand that you want some increased contact and information that come with the dues that you are paying to be represented.
I have been on my local's board for over 7 yrs now and i have seen both good and bad presidents come and go. Some get elected and have no idea what it takes to be a good leader and the local suffers. If I can be of some help please let me know, but i am on the CWA side of the association, not IBT. You can send a personal msg directly to my message box instead of displaying your information publicly on this forum.
If wasn’t for the CWA were would the HP’er IBT be right now
Same place as HP’es AFA no new contract, IAM/TWU no new contract,ALPA no new contact. If you are in fact IBT you better look at what CWA hand deliver you and consider what the east had to do for you to receive those raise
[We get communication after the LOA's have been voted on ---and not by the members. Other than that the communication is null and void.
[/quote]
Here is a little history lesion for you newbe how is this for communication
US Airways Passenger Service Employees File for Federal MediationMay 3, 1999US Airways passenger service employees have turned to federal mediation to help resolve the remaining issues in their first-contract negotiations with airline management. The formal request for assistance was filed with the National Mediation Board today. The 10,000 passenger service employees voted for representation by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in the fall of 1997 and contract talks have been going on since December of that year. The next bargaining session is scheduled for May 18-21 in Washington, D.C. The group includes airport ticket, baggage and gate agents, reservations agents, US Airways Club representatives, special assist agents and city ticket office agents. The employees work at each airport serviced by US Airways and at seven reservations sales offices around the country. The group is largely female (about 70 percent), and it is the only employee group at US Airways that has not had a salary increase since 1992, according to CWA.
CWA to Continue Negotiations for Agents at US AirwaysMay 28, 1999Passenger service representatives at US Airways, despite today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals, will continue to bargain for a first contract and fairness at the airline. The Communications Workers of America, which represents some 10,000 agents at the airline, has been bargaining with US Airways and is very close to completing negotiations for that contract. "We take Stephen Wolf, the airline's chief executive officer, at his word when he says, as he did just days ago at the airline's shareholders' meeting, that `I hope that we can conclude our discussions with the CWA in the near future,'" the union said. Passenger service agents have not had a pay raise in nearly seven years; their pension and other benefits have been frozen as well, a situation that Wolf also acknowledged at the shareholders' meeting. This lawsuit may be a delaying tactic, but it won't stop the momentum agents have built to gain a real voice at US Airways. CWA will pursue any legal and procedural steps necessary to bring this contract to a conclusion. ###
CWA Calls for Expedited Election at US AirwaysJune 3, 1999The Communications Workers of America today filed for an immediate rerun representation election for passenger service representatives at US Airways and called on the National Mediation Board to set an election date with ballots to go out July 1. CWA had just about concluded bargaining with US Airways for a first contract covering some 10,000 passenger service agents when a federal appeals court last week invalidated the representation election won by CWA in Sept. 1997. The ruling was based on the airline's challenge of the rules the NMB set for the second election. "It's unfortunate that this legal maneuvering is standing in the way of a fair contract for passenger service professionals," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "We urge the NMB to move quickly and send out the ballots for a new election by July 1. Then we can get back to the business of negotiating and finalizing the contract that agents have worked so hard to achieve," he said. Although 84 percent of the employees have signed union membership cards, the airline denied CWA's request to voluntarily recognize the union, thus making a new election necessary. Bargaining between CWA and US Airways got underway in December 1997, following the vote for CWA representation in September 1997. The passenger service agents are the only major employee group at the airline not covered by a union contract, and their wages, benefits and working conditions are far below that of the pilots, flight attendants, machinists and now ramp workers. Agents haven't had a pay raise in nearly seven years and many are working under a two-tier system of benefits that US Airways imposed on part-time workers. On June 1, management announced it would implement some improvements in employees' wages and benefits, changes already agreed to in bargaining with CWA. US Airways Agents Vote Big for CWA
October 1, 1999US Airways passenger service professionals, having sent management an overwhelming message in the recent rerun election, now are working to wrap up negotiations on a first contract. In the Aug. 20 vote, agents reaffirmed what they and management already knew: that US Airways passenger service employees wanted CWA representation and a contract. Of the 7,806 employees eligible to vote in this election, 5,254, or 67 percent, returned ballots for union representation, a huge margin under the restrictive Railway Labor Act rules. "Agents sent management a clear message. Now it's time for management to listen." -CWA President Morton Bahr- From Pittsburgh to Charlotte to San Diego, employees celebrated their victory. Glenn R. Johnson, a customer service agent in Tampa, said, "I hope the company now understands that our group is informed, intelligent, organized and looking forward to having our work rules agreed to and signed by both parties." Passenger service agents first voted for CWA representation two years ago, but legal maneuvering and an appeal by the airline of the National Mediation Board rules for that election resulted in the second rerun vote. Since September 1997, agents have been building their union, electing a network of 600 stewards - trained and supported by CWA, to help handle workplace issues and address concerns about job safety - and a bargaining council. After 18 months of bargaining, CWA had won agreement from management on about 90 percent of contract issues. Some, such as the seniority protections passenger service employees had long sought but were denied by management, took effect while negotiations continued. Until negotiations were interrupted last May, passenger service bargainers had negotiated agreement with management on a new holiday/vacation/sick day plan, a new grievance and arbitration procedure, overtime provisions and many other issues. But the company halted bargaining following a federal appeals court decision which questioned two of the five reasons cited by the NMB as cause for the first rerun election. The NMB then ordered an expedited rerun election. On June 1, management unilaterally implemented many of the improvements it agreed to in bargaining, and increased the pay of passenger service workers for the first time in nearly seven years. But this effort to stop the momentum for a union voice fell flat, and workers voted for CWA representation at a level 13 percent above their last "CWA yes" vote. Bargaining will build on the new wages and benefits that agents now have. Negotiations will resume for two consecutive weeks beginning Oct. 11, and the bargaining council plans to promptly resolve the outstanding issues, which include understaffing, retirement improvements, job security in the event of a merger or sale and premium wage issues, among others. Bargaining will be held at a neutral location, with the assistance of a federal mediator.
CWA-US Airways Talks at Critical StageNovember 1, 1999AT CWA NEWS PRESS TIME in late October, negotiations with US Airways on behalf of 10,600 passenger service agents were at a critical stage where the talks could either be heading toward a quick agreement or toward a union request for a 30-day "cooling off period" as a prelude to a possible job action. CWA's bargaining team has been pressing to wrap up a first contract covering reservations, ticket and gate agents at the airline after on-and-off talks for two years. Negotiations resumed in October after breaking off in late May, when management pursued a legal challenge and forced a rerun representation election which CWA won handily. Now, less than 15 percent of the contract remains to be worked out. But management returned to the bargaining table with a takeaway proposal on "pay parity" with other airlines - one that would actually impose a three-year pay freeze on agents who already had suffered through a seven-year pay freeze before wages were increased June 1. Under management's proposal, when passenger service employees at other carriers receive an annual 2 percent wage increase, US Airways agents' pay would remain frozen. Management also is trying to contract out as much as 50 percent of the work done by reservations agents and is seeking to transfer work that should be done by agents to other non-management employees. Key issues for CWA members include job security in the event of a sale or merger, retirement improvements and the restoration of seniority to former "e-scale" employees. A recent membership survey found these to be top concerns for agents, along with additional job safety protections and family medical benefits. The mechanics have reached a new agreement with US Airways, but flight attendants, members of the Association of Flight Attendants, are growing frustrated over the lack of progress in their talks, which have stretched on for more than 1,000 days. The AFA has not yet requested a release from mediation. CWA is supporting the attendants in their contract fight.
CWA Gains First Contract for 10,600 US Airways AgentsNovember 4, 1999The Communications Workers of America has reached a first contract for 10,600 passenger service agents at US Airways that meets all major bargaining goals, including a substantial parity pay increase, strong job security provisions, retirement improvements and a significant employer contribution to family health benefits for part-time workers. The five-year agreement is expected to boost hourly top pay to more than $20.90 next June, based on industry pay projections, under a pay parity agreement that ensures that passenger service agents at US Airways will lead the industry in compensation. By the end of this agreement, agents should reach an hourly rate of more than $22, the union said. The settlement also includes important job security protections for agents in the event that US Airways is involved in a sale or merger, calls for a company payment ranging from 4-10 percent of salary to workers' base retirement accounts, and provides for 50 percent of family health care benefit premium costs for part-time workers to be paid by US Airways. Up until now, part-time workers had to pay the full costs of family medical benefits, a premium cost that exceeded $300 a month. CWA President Morton Bahr said passenger service employees worked hard to "achieve a fair contract that substantially improves their pay, working conditions and job security. This agreement also recognizes their dedication, contribution and commitment to the success of US Airways." Members will vote on the agreement in a mail ratification process, with contract explanation meetings and conference calls to be held among agents in airport and reservation center locations. A packet including the proposed contract and materials explaining the provisions will be mailed to members in about a week. CWA credited the National Mediation Board for its assistance in the bargaining process.
Communications Workers of America Seeks Mediation in Bargaining Dispute with US Airways: Cites Impasse over Job Security and Pay Issues for Dividend Miles and Baggage Call Center AgentsSeptember 12, 2000WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Communications Workers of America today asked the National Mediation Board to assign a federal mediator to help resolve a bargaining impasse in talks for US Airways passenger service agents at the airline's Dividend Miles Service Center in Winston-Salem and its Baggage Call Center in Pittsburgh.Key issues in the dispute include the airline management's substandard wage proposal for these agents as well as its insistence on contract language that would allow it to eliminate their jobs and subcontract the work.The approximately 160 employees in Winston-Salem, who handle dividend awards and customer questions concerning the frequent flier program, and another 50 in Pittsburgh who trace lost baggage, earn a top rate of $16 an hour as compared to more than $21 an hour for the 11,000 other passenger service agents CWA represents. The other agents covered by CWA's contract also are protected against subcontracting of their work.CWA charged that US Airways has refused the union's offer to turn the issues over to an impartial arbitrator."The talks have dragged on for six months over issues that could be quickly resolved, and now the workers' future is at stake with the pending merger of US Airways and United," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "We're determined that they must have the protection of a union contract before any merger takes place." If mediation is not successful, CWA could petition to be released from the process and allowed to take job actions up to and including a strike.
Statement by CWA President Morton Bahr on the Senate's Refusal to Include Relief for Airline Workers in the Aviation Security BillOctober 12, 2001There is no question that a strong majority of lawmakers in the Senate supports relief and assistance for airline workers who have been left jobless because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Yet a minority of senators – with the backing of the White House – succeeded in blocking assistance to some 140,000 airline workers who find themselves out of work and facing a grim economic future. Congress responded quickly with a $15 billion bailout of the airline industry. But airline workers who need help now are being told by this minority of lawmakers to wait on some vague promise of relief that might come next month, or next year. By refusing to include extended unemployment aid, health care assistance and job training in the airline security bill, the Senate is telling workers that their well-being just doesn't matter that much. Fortunately, a majority of senators is committed to fighting for real relief for airline workers, and CWA will continue to work with these lawmakers to make sure these workers and their families get the help they deserve.
CWA Presses Congress for Relief for Airline WorkersOctober 3, 2001The Communications Workers of America, representing 10,600 passenger service agents at US Airways, is pressing Congress to enact unemployment and health care relief for airline workers who are losing their jobs. CWA President Morton Bahr and US Airways workers joined Sen. Edward Kennedy and other members of Congress fighting for relief for airline workers, along with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and members and officers of other airline unions, at a news conference and "speak out" on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Oct. 3. US Airways members from Dayton, Ohio; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia; Indianapolis; Syracuse, N.Y., and the Washington metropolitan area joined the news conference, then met with congressional representatives and staff to gain support for the worker relief plan. CWA successfully pressed US Airways to abide by its contract and pay workers the furlough assistance and other benefits they are entitled to; some major carriers tried to invoke a "war emergency" clause to abrogate their responsibilities to workers. "Airline workers have been completely left out of the $15 billion bailout given to the industry and Congress must right this wrong," Bahr said. "This damage to workers has been compounded by some carriers who sought to deny workers their rightful pay or furlough assistance." "Now, there is an urgent need to help provide health insurance coverage, job search assistance and extended unemployment benefits for the 100,000 workers who may lose their jobs," Bahr stressed. House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt and Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), Melissa Hart (R-Pa.) and Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) have introduced legislation to provide this needed relief for airline workers. In the Senate, Sen. Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.) has introduced a companion measure that calls for additional weeks of jobless benefits, health care coverage and job training for airline workers, especially those who are part-time or temporary workers and not eligible for unemployment compensation under current law.
US Airways Workers’ Benefits GuaranteedOctober 1, 2001CWA, which represents passenger service employees at US Airways, won assurances that the airline will honor its contract covering some 10,600 agents and will pay furlough assistance to workers laid off in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. CWA President Morton Bahr had several conversations with US Airways’ top officer, Stephen Wolf, pressing him to keep the carrier’s commitment to workers. Some major airlines are attempting to use war emergency “loopholes†to avoid paying furlough assistance, despite congressional passage of the $15 billion relief package. CWA and other unions representing airline employees also are calling on Congress to provide disaster adjustment assistance that would directly aid the 100,000 airline workers who are losing their jobs. Bahr met with House and Senate Democratic leaders to work out a program that would include continuing health care coverage, extended unemployment compensation, training and job search assistance. Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle and House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt are pressing for relief for airline and other workers. In announcing the layoffs, US Airways said it will close three reservations centers — Dayton, Ohio, Indianapolis, Ind., and Syracuse, N.Y. Additionally, the airline announced last month it would close its San Diego reservation center. Layoffs at US Airways could involve 2,000 passenger service employees, though the numbers had not been finalized by late September.
CWA: Fairness Needed in US Airways TalksJuly 9, 2002Washington, D.C. – Over the past several weeks, the Communications Workers of America has been trying to reach a fair and reasonable settlement over cost-cutting measures with US Airways management on behalf of the 10,000 passenger service employees the union represents. The talks have been frustrated by management's unreasonable demands and its unwillingness to acknowledge the high productivity rates and substantial sacrifices this work group already has made, far exceeding the other employee groups, CWA said. "Many of management's demands would result in passenger service agents subsidizing the health care and pension benefits of other higher-paid employees – even benefits that the airline's ticket, gate and reservations agents do not receive," said Chris Fox, a reservations agent and president of CWA Local 13302 and a member of the bargaining team. CWA has offered four separate salary reduction proposals, all of which were dismissed by management as "not enough." US Airways management has shown no willingness to meet half-way, including on the latest proposal by CWA which included salary and medical care reductions of $17,000 per agent at top rate through 2008, the union noted. Management demands – including cuts in salary and benefits – seek to wring more than $96,000 per agent at top rate over the same period, a fully unreasonable bargaining position, said Tom Wilson, a US Airways agent and acting president of CWA Local 13100, also a member of the union bargaining team. This round of cost-cutting is the second that the passenger service group has been forced to undergo. No other employee group has provided this degree of financial sacrifice to the airline, CWA pointed out. Before passenger service workers gained CWA representation in 1999, their defined benefit pension plan was frozen in 1990, with newer hires not eligible for even the frozen benefits. Also, their post-Medicare health care and drug coverage was eliminated and a 10-year wage freeze was imposed. This amounts to a substantial contribution by agents, but one that management has dismissed as "old news." US Airways management acknowledges that the productivity of its passenger service group leads the industry, but continues to press these agents who are among the lower-paid employees at the airline, for an unreasonable level of additional sacrifice. Under the medical benefit plan management is pressing, all employees, including agents earning on average $38,000 a year and pilots earning an average of $233,000 a year, would pay the same premiums and charges. However, passenger service workers also would be subsidizing the post-Medicare medical and drug coverage of higher paid employees, while management refuses to extend that coverage to passenger service workers, CWA pointed out. Similarly, management's demands for salary and benefit cuts would pay for continuing the defined benefit pension plan that our members cannot participate in, the union said. Another bargaining team member, Cathy Bumgarner, a reservations agent and president of CWA Local 3640, summed up the agents' position: "Our message to US Airways to very clear. CWA members want our airline to survive and we want to play our part in keeping our airline operating. But management has to get serious and work out a fair settlement with us. We've sacrificed for US Airways in the past and are willing to do so again, but we cannot participate at the same level as the more highly paid employee groups, who have more generous benefit packages and have not made the level of sacrifice our members already have. We can't give what we don't have.
" US Airways Agents Reject Unfair DemandsJuly 19, 2002CWA passenger agents at US Airways members want management to meet them halfway as both sides bargain over the airline’s cost-cutting demands. A survey of agents, conducted for CWA, found that nearly three-quarters of the agents are unwilling to accept the steep concession demands US Airways management is making. The company is seeking to roll back top rate hourly wages from $22.05 to $17.88, which would return agents to the wage rates of the late 1980s. Management is demanding excessive cuts of more than $96,000 per agent through 2008. CWA has proposed salary and medical care cuts of $17,000 per agent at the top rate for the same period, an offer management dismissed as “not enough.†Agents want US Airways to survive and “we want to play our part in keeping our airline operating. But we cannot participate at the same level as the more highly paid employee groups who have more generous benefit packages and who have not made the level of sacrifice our members already have made,†said Cathy Bumgarner, president of CWA Local 3640 and a member of the negotiating team. Before passenger service agents gained CWA representation in 1999, they suffered the loss of their pension plan, elimination of post-Medicare health care and drug coverage and a 10-year wage freeze. US Airways has reached agreements with the pilots and flight attendants, while CWA and the machinists are continuing negotiations. CWA represents about 10,000 agents at US Airways with 2,700 now furloughed.
US Airways Agents Fighting Steep RollbacksAugust 1, 2002CWA passenger service agents at US Airways want management to meet them halfway as both sides bargain over the airline’s cost-cutting demands. A survey of agents, conducted for CWA, found that nearly three-quarters of agents are unwilling to accept the steep concession demands US Airways management is making. The company is seeking to roll back top rate hourly wages from $22.05 to $17.88, which would return agents to the wage rates of the late 1980s. Management is demanding excessive cuts of more than $96,000 per agent through 2008. CWA has proposed salary and benefits cuts of more than $17,000 per agent at the top rate for the same period, an offer management dismissed as “not enough.†Agents want US Airways to survive. “We want to play our part in keeping our airline operating,†said Cathy Bumgarner, president of CWA Local 3640 and a member of the negotiating team. “But we cannot participate at the same level as the more highly paid employee groups who have more generous benefit packages and who have not made the level of sacrifice our members already have made.†Before passenger service agents gained CWA representation in 1999, they suffered the loss of their pension plan, elimination of post-Medicare health care and drug coverage and a 10-year wage freeze. â€Many of management’s demands would result in agents subsidizing the health care and pension benefits of other higher-paid employees,†said Chris Fox, president of CWA Local 13302 and a bargaining team member. The average US Airways agent’s annual salary is $38,000, while the average pilot earns $233,000. Yet management is demanding that all employees pay the same health care premiums and charges, while refusing to give agents the same coverage as the other employee groups. CWA agents lead the industry in productivity, a fact management acknowledges but refuses to take into account in negotiations. US Airways has reached agreements with the pilots and flight attendants, while CWA and the Machinists are continuing negotiations. The airline recently received conditional approval that it will receive the $900 million loan guarantee it sought from the government’s Air Transportation Stabilization Board. CWA represents about 10,000 agents at US Airways with 2,700 now furloughed.
Talks Continue After US Airways FilingAugust 16, 2002CWA is continuing to negotiate with US Airways in the wake of the carrier’s federal bankruptcy filing and restructuring. Since May, CWA’s bargaining team has been developing, presenting and countering proposals in meetings with management over the airline’s concession demands. Those discussions have continued following the airline’s Aug. 11 announcement that it was seeking federal bankruptcy protection. Under the bankruptcy process, if an agreement is not reached, US Airways can seek the approval of the bankruptcy court to impose contract terms on employees. Over the past several months, US Airways management has been demanding extreme salary and benefit cuts from agents and has refused to acknowledge the economic sacrifices agents already made over the past decade, CWA noted. The company demanded even greater cuts in one post-bankruptcy negotiating session, but CWA negotiators have been fighting back to gain the best settlement possible for agents. If a tentative settlement is reached, it will be presented to the membership for a ratification vote. Agents already endured a 10-year wage freeze, in effect from 1989 to 1999, when they won CWA representation, as well as the loss of the defined benefit pension plan and supplemental medical and prescription drug coverage, all benefits that other employee groups – pilots, mechanics and flight attendants – retain. Management’s demand that agents shoulder the burden for the pension shortfall and the costs of the medical and drug coverage programs is unjust, because agents were stripped of these benefits years ago, CWA has pointed out. US Airways, the nation’s 6th largest airline, already received conditional approval for a $900 million government loan. Of the other employee groups, the pilots and flight attendants have ratified settlements and the mechanics and fleet workers are reviewing proposed agreements.
Bankruptcy Hearing Set for US Airways
August 30, 2002
The bankruptcy court has set a Sept. 10 hearing date to hear arguments on US Airways’ bid to throw out its collective bargaining agreements with CWA and the Machinists.
CWA is continuing to bargain for a settlement on behalf of 7,200 agents and has made several comprehensive proposals in response to concession requests from the troubled airline. If an agreement is reached prior to the bankruptcy hearing, it will be presented to the members for a ratification vote.
If an agreement is not reached, CWA will make its case to the federal bankruptcy judge that agents have made substantial economic sacrifices to keep US Airways flying over the past 12 years and that the airline’s concession demands are excessive and inequitable.
Among other demands, US Airways insists that agents contribute to relieve the shortfall of the defined benefit plan, however, this benefit was stripped from agents in 1990, before they won CWA representation. Not only would agents not receive the defined benefit pension, but also they would be forced to subsidize the pensions of higher paid employees, CWA said.
US Airways also refuses to take into account the 10-year wage freeze agents endured from 1989-1999 and the loss of other benefits that occurred before they voted for CWA representation.
The IAM-represented mechanics rejected a concession offer in an Aug. 28 vote. The pilots, flight attendants and fleet service workers (represented by the Machinists) have ratified new agreements with US Airways.
US Airways Agents Approve Contract Changes
October 1, 2002
CWA passenger service agents at US Airways have ratified a new contract that helps the bankrupt airline save millions of dollars while protecting jobs and holding wage concessions to a much lower level than management had been demanding.
All of the unions at US Airways, including Pilots, Flight Attendants and maintenance and ramp workers represented by the Machinists, were forced to negotiate concession agreements under the cloud of the bankruptcy filing.
The airline’s pending $900 million government loan guarantee — considered necessary to save US Airways — is conditioned on concessions from employees as well as relief from lenders and creditors.
CWA, bargaining on behalf of 8,000 active workers and another 2,500 on furlough, was the last union to settle. Agreement was reached less than a week from a scheduled hearing before the bankruptcy judge, at which management was seeking to throw out CWA’s contract and impose its own terms.
US Airways had sought to slash wages by 16 percent, bringing the top rate down to $17.88 an hour. The final settlement keeps the top rate at $20.40 including a 25-cent customer contact premium, amounting to an 8-percent cutback. There will be no wage cuts for those earning less than $30,000 a year.
Wages will begin increasing on Jan. 1, 2005, with a 1-percent hike, followed by another 1 percent in 2006, 2.5 percent in 2007 and 4.25 in 2008. The contract runs through Jan. 1, 2009.
In intense bargaining over several months, CWA achieved other key goals including: improving the health care cost changes US Airways was demanding, maintaining a hands-off policy on the current retirement plan while gaining a commitment to explore other options, improving job security by getting management to drop its subcontracting demands and making additional jobs available and providing a “soft landing†for members who find themselves out of work.
Despite agreeing to concessions in the area of wages, health care, vacations and holidays — most of them temporary — bargainers were able to win improvements in the 401(k) savings plan, gain a 2-percent distribution of post-bankruptcy stock for passenger agents, and open up new job opportunities in a variety of areas including Internet technical assistance and jobs at US Airways Express.
Mid Atlantic Airways, a new airline recently created by US Airways, will recognize CWA to represent its passenger service agents and bargain a separate contract under terms of the settlement.
The settlement also calls for a joint task force to explore development of a defined benefit pension as close to Jan. 1, 2003 as possible. The agents lost their previous pension plan 12 years ago before they had union representation.
The union bargaining committee, in submitting contract changes for ratification, acknowledged that the agreement called for concessions that, “under most circumstances, we would never consider for our membership.†Against the threat of a bankruptcy judge imposing the draconian cutbacks that US Airways wanted, negotiators said they achieved the best terms possible, with the primary goal of protecting as many passenger service jobs as they could.
Agents Narrowly OK Rollbacks at US AirwaysFebruary 6, 2003CWA members at US Airways, threatened with losing their jobs at the bankrupt carrier, have approved proposed modifications to their contract in a close vote. CWA members joined the Pilots, Flight Attendants and Machinists unions in agreeing to the rollbacks - their second round of benefit cuts and contract changes - in order to meet the requirements of the $900 million federal loan the carrier is seeking. US Airways' final proposal was an ultimatum from management to accept its demands or face the liquidation and sale of the company and its assets. With this understanding, CWA members reluctantly approved the changes. In the second round of cutbacks, US Airways was seeking a total of $200 million from employee groups. Agents had already voted last September to accept $460 million in pay and benefits cutbacks to keep the airline operating. The final tally in the agents' vote was 50.1 percent to approve the changes and 49.9 percent to reject them. The ratification vote was directed by the American Arbitration Association in an Internet and telephone process.
CWA Reminds US Airways of Productivity, Service Edge
June 1, 2004
Meeting with US Airways' new chief executive, local CWA leaders along with President Morton Bahr and Executive Vice President Larry Cohen pointed out the high productivity of passenger service agents at the airline and reminded the company of the sacrifices union members have made to keep the carrier flying.
Airline officials have been meeting with all their union groups to review the company's financial situation and discuss restructuring.
Local CWA leaders told CEO Bruce Lakefield that passenger service workers had been hit hard by drastic cuts for more than 10 years, including the loss of a defined benefit pension.
"It's hard to see how much more passenger service could be asked to give," said Chris Fox, president of Local 13302.
CWA local officers and staff also discussed the impact on jobs and customer service of the airline's move to increase automation by adding card readers and more kiosks.
CWA also stressed the competitive advantage its agents bring over one of US Airways' main competitors, Southwest. On a per agent basis this year, annual salaries at Southwest are about $6,000 higher than for agents at US Airways.
But CWA members at US Airways continue to be hit hard by furloughs and the resulting understaffing that has made it difficult to satisfy customers. Management also has failed to fulfill its agreement to establish new passenger service jobs at MidAtlantic Air and is set to transfer MidAtlantic aircraft to other, unrepresented carriers.
To save jobs, CWA countered management's plan on automation by proposing that US Airways stop subcontracting security and skycap check-in and other passenger-related work at U.S. airports, institute an early retirement offer for long-term employees and offer a voluntary furlough package to employees affected by new technology.
The management plan to cut jobs and increase automation isn't just bad for workers, it's short-sighted from a business perspective, CWA said.
"Customers who have paid several hundred dollars for a product do not want to be herded, put on hold, told to use a machine when they want answers or face an endless line because a position is understaffed. There will come a day when airlines will again compete on quality and service, and US Airways will be way behind the curve," the local presidents warned executives in a joint statement.
Agents Press US Airways on Labor Cost Demands
August 16, 2004
CWA local union presidents representing passenger service agents at US Airways are continuing to press management for a good faith response to the detailed proposals the union has made in response to the airline's call for cost reductions.
A petition to US Airways CEO Bruce Lakefield, signed by more than 2,000 agents so far and presented to management at the most recent meeting, points out that agents have made "more than our share of sacrifices over the years to save our airline."
"The proposals you have made to our group are disrespectful and insulting. We will not take our families into bankruptcy, but that is the only possible outcome of your proposal," the petition said.
CWA has called on US Airways to demonstrate how operating costs and other management costs will be cut, instead of only looking to employees for reductions.
US Airways has said it must reduce costs to avoid bankruptcy and put the business on a more sound footing. Union represented employees at US Airways-flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, agents, mechanics and pilots-have already contributed $1.3 billion in concessions to save the airline.
CWA has made three written, detailed cost reduction proposals that would save US Airways millions of dollars, but management has failed to respond to these specific changes, the union charged.
Instead, management continues to demand radical cuts in employee income and benefits, based on a hybrid of working conditions, wages and benefits at America West and Jet Blue. "Management's proposals would, among other things, cut employee take-home pay by about 50 percent," CWA local presidents said in a message to US Airways members.
CWA has proposed an early out buyout plan, designed to reduce costs by reducing seniority, and a revised Work at Home program for reservations agents that would reduce costs by eliminating overhead. CWA proposals also included establishment of an "X" scale, used for vacancies filled as a result of the buyout plan and based on the Southwest Airlines scale.
Also proposed were modifications to the current "scope of work" contract language that would expand coverage of work and provide additional job security for members. CWA has demonstrated to US Airways management that CWA agents are fully competitive in terms of salaries and productivity with the airline's main competitors. The union produced an analysis that shows Southwest Airlines' cost per agent to be significantly higher than at US Airways, nearly $6,000 this year and nearly $12,000 in 2006.
In separate talks, flight attendants, represented by AFA-CWA, also are taking on management's demands for drastic and one-sided wage and benefit concessions.
Agents Press US Airways on Labor Cost DemandsAugust 16, 2004CWA local union presidents representing passenger service agents at US Airways are continuing to press management for a good faith response to the detailed proposals the union has made in response to the airline's call for cost reductions. A petition to US Airways CEO Bruce Lakefield, signed by more than 2,000 agents so far and presented to management at the most recent meeting, points out that agents have made "more than our share of sacrifices over the years to save our airline." "The proposals you have made to our group are disrespectful and insulting. We will not take our families into bankruptcy, but that is the only possible outcome of your proposal," the petition said. CWA has called on US Airways to demonstrate how operating costs and other management costs will be cut, instead of only looking to employees for reductions. US Airways has said it must reduce costs to avoid bankruptcy and put the business on a more sound footing. Union represented employees at US Airways-flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, agents, mechanics and pilots-have already contributed $1.3 billion in concessions to save the airline. CWA has made three written, detailed cost reduction proposals that would save US Airways millions of dollars, but management has failed to respond to these specific changes, the union charged. Instead, management continues to demand radical cuts in employee income and benefits, based on a hybrid of working conditions, wages and benefits at America West and Jet Blue. "Management's proposals would, among other things, cut employee take-home pay by about 50 percent," CWA local presidents said in a message to US Airways members. CWA has proposed an early out buyout plan, designed to reduce costs by reducing seniority, and a revised Work at Home program for reservations agents that would reduce costs by eliminating overhead. CWA proposals also included establishment of an "X" scale, used for vacancies filled as a result of the buyout plan and based on the Southwest Airlines scale. Also proposed were modifications to the current "scope of work" contract language that would expand coverage of work and provide additional job security for members. CWA has demonstrated to US Airways management that CWA agents are fully competitive in terms of salaries and productivity with the airline's main competitors. The union produced an analysis that shows Southwest Airlines' cost per agent to be significantly higher than at US Airways, nearly $6,000 this year and nearly $12,000 in 2006. In separate talks, flight attendants, represented by AFA-CWA, also are taking on management's demands for drastic and one-sided wage and benefit concessions.
CWA Fights for Passenger Agents, Flight AttendantsSeptember 27, 2004CWA is fighting back against US Airways' demands to slash salaries, benefits and working conditions for passenger agents and flight attendants as the company filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time. US Airways management has petitioned the bankruptcy court to impose "interim relief" pay cuts of 23 percent and other extreme givebacks on nearly all union workers while it continues to press for even more concessions. The airline filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 12. Over the next several weeks, hearings will be held by the bankruptcy judge on the airline's petition for the "interim relief" and other issues. CWA and AFA-CWA, along with the air line pilots and machinists unions, were appointed to the creditors committee, which will be an important part of the decision-making process. The CWA local presidents bargaining committee, representing passenger service agents, is preparing for three days of bargaining this week with US Airways management over the company's demands for devastating wage and benefit cuts. At the same time, AFA-CWA's negotiating committee continues to work on its response to management's "excessive and inequitable" demands as the bankruptcy process goes forward. Agents and flight attendants have called on management to detail the non-labor cost savings and cost savings from management and administrative employees, as well as changes to the executive compensation plan that should be a part of the airline's restructuring. To date, management has been very specific about concessions from union represented employees, and in fact has proposed cutting the take-home pay for agents nearly in half, yet it has provided no evidence it will lead by example, the CWA local presidents pointed out. Management also has not convinced workers that it has a plan to successfully emerge from bankruptcy, AFA-CWA said. CWA represents 6,000 active and 3,000 furloughed passenger service agents at US Airways; AFA-CWA represents 5,200 flight attendants
.Bankruptcy Judge Grants Wage Cuts at US AirwaysOctober 18, 2004Federal Judge Stephen Mitchell, overseeing US Airways' bankruptcy filing, granted management's petition for emergency wage cuts and imposed a 21 percent pay cut for passenger service agents, flight attendants and other union workers. The cuts are to remain in effect for four months, not the six-month period US Airways management sought. The judge's order does not permit any subcontracting of agents' work, but it does allow US Airways management to reduce the minimum number of aircraft from the 279 it had agreed to fly under CWA's contract. The judge's order is effective immediately. US Airways wanted "emergency" across the board cuts in union workers' wages of 23 percent for six months. Overall, US Airways wants union workers to give up more than $950 million a year in wage and benefit concessions; that's in addition to the $1.2 billion that workers already sacrificed. CWA expects that management will immediately begin pressing workers for additional, longer term cuts in pay, benefits and working conditions. In negotiations, CWA has been fighting for fair treatment for passenger service agents who are among the lower paid workers at the airline. In negotiations, US Airways management demanded extreme pay cuts of more than 30 percent that would reduce the top rate for an agent with more than ten years' experience to $13.10 an hour. Management also pressed for major cutbacks in its contribution to agents' 401(k) retirement plan and other extreme concessions. Management has arbitrarily rejected CWA proposals that would provide substantial cost savings through an employee buy-out plan, a work from home proposal and other measures, CWA has pointed out. Before the bankruptcy judge, CWA, AFA-CWA and other unions made a strong defense against management's demands. In several exchanges, CWA showed Judge Mitchell that despite the airline's claims that management employees would take a 23 percent cut, as was demanded of all union workers, managers actually would make just a 1 percent sacrifice, after factoring in a raise they received this year. CWA also disputed management's comparison of passenger agents' salaries and benefits at US Airways with those at "low cost" carriers, outlined the proposal agents made that would have met the company's demand for $33 million in interim savings and stressed that US Airways demands were unfair and inequitable to the lower paid work groups.
CWA Passenger Service Agents Take Strike Vote
October 29, 2004
CWA passenger service agents are voting whether to authorize a strike or other legal work action at US Airways if negotiations fail to reach a fair contract. Ballots are in the mail to 6,000 active agents, with the vote to be counted in mid-November.
CWA is preparing a counter proposal to the devastating cuts that management is demanding from agents, including a wage cut of 34 percent and further erosion of benefits and working conditions. Management also is demanding the right to contract out all agents' jobs.
CWA local union presidents at US Airways said the strike vote will make a united show of support among agents at the bargaining table. "The goal of CWA's negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our pay and our standard of living. We need to take a stand to support our contract and our careers," they said in a mailing to members.
Like agents, flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, had a 21 percent wage cut imposed by US Airways management with the approval of the bankruptcy court. AFA-CWA has asked the judge to reconsider this decision. "US Airways is saving an extra $3.9 million a month" by not paying into the pension plan as required by law and the AFA-CWA collective bargaining agreement, the union said. AFA-CWA called on the court to reduce the pay cut to reflect this additional cost savings
CWA, AFA-CWA and the Machinists are continuing to negotiate with the airline, although management has threatened workers that it will seek approval of the bankruptcy court to throw out the existing collective bargaining agreements if new long-term settlements are not reached by mid-November.
At the bargaining table and in leafleting at major airports, passenger service agents have pointed out the great discrepancy between the 34 percent wage cut management has demanded of agents - that would reduce the immediate top pay rate of agents to $13.62 - and the 5 percent pay cut taken by management.
CWA Passenger Service Agents Take Strike Vote
October 29, 2004
CWA passenger service agents are voting whether to authorize a strike or other legal work action at US Airways if negotiations fail to reach a fair contract. Ballots are in the mail to 6,000 active agents, with the vote to be counted in mid-November.
CWA is preparing a counter proposal to the devastating cuts that management is demanding from agents, including a wage cut of 34 percent and further erosion of benefits and working conditions. Management also is demanding the right to contract out all agents' jobs.
CWA local union presidents at US Airways said the strike vote will make a united show of support among agents at the bargaining table. "The goal of CWA's negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our pay and our standard of living. We need to take a stand to support our contract and our careers," they said in a mailing to members.
Like agents, flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, had a 21 percent wage cut imposed by US Airways management with the approval of the bankruptcy court. AFA-CWA has asked the judge to reconsider this decision. "US Airways is saving an extra $3.9 million a month" by not paying into the pension plan as required by law and the AFA-CWA collective bargaining agreement, the union said. AFA-CWA called on the court to reduce the pay cut to reflect this additional cost savings
CWA, AFA-CWA and the Machinists are continuing to negotiate with the airline, although management has threatened workers that it will seek approval of the bankruptcy court to throw out the existing collective bargaining agreements if new long-term settlements are not reached by mid-November.
At the bargaining table and in leafleting at major airports, passenger service agents have pointed out the great discrepancy between the 34 percent wage cut management has demanded of agents - that would reduce the immediate top pay rate of agents to $13.62 - and the 5 percent pay cut taken by management.
Agents, Flight Attendants Fight Extreme Demands by US Airways
November 1, 2004
CWA and AFA-CWA are fighting back against the staggering demands that US Airways management is making of passenger service agents, flight attendants and other union workers.
Management is demanding devastating cuts from agents, seeking to cut wages by 34 percent and to further slash benefits and working conditions. Management also is demanding the right to contract out all agents' jobs.
Agents are voting whether to authorize a strike or other legal work action at the airline if negotiations fail to reach a fair contract. Ballots are in the mail to 6,000 active agents, with the vote to be counted in mid-November.
CWA local union presidents at US Airways said the strike vote will demonstrate agents' solid support for CWA negotiators. "The goal of the CWA negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our pay and our standard of living. We need to take a stand to support our contract and our careers," they said in a mailing to members.
The local presidents also countered management's claims that talk of strike action would harm the airline.
"Management has been talking about liquidation and a drop off in sales for months. That's what is harmful to our airline," they said.
Like passenger agents, flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, had a 21 percent wage cut imposed by US Airways management, with the approval of the bankruptcy court. AFA-CWA has asked the judge to reconsider this decision. "US Airways is saving an extra $3.9 million a month" by not paying into the pension plan as required by law and AFA-CWA collective bargaining agreement, the union said. AFA-CWA called on the court to reduce the pay cut to reflect this additional cost savings.
CWA, AFA-CWA and the Machinists are continuing to negotiate with the airline, although management has threatened workers that it will seek approval of the bankruptcy court to throw out the existing collective bargaining agreements if new long-term settlements are not reached by mid-November.
At the bargaining table and in leafleting at major airports, passenger service agents have pointed out the great discrepancy between the 34 percent wage cut management has demanded of agents - that would reduce the immediate top pay rate of agents to $13.62 - and the 5 percent pay cut taken by management that was offset by an average 4 percent increase awarded earlier this year.
Passenger Agents Authorize Strike, Legal Work Actions at US Airways
November 10, 2004
Washington, D.C. -- Passenger service agents at US Airways, members of the Communications Workers of America, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike or other legal work action at the airline if they are unable to reach a fair, equitable contract.
In a mail ballot counted on Nov. 10, 86 percent of voting members approved the strike authorization vote, demonstrating support for the bargaining team and determination to win a fair contract.
"The goal of the CWA negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our living standard and that acknowledges the value that experienced, skilled and professional customer service brings to US Airways," the CWA bargaining committee of local presidents said.
In bargaining, US Airways management is demanding long-term pay cuts, severe reductions in retirement benefits and other working conditions and the right to contract out jobs. CWA is continuing to propose alternatives to help the airline meet its goal of cost savings while limiting the hardship on workers.
Agents already were hit with a 21% wage cut and a 6% pension cutback in October, on the approval of the federal court overseeing US Airways' bankruptcy. Those cuts reduced the top wage for an agent with 10 years' experience or more to just over $16 per hour.
AFA-CWA Plans CHAOS to Stop Industry AssaultNovember 19, 2004The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has called for a nationwide strike by flight attendants. The union is taking a stand against airline management's misuse of the bankruptcy process to wipe out the economic and professional gains made by generations of flight attendants, said AFA-CWA President Pat Friend. At its meeting in Pittsburgh, the AFA-CWA board of directors unanimously approved a resolution to implement the union's CHAOS strike program when any carrier, with or without the approval of a bankruptcy court, unilaterally imposes new contract terms on flight attendants. CHAOS - Create Havoc Around Our System - was first used by flight attendants from Alaska Airlines to gain a fair contract. The tactic calls for flight attendants to strike one flight or dozens, in one city or the entire country, when flight attendants at any carrier have their contract thrown out. This strategy is necessary, because "our entire industry is in turmoil and the careers of our flight attendants all hang in the balance," Friend said. "Pensions are being wiped out with the sound of a judge's gavel. Health care coverage for employees is reaching cost levels unaffordable to flight attendants who every year sacrifice more of their income to 'save their airline.' Almost everywhere we look, flight attendants are being forced to work longer hours with reduced rest time and all for ever-decreasing wages. This must stop," she said. At US Airways, flight attendants are facing the loss of their pension plan and the elimination of retiree health care, in addition to demands for steep wage cuts. The strike authorization vote process for flight attendants at US Airways, United, ATA and Hawaiian Airlines which have all filed for bankruptcy protection, will get underway shortly. Flight attendants at all other airlines will be asked to support the strike. Secondary strikes are legal under the RLA. AFA-CWA represents about 46,000 flight attendants at 26 carriers.
CWA Board Clears the Way for Possible Strike by US Airways Passenger Service AgentsNovember 30, 2004WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Communications Workers of America's national executive board voted unanimously to authorize strike action by 6,000 passenger service agents against US Airways, clearing the way for CWA's president to set a strike date. The passenger agents earlier this month voted by 86 percent to authorize a strike against the airline in a membership referendum. Meanwhile, CWA negotiators are continuing to meet this week with US Airways management in an attempt to reach a new labor settlement. The airline has demanded devastating pay and benefit concessions from the agents and has petitioned the bankruptcy judge to throw out their union contract. Abrogation of the contract would allow the agents to strike or engage in other job actions.
CWA Gains Tentative Pact at Bankrupt US AirwaysDecember 6, 2004CWA has reached a tentative settlement with US Airways covering airport and reservations agents, boosted by an overwhelming strike authorization vote by members. In the face of devastating demands for wage and benefit cuts and other concessions at the bankrupt airline, the bargaining committee was able to push back against the harsh and excessive proposals made by US Airways management. US Airways filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 12 and has petitioned to abrogate its union contracts unless the unions agreed to concessionary settlements. The agreement calls for a 12.9 percent average wage cut in the first two contract years, reducing the current $20.05 top rate to $17 per hour. Top wages will increase to $18 an hour in 2007 and to the new top of scale rate of $18.60 in 2008. Wages will increase by 3 percent in 2009, 4 percent in 2010 and 4 percent in 2011. An additional 2 percent increase takes effect as negotiations get underway for a new contract beginning Jan. 1, 2012. Management had been seeking wage cuts of as much as 34 percent and was demanding a new top rate of $13.10 an hour. The bargaining team also won restrictions on the contracting out of reservations work, with only those positions made vacant through attrition or employee participation in the buyout plan allowed to be subcontracted. Even those jobs must be returned to the bargaining unit at the end of the agreement. The buyout plan provides a payment of up to $20,000 for call center workers and up to $15,000 for airport workers, based on seniority, plus negotiated health care and other benefits. The bargaining team fought for and won the restoration of 100 percent of vacation pay in this agreement. At the end of this contract, any reductions in sick leave, holidays, holiday shift and job premiums, travel and training per diems and other benefits also will be restored. The customer contact premium, now 25 cents per hour, will be restored in 2008 and increased to 30 cents at the end of the contract. The agreement also includes some enhancements in retiree health care. Passenger service agents saw their wages cut by 21 percent, and suffered other benefits losses, in October by approval of the bankruptcy judge. The agreement is subject to membership ratification and the bargaining team has recommended approval. Complete information and balloting instructions on the proposed settlement will be sent to members' home addresses; members will vote electronically in an American Arbitration Association election process. Separately, AFA-CWA negotiators are continuing to meet with US Airways management. Flight attendants at both US Airways and United now are voting on strike authorization.
Ratification Underway for US Airways AgentsDecember 13, 2004Passenger service agents at US Airways are voting on the tentative agreement reached with management, with the results to be available on Dec. 23. Under the American Arbitration Association process, CWA agents can vote by telephone or over the Internet between now and noon on Dec. 23. Materials and information on the full proposal have been sent to all members; US Airways local union presidents are holding contract explanation meetings to answer members' questions and address their concerns. The tentative agreement provides for an average pay cut of 12.9 percent - 15 percent for those at top of scale - far less than the 34 percent pay cuts that management was demanding. The bargaining committee, which is recommending approval of the contract, fought for and won "snapbacks" - the restoration of pay and most benefit levels - by the contract end in 2011. The committee credited members for their solidarity and the strong vote authorizing a strike if an equitable agreement couldn't be reached. Separately, AFA-CWA is continuing to bargain with the bankrupt airline, as court hearings proceed on the carrier's petition to throw out its collective bargaining agreements. The voting period for strike authorization by US Airways flight attendants ends on Dec. 13.
CWA Blasts Bonus Plan for US Airways Management
CWA is protesting the plan by US Airways' management to spend as much as $55 million in bonuses and compensation improvements for managers and executives.
More than 2,300 employees signed a petition that was presented to Judge Stephen Mitchell who is overseeing US Airways' bankruptcy motions. CWA also has filed legal objections to the plan with the bankruptcy court.
CWA-represented passenger service agents and other US Airways employees are clear: employees will not subsidize this management bonus plan while union-represented workers have given up more than $2 billion in wages and benefits in three rounds of concessions, CWA said.
Worse still, management has not met its pledge to cut $300 million in non-employee expenses and now wants to spend an additional $50 million on bonuses and other management perks that was not included in the original transformation plan, CWA said.
Flight Attendants Launch National Campaign Against Corporate Greed: Tell Congress and White House to 'Get to Work'
December 14, 2004
WASHINGTON - Flight attendants, other union members and labor supporters will rally in Washington, D.C., and at airports across the country today to focus attention on the critical need for government action to stop management's assault on workers' pensions, health care and jobs in the airline industry.
In Washington, a rally and candlelight vigil will be held just across from the White House beginning at 5:15 p.m. Hundreds of flight attendants, other union members and supporters will hear from Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Pat Friend, CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and other speakers, then will march to Washington's Freedom Plaza.
In other planned events, informational picketing will get underway at the Sea-Tac Flab Pavilion, in front of Sea-Tac International Airport, beginning at 8 a.m. PST, and flight attendants and supporters in San Francisco will hold a march and candlelight vigil outside United Terminal 3 between Doors 4 and 5, at SFO, beginning 4 p.m. PST.
These events and others are part of a national effo
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US Airways Passenger Service Employees File for Federal MediationMay 3, 1999US Airways passenger service employees have turned to federal mediation to help resolve the remaining issues in their first-contract negotiations with airline management. The formal request for assistance was filed with the National Mediation Board today. The 10,000 passenger service employees voted for representation by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in the fall of 1997 and contract talks have been going on since December of that year. The next bargaining session is scheduled for May 18-21 in Washington, D.C. The group includes airport ticket, baggage and gate agents, reservations agents, US Airways Club representatives, special assist agents and city ticket office agents. The employees work at each airport serviced by US Airways and at seven reservations sales offices around the country. The group is largely female (about 70 percent), and it is the only employee group at US Airways that has not had a salary increase since 1992, according to CWA.
CWA to Continue Negotiations for Agents at US AirwaysMay 28, 1999Passenger service representatives at US Airways, despite today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals, will continue to bargain for a first contract and fairness at the airline. The Communications Workers of America, which represents some 10,000 agents at the airline, has been bargaining with US Airways and is very close to completing negotiations for that contract. "We take Stephen Wolf, the airline's chief executive officer, at his word when he says, as he did just days ago at the airline's shareholders' meeting, that `I hope that we can conclude our discussions with the CWA in the near future,'" the union said. Passenger service agents have not had a pay raise in nearly seven years; their pension and other benefits have been frozen as well, a situation that Wolf also acknowledged at the shareholders' meeting. This lawsuit may be a delaying tactic, but it won't stop the momentum agents have built to gain a real voice at US Airways. CWA will pursue any legal and procedural steps necessary to bring this contract to a conclusion. ###
CWA Calls for Expedited Election at US AirwaysJune 3, 1999The Communications Workers of America today filed for an immediate rerun representation election for passenger service representatives at US Airways and called on the National Mediation Board to set an election date with ballots to go out July 1. CWA had just about concluded bargaining with US Airways for a first contract covering some 10,000 passenger service agents when a federal appeals court last week invalidated the representation election won by CWA in Sept. 1997. The ruling was based on the airline's challenge of the rules the NMB set for the second election. "It's unfortunate that this legal maneuvering is standing in the way of a fair contract for passenger service professionals," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "We urge the NMB to move quickly and send out the ballots for a new election by July 1. Then we can get back to the business of negotiating and finalizing the contract that agents have worked so hard to achieve," he said. Although 84 percent of the employees have signed union membership cards, the airline denied CWA's request to voluntarily recognize the union, thus making a new election necessary. Bargaining between CWA and US Airways got underway in December 1997, following the vote for CWA representation in September 1997. The passenger service agents are the only major employee group at the airline not covered by a union contract, and their wages, benefits and working conditions are far below that of the pilots, flight attendants, machinists and now ramp workers. Agents haven't had a pay raise in nearly seven years and many are working under a two-tier system of benefits that US Airways imposed on part-time workers. On June 1, management announced it would implement some improvements in employees' wages and benefits, changes already agreed to in bargaining with CWA. US Airways Agents Vote Big for CWA
October 1, 1999US Airways passenger service professionals, having sent management an overwhelming message in the recent rerun election, now are working to wrap up negotiations on a first contract. In the Aug. 20 vote, agents reaffirmed what they and management already knew: that US Airways passenger service employees wanted CWA representation and a contract. Of the 7,806 employees eligible to vote in this election, 5,254, or 67 percent, returned ballots for union representation, a huge margin under the restrictive Railway Labor Act rules. "Agents sent management a clear message. Now it's time for management to listen." -CWA President Morton Bahr- From Pittsburgh to Charlotte to San Diego, employees celebrated their victory. Glenn R. Johnson, a customer service agent in Tampa, said, "I hope the company now understands that our group is informed, intelligent, organized and looking forward to having our work rules agreed to and signed by both parties." Passenger service agents first voted for CWA representation two years ago, but legal maneuvering and an appeal by the airline of the National Mediation Board rules for that election resulted in the second rerun vote. Since September 1997, agents have been building their union, electing a network of 600 stewards - trained and supported by CWA, to help handle workplace issues and address concerns about job safety - and a bargaining council. After 18 months of bargaining, CWA had won agreement from management on about 90 percent of contract issues. Some, such as the seniority protections passenger service employees had long sought but were denied by management, took effect while negotiations continued. Until negotiations were interrupted last May, passenger service bargainers had negotiated agreement with management on a new holiday/vacation/sick day plan, a new grievance and arbitration procedure, overtime provisions and many other issues. But the company halted bargaining following a federal appeals court decision which questioned two of the five reasons cited by the NMB as cause for the first rerun election. The NMB then ordered an expedited rerun election. On June 1, management unilaterally implemented many of the improvements it agreed to in bargaining, and increased the pay of passenger service workers for the first time in nearly seven years. But this effort to stop the momentum for a union voice fell flat, and workers voted for CWA representation at a level 13 percent above their last "CWA yes" vote. Bargaining will build on the new wages and benefits that agents now have. Negotiations will resume for two consecutive weeks beginning Oct. 11, and the bargaining council plans to promptly resolve the outstanding issues, which include understaffing, retirement improvements, job security in the event of a merger or sale and premium wage issues, among others. Bargaining will be held at a neutral location, with the assistance of a federal mediator.
CWA-US Airways Talks at Critical StageNovember 1, 1999AT CWA NEWS PRESS TIME in late October, negotiations with US Airways on behalf of 10,600 passenger service agents were at a critical stage where the talks could either be heading toward a quick agreement or toward a union request for a 30-day "cooling off period" as a prelude to a possible job action. CWA's bargaining team has been pressing to wrap up a first contract covering reservations, ticket and gate agents at the airline after on-and-off talks for two years. Negotiations resumed in October after breaking off in late May, when management pursued a legal challenge and forced a rerun representation election which CWA won handily. Now, less than 15 percent of the contract remains to be worked out. But management returned to the bargaining table with a takeaway proposal on "pay parity" with other airlines - one that would actually impose a three-year pay freeze on agents who already had suffered through a seven-year pay freeze before wages were increased June 1. Under management's proposal, when passenger service employees at other carriers receive an annual 2 percent wage increase, US Airways agents' pay would remain frozen. Management also is trying to contract out as much as 50 percent of the work done by reservations agents and is seeking to transfer work that should be done by agents to other non-management employees. Key issues for CWA members include job security in the event of a sale or merger, retirement improvements and the restoration of seniority to former "e-scale" employees. A recent membership survey found these to be top concerns for agents, along with additional job safety protections and family medical benefits. The mechanics have reached a new agreement with US Airways, but flight attendants, members of the Association of Flight Attendants, are growing frustrated over the lack of progress in their talks, which have stretched on for more than 1,000 days. The AFA has not yet requested a release from mediation. CWA is supporting the attendants in their contract fight.
CWA Gains First Contract for 10,600 US Airways AgentsNovember 4, 1999The Communications Workers of America has reached a first contract for 10,600 passenger service agents at US Airways that meets all major bargaining goals, including a substantial parity pay increase, strong job security provisions, retirement improvements and a significant employer contribution to family health benefits for part-time workers. The five-year agreement is expected to boost hourly top pay to more than $20.90 next June, based on industry pay projections, under a pay parity agreement that ensures that passenger service agents at US Airways will lead the industry in compensation. By the end of this agreement, agents should reach an hourly rate of more than $22, the union said. The settlement also includes important job security protections for agents in the event that US Airways is involved in a sale or merger, calls for a company payment ranging from 4-10 percent of salary to workers' base retirement accounts, and provides for 50 percent of family health care benefit premium costs for part-time workers to be paid by US Airways. Up until now, part-time workers had to pay the full costs of family medical benefits, a premium cost that exceeded $300 a month. CWA President Morton Bahr said passenger service employees worked hard to "achieve a fair contract that substantially improves their pay, working conditions and job security. This agreement also recognizes their dedication, contribution and commitment to the success of US Airways." Members will vote on the agreement in a mail ratification process, with contract explanation meetings and conference calls to be held among agents in airport and reservation center locations. A packet including the proposed contract and materials explaining the provisions will be mailed to members in about a week. CWA credited the National Mediation Board for its assistance in the bargaining process.
Communications Workers of America Seeks Mediation in Bargaining Dispute with US Airways: Cites Impasse over Job Security and Pay Issues for Dividend Miles and Baggage Call Center AgentsSeptember 12, 2000WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Communications Workers of America today asked the National Mediation Board to assign a federal mediator to help resolve a bargaining impasse in talks for US Airways passenger service agents at the airline's Dividend Miles Service Center in Winston-Salem and its Baggage Call Center in Pittsburgh.Key issues in the dispute include the airline management's substandard wage proposal for these agents as well as its insistence on contract language that would allow it to eliminate their jobs and subcontract the work.The approximately 160 employees in Winston-Salem, who handle dividend awards and customer questions concerning the frequent flier program, and another 50 in Pittsburgh who trace lost baggage, earn a top rate of $16 an hour as compared to more than $21 an hour for the 11,000 other passenger service agents CWA represents. The other agents covered by CWA's contract also are protected against subcontracting of their work.CWA charged that US Airways has refused the union's offer to turn the issues over to an impartial arbitrator."The talks have dragged on for six months over issues that could be quickly resolved, and now the workers' future is at stake with the pending merger of US Airways and United," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "We're determined that they must have the protection of a union contract before any merger takes place." If mediation is not successful, CWA could petition to be released from the process and allowed to take job actions up to and including a strike.
Statement by CWA President Morton Bahr on the Senate's Refusal to Include Relief for Airline Workers in the Aviation Security BillOctober 12, 2001There is no question that a strong majority of lawmakers in the Senate supports relief and assistance for airline workers who have been left jobless because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Yet a minority of senators – with the backing of the White House – succeeded in blocking assistance to some 140,000 airline workers who find themselves out of work and facing a grim economic future. Congress responded quickly with a $15 billion bailout of the airline industry. But airline workers who need help now are being told by this minority of lawmakers to wait on some vague promise of relief that might come next month, or next year. By refusing to include extended unemployment aid, health care assistance and job training in the airline security bill, the Senate is telling workers that their well-being just doesn't matter that much. Fortunately, a majority of senators is committed to fighting for real relief for airline workers, and CWA will continue to work with these lawmakers to make sure these workers and their families get the help they deserve.
CWA Presses Congress for Relief for Airline WorkersOctober 3, 2001The Communications Workers of America, representing 10,600 passenger service agents at US Airways, is pressing Congress to enact unemployment and health care relief for airline workers who are losing their jobs. CWA President Morton Bahr and US Airways workers joined Sen. Edward Kennedy and other members of Congress fighting for relief for airline workers, along with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and members and officers of other airline unions, at a news conference and "speak out" on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Oct. 3. US Airways members from Dayton, Ohio; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia; Indianapolis; Syracuse, N.Y., and the Washington metropolitan area joined the news conference, then met with congressional representatives and staff to gain support for the worker relief plan. CWA successfully pressed US Airways to abide by its contract and pay workers the furlough assistance and other benefits they are entitled to; some major carriers tried to invoke a "war emergency" clause to abrogate their responsibilities to workers. "Airline workers have been completely left out of the $15 billion bailout given to the industry and Congress must right this wrong," Bahr said. "This damage to workers has been compounded by some carriers who sought to deny workers their rightful pay or furlough assistance." "Now, there is an urgent need to help provide health insurance coverage, job search assistance and extended unemployment benefits for the 100,000 workers who may lose their jobs," Bahr stressed. House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt and Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), Melissa Hart (R-Pa.) and Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) have introduced legislation to provide this needed relief for airline workers. In the Senate, Sen. Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.) has introduced a companion measure that calls for additional weeks of jobless benefits, health care coverage and job training for airline workers, especially those who are part-time or temporary workers and not eligible for unemployment compensation under current law.
US Airways Workers’ Benefits GuaranteedOctober 1, 2001CWA, which represents passenger service employees at US Airways, won assurances that the airline will honor its contract covering some 10,600 agents and will pay furlough assistance to workers laid off in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. CWA President Morton Bahr had several conversations with US Airways’ top officer, Stephen Wolf, pressing him to keep the carrier’s commitment to workers. Some major airlines are attempting to use war emergency “loopholes†to avoid paying furlough assistance, despite congressional passage of the $15 billion relief package. CWA and other unions representing airline employees also are calling on Congress to provide disaster adjustment assistance that would directly aid the 100,000 airline workers who are losing their jobs. Bahr met with House and Senate Democratic leaders to work out a program that would include continuing health care coverage, extended unemployment compensation, training and job search assistance. Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle and House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt are pressing for relief for airline and other workers. In announcing the layoffs, US Airways said it will close three reservations centers — Dayton, Ohio, Indianapolis, Ind., and Syracuse, N.Y. Additionally, the airline announced last month it would close its San Diego reservation center. Layoffs at US Airways could involve 2,000 passenger service employees, though the numbers had not been finalized by late September.
CWA: Fairness Needed in US Airways TalksJuly 9, 2002Washington, D.C. – Over the past several weeks, the Communications Workers of America has been trying to reach a fair and reasonable settlement over cost-cutting measures with US Airways management on behalf of the 10,000 passenger service employees the union represents. The talks have been frustrated by management's unreasonable demands and its unwillingness to acknowledge the high productivity rates and substantial sacrifices this work group already has made, far exceeding the other employee groups, CWA said. "Many of management's demands would result in passenger service agents subsidizing the health care and pension benefits of other higher-paid employees – even benefits that the airline's ticket, gate and reservations agents do not receive," said Chris Fox, a reservations agent and president of CWA Local 13302 and a member of the bargaining team. CWA has offered four separate salary reduction proposals, all of which were dismissed by management as "not enough." US Airways management has shown no willingness to meet half-way, including on the latest proposal by CWA which included salary and medical care reductions of $17,000 per agent at top rate through 2008, the union noted. Management demands – including cuts in salary and benefits – seek to wring more than $96,000 per agent at top rate over the same period, a fully unreasonable bargaining position, said Tom Wilson, a US Airways agent and acting president of CWA Local 13100, also a member of the union bargaining team. This round of cost-cutting is the second that the passenger service group has been forced to undergo. No other employee group has provided this degree of financial sacrifice to the airline, CWA pointed out. Before passenger service workers gained CWA representation in 1999, their defined benefit pension plan was frozen in 1990, with newer hires not eligible for even the frozen benefits. Also, their post-Medicare health care and drug coverage was eliminated and a 10-year wage freeze was imposed. This amounts to a substantial contribution by agents, but one that management has dismissed as "old news." US Airways management acknowledges that the productivity of its passenger service group leads the industry, but continues to press these agents who are among the lower-paid employees at the airline, for an unreasonable level of additional sacrifice. Under the medical benefit plan management is pressing, all employees, including agents earning on average $38,000 a year and pilots earning an average of $233,000 a year, would pay the same premiums and charges. However, passenger service workers also would be subsidizing the post-Medicare medical and drug coverage of higher paid employees, while management refuses to extend that coverage to passenger service workers, CWA pointed out. Similarly, management's demands for salary and benefit cuts would pay for continuing the defined benefit pension plan that our members cannot participate in, the union said. Another bargaining team member, Cathy Bumgarner, a reservations agent and president of CWA Local 3640, summed up the agents' position: "Our message to US Airways to very clear. CWA members want our airline to survive and we want to play our part in keeping our airline operating. But management has to get serious and work out a fair settlement with us. We've sacrificed for US Airways in the past and are willing to do so again, but we cannot participate at the same level as the more highly paid employee groups, who have more generous benefit packages and have not made the level of sacrifice our members already have. We can't give what we don't have.
" US Airways Agents Reject Unfair DemandsJuly 19, 2002CWA passenger agents at US Airways members want management to meet them halfway as both sides bargain over the airline’s cost-cutting demands. A survey of agents, conducted for CWA, found that nearly three-quarters of the agents are unwilling to accept the steep concession demands US Airways management is making. The company is seeking to roll back top rate hourly wages from $22.05 to $17.88, which would return agents to the wage rates of the late 1980s. Management is demanding excessive cuts of more than $96,000 per agent through 2008. CWA has proposed salary and medical care cuts of $17,000 per agent at the top rate for the same period, an offer management dismissed as “not enough.†Agents want US Airways to survive and “we want to play our part in keeping our airline operating. But we cannot participate at the same level as the more highly paid employee groups who have more generous benefit packages and who have not made the level of sacrifice our members already have made,†said Cathy Bumgarner, president of CWA Local 3640 and a member of the negotiating team. Before passenger service agents gained CWA representation in 1999, they suffered the loss of their pension plan, elimination of post-Medicare health care and drug coverage and a 10-year wage freeze. US Airways has reached agreements with the pilots and flight attendants, while CWA and the machinists are continuing negotiations. CWA represents about 10,000 agents at US Airways with 2,700 now furloughed.
US Airways Agents Fighting Steep RollbacksAugust 1, 2002CWA passenger service agents at US Airways want management to meet them halfway as both sides bargain over the airline’s cost-cutting demands. A survey of agents, conducted for CWA, found that nearly three-quarters of agents are unwilling to accept the steep concession demands US Airways management is making. The company is seeking to roll back top rate hourly wages from $22.05 to $17.88, which would return agents to the wage rates of the late 1980s. Management is demanding excessive cuts of more than $96,000 per agent through 2008. CWA has proposed salary and benefits cuts of more than $17,000 per agent at the top rate for the same period, an offer management dismissed as “not enough.†Agents want US Airways to survive. “We want to play our part in keeping our airline operating,†said Cathy Bumgarner, president of CWA Local 3640 and a member of the negotiating team. “But we cannot participate at the same level as the more highly paid employee groups who have more generous benefit packages and who have not made the level of sacrifice our members already have made.†Before passenger service agents gained CWA representation in 1999, they suffered the loss of their pension plan, elimination of post-Medicare health care and drug coverage and a 10-year wage freeze. â€Many of management’s demands would result in agents subsidizing the health care and pension benefits of other higher-paid employees,†said Chris Fox, president of CWA Local 13302 and a bargaining team member. The average US Airways agent’s annual salary is $38,000, while the average pilot earns $233,000. Yet management is demanding that all employees pay the same health care premiums and charges, while refusing to give agents the same coverage as the other employee groups. CWA agents lead the industry in productivity, a fact management acknowledges but refuses to take into account in negotiations. US Airways has reached agreements with the pilots and flight attendants, while CWA and the Machinists are continuing negotiations. The airline recently received conditional approval that it will receive the $900 million loan guarantee it sought from the government’s Air Transportation Stabilization Board. CWA represents about 10,000 agents at US Airways with 2,700 now furloughed.
Talks Continue After US Airways FilingAugust 16, 2002CWA is continuing to negotiate with US Airways in the wake of the carrier’s federal bankruptcy filing and restructuring. Since May, CWA’s bargaining team has been developing, presenting and countering proposals in meetings with management over the airline’s concession demands. Those discussions have continued following the airline’s Aug. 11 announcement that it was seeking federal bankruptcy protection. Under the bankruptcy process, if an agreement is not reached, US Airways can seek the approval of the bankruptcy court to impose contract terms on employees. Over the past several months, US Airways management has been demanding extreme salary and benefit cuts from agents and has refused to acknowledge the economic sacrifices agents already made over the past decade, CWA noted. The company demanded even greater cuts in one post-bankruptcy negotiating session, but CWA negotiators have been fighting back to gain the best settlement possible for agents. If a tentative settlement is reached, it will be presented to the membership for a ratification vote. Agents already endured a 10-year wage freeze, in effect from 1989 to 1999, when they won CWA representation, as well as the loss of the defined benefit pension plan and supplemental medical and prescription drug coverage, all benefits that other employee groups – pilots, mechanics and flight attendants – retain. Management’s demand that agents shoulder the burden for the pension shortfall and the costs of the medical and drug coverage programs is unjust, because agents were stripped of these benefits years ago, CWA has pointed out. US Airways, the nation’s 6th largest airline, already received conditional approval for a $900 million government loan. Of the other employee groups, the pilots and flight attendants have ratified settlements and the mechanics and fleet workers are reviewing proposed agreements.
Bankruptcy Hearing Set for US Airways
August 30, 2002
The bankruptcy court has set a Sept. 10 hearing date to hear arguments on US Airways’ bid to throw out its collective bargaining agreements with CWA and the Machinists.
CWA is continuing to bargain for a settlement on behalf of 7,200 agents and has made several comprehensive proposals in response to concession requests from the troubled airline. If an agreement is reached prior to the bankruptcy hearing, it will be presented to the members for a ratification vote.
If an agreement is not reached, CWA will make its case to the federal bankruptcy judge that agents have made substantial economic sacrifices to keep US Airways flying over the past 12 years and that the airline’s concession demands are excessive and inequitable.
Among other demands, US Airways insists that agents contribute to relieve the shortfall of the defined benefit plan, however, this benefit was stripped from agents in 1990, before they won CWA representation. Not only would agents not receive the defined benefit pension, but also they would be forced to subsidize the pensions of higher paid employees, CWA said.
US Airways also refuses to take into account the 10-year wage freeze agents endured from 1989-1999 and the loss of other benefits that occurred before they voted for CWA representation.
The IAM-represented mechanics rejected a concession offer in an Aug. 28 vote. The pilots, flight attendants and fleet service workers (represented by the Machinists) have ratified new agreements with US Airways.
US Airways Agents Approve Contract Changes
October 1, 2002
CWA passenger service agents at US Airways have ratified a new contract that helps the bankrupt airline save millions of dollars while protecting jobs and holding wage concessions to a much lower level than management had been demanding.
All of the unions at US Airways, including Pilots, Flight Attendants and maintenance and ramp workers represented by the Machinists, were forced to negotiate concession agreements under the cloud of the bankruptcy filing.
The airline’s pending $900 million government loan guarantee — considered necessary to save US Airways — is conditioned on concessions from employees as well as relief from lenders and creditors.
CWA, bargaining on behalf of 8,000 active workers and another 2,500 on furlough, was the last union to settle. Agreement was reached less than a week from a scheduled hearing before the bankruptcy judge, at which management was seeking to throw out CWA’s contract and impose its own terms.
US Airways had sought to slash wages by 16 percent, bringing the top rate down to $17.88 an hour. The final settlement keeps the top rate at $20.40 including a 25-cent customer contact premium, amounting to an 8-percent cutback. There will be no wage cuts for those earning less than $30,000 a year.
Wages will begin increasing on Jan. 1, 2005, with a 1-percent hike, followed by another 1 percent in 2006, 2.5 percent in 2007 and 4.25 in 2008. The contract runs through Jan. 1, 2009.
In intense bargaining over several months, CWA achieved other key goals including: improving the health care cost changes US Airways was demanding, maintaining a hands-off policy on the current retirement plan while gaining a commitment to explore other options, improving job security by getting management to drop its subcontracting demands and making additional jobs available and providing a “soft landing†for members who find themselves out of work.
Despite agreeing to concessions in the area of wages, health care, vacations and holidays — most of them temporary — bargainers were able to win improvements in the 401(k) savings plan, gain a 2-percent distribution of post-bankruptcy stock for passenger agents, and open up new job opportunities in a variety of areas including Internet technical assistance and jobs at US Airways Express.
Mid Atlantic Airways, a new airline recently created by US Airways, will recognize CWA to represent its passenger service agents and bargain a separate contract under terms of the settlement.
The settlement also calls for a joint task force to explore development of a defined benefit pension as close to Jan. 1, 2003 as possible. The agents lost their previous pension plan 12 years ago before they had union representation.
The union bargaining committee, in submitting contract changes for ratification, acknowledged that the agreement called for concessions that, “under most circumstances, we would never consider for our membership.†Against the threat of a bankruptcy judge imposing the draconian cutbacks that US Airways wanted, negotiators said they achieved the best terms possible, with the primary goal of protecting as many passenger service jobs as they could.
Agents Narrowly OK Rollbacks at US AirwaysFebruary 6, 2003CWA members at US Airways, threatened with losing their jobs at the bankrupt carrier, have approved proposed modifications to their contract in a close vote. CWA members joined the Pilots, Flight Attendants and Machinists unions in agreeing to the rollbacks - their second round of benefit cuts and contract changes - in order to meet the requirements of the $900 million federal loan the carrier is seeking. US Airways' final proposal was an ultimatum from management to accept its demands or face the liquidation and sale of the company and its assets. With this understanding, CWA members reluctantly approved the changes. In the second round of cutbacks, US Airways was seeking a total of $200 million from employee groups. Agents had already voted last September to accept $460 million in pay and benefits cutbacks to keep the airline operating. The final tally in the agents' vote was 50.1 percent to approve the changes and 49.9 percent to reject them. The ratification vote was directed by the American Arbitration Association in an Internet and telephone process.
CWA Reminds US Airways of Productivity, Service Edge
June 1, 2004
Meeting with US Airways' new chief executive, local CWA leaders along with President Morton Bahr and Executive Vice President Larry Cohen pointed out the high productivity of passenger service agents at the airline and reminded the company of the sacrifices union members have made to keep the carrier flying.
Airline officials have been meeting with all their union groups to review the company's financial situation and discuss restructuring.
Local CWA leaders told CEO Bruce Lakefield that passenger service workers had been hit hard by drastic cuts for more than 10 years, including the loss of a defined benefit pension.
"It's hard to see how much more passenger service could be asked to give," said Chris Fox, president of Local 13302.
CWA local officers and staff also discussed the impact on jobs and customer service of the airline's move to increase automation by adding card readers and more kiosks.
CWA also stressed the competitive advantage its agents bring over one of US Airways' main competitors, Southwest. On a per agent basis this year, annual salaries at Southwest are about $6,000 higher than for agents at US Airways.
But CWA members at US Airways continue to be hit hard by furloughs and the resulting understaffing that has made it difficult to satisfy customers. Management also has failed to fulfill its agreement to establish new passenger service jobs at MidAtlantic Air and is set to transfer MidAtlantic aircraft to other, unrepresented carriers.
To save jobs, CWA countered management's plan on automation by proposing that US Airways stop subcontracting security and skycap check-in and other passenger-related work at U.S. airports, institute an early retirement offer for long-term employees and offer a voluntary furlough package to employees affected by new technology.
The management plan to cut jobs and increase automation isn't just bad for workers, it's short-sighted from a business perspective, CWA said.
"Customers who have paid several hundred dollars for a product do not want to be herded, put on hold, told to use a machine when they want answers or face an endless line because a position is understaffed. There will come a day when airlines will again compete on quality and service, and US Airways will be way behind the curve," the local presidents warned executives in a joint statement.
Agents Press US Airways on Labor Cost Demands
August 16, 2004
CWA local union presidents representing passenger service agents at US Airways are continuing to press management for a good faith response to the detailed proposals the union has made in response to the airline's call for cost reductions.
A petition to US Airways CEO Bruce Lakefield, signed by more than 2,000 agents so far and presented to management at the most recent meeting, points out that agents have made "more than our share of sacrifices over the years to save our airline."
"The proposals you have made to our group are disrespectful and insulting. We will not take our families into bankruptcy, but that is the only possible outcome of your proposal," the petition said.
CWA has called on US Airways to demonstrate how operating costs and other management costs will be cut, instead of only looking to employees for reductions.
US Airways has said it must reduce costs to avoid bankruptcy and put the business on a more sound footing. Union represented employees at US Airways-flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, agents, mechanics and pilots-have already contributed $1.3 billion in concessions to save the airline.
CWA has made three written, detailed cost reduction proposals that would save US Airways millions of dollars, but management has failed to respond to these specific changes, the union charged.
Instead, management continues to demand radical cuts in employee income and benefits, based on a hybrid of working conditions, wages and benefits at America West and Jet Blue. "Management's proposals would, among other things, cut employee take-home pay by about 50 percent," CWA local presidents said in a message to US Airways members.
CWA has proposed an early out buyout plan, designed to reduce costs by reducing seniority, and a revised Work at Home program for reservations agents that would reduce costs by eliminating overhead. CWA proposals also included establishment of an "X" scale, used for vacancies filled as a result of the buyout plan and based on the Southwest Airlines scale.
Also proposed were modifications to the current "scope of work" contract language that would expand coverage of work and provide additional job security for members. CWA has demonstrated to US Airways management that CWA agents are fully competitive in terms of salaries and productivity with the airline's main competitors. The union produced an analysis that shows Southwest Airlines' cost per agent to be significantly higher than at US Airways, nearly $6,000 this year and nearly $12,000 in 2006.
In separate talks, flight attendants, represented by AFA-CWA, also are taking on management's demands for drastic and one-sided wage and benefit concessions.
Agents Press US Airways on Labor Cost DemandsAugust 16, 2004CWA local union presidents representing passenger service agents at US Airways are continuing to press management for a good faith response to the detailed proposals the union has made in response to the airline's call for cost reductions. A petition to US Airways CEO Bruce Lakefield, signed by more than 2,000 agents so far and presented to management at the most recent meeting, points out that agents have made "more than our share of sacrifices over the years to save our airline." "The proposals you have made to our group are disrespectful and insulting. We will not take our families into bankruptcy, but that is the only possible outcome of your proposal," the petition said. CWA has called on US Airways to demonstrate how operating costs and other management costs will be cut, instead of only looking to employees for reductions. US Airways has said it must reduce costs to avoid bankruptcy and put the business on a more sound footing. Union represented employees at US Airways-flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, agents, mechanics and pilots-have already contributed $1.3 billion in concessions to save the airline. CWA has made three written, detailed cost reduction proposals that would save US Airways millions of dollars, but management has failed to respond to these specific changes, the union charged. Instead, management continues to demand radical cuts in employee income and benefits, based on a hybrid of working conditions, wages and benefits at America West and Jet Blue. "Management's proposals would, among other things, cut employee take-home pay by about 50 percent," CWA local presidents said in a message to US Airways members. CWA has proposed an early out buyout plan, designed to reduce costs by reducing seniority, and a revised Work at Home program for reservations agents that would reduce costs by eliminating overhead. CWA proposals also included establishment of an "X" scale, used for vacancies filled as a result of the buyout plan and based on the Southwest Airlines scale. Also proposed were modifications to the current "scope of work" contract language that would expand coverage of work and provide additional job security for members. CWA has demonstrated to US Airways management that CWA agents are fully competitive in terms of salaries and productivity with the airline's main competitors. The union produced an analysis that shows Southwest Airlines' cost per agent to be significantly higher than at US Airways, nearly $6,000 this year and nearly $12,000 in 2006. In separate talks, flight attendants, represented by AFA-CWA, also are taking on management's demands for drastic and one-sided wage and benefit concessions.
CWA Fights for Passenger Agents, Flight AttendantsSeptember 27, 2004CWA is fighting back against US Airways' demands to slash salaries, benefits and working conditions for passenger agents and flight attendants as the company filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time. US Airways management has petitioned the bankruptcy court to impose "interim relief" pay cuts of 23 percent and other extreme givebacks on nearly all union workers while it continues to press for even more concessions. The airline filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 12. Over the next several weeks, hearings will be held by the bankruptcy judge on the airline's petition for the "interim relief" and other issues. CWA and AFA-CWA, along with the air line pilots and machinists unions, were appointed to the creditors committee, which will be an important part of the decision-making process. The CWA local presidents bargaining committee, representing passenger service agents, is preparing for three days of bargaining this week with US Airways management over the company's demands for devastating wage and benefit cuts. At the same time, AFA-CWA's negotiating committee continues to work on its response to management's "excessive and inequitable" demands as the bankruptcy process goes forward. Agents and flight attendants have called on management to detail the non-labor cost savings and cost savings from management and administrative employees, as well as changes to the executive compensation plan that should be a part of the airline's restructuring. To date, management has been very specific about concessions from union represented employees, and in fact has proposed cutting the take-home pay for agents nearly in half, yet it has provided no evidence it will lead by example, the CWA local presidents pointed out. Management also has not convinced workers that it has a plan to successfully emerge from bankruptcy, AFA-CWA said. CWA represents 6,000 active and 3,000 furloughed passenger service agents at US Airways; AFA-CWA represents 5,200 flight attendants
.Bankruptcy Judge Grants Wage Cuts at US AirwaysOctober 18, 2004Federal Judge Stephen Mitchell, overseeing US Airways' bankruptcy filing, granted management's petition for emergency wage cuts and imposed a 21 percent pay cut for passenger service agents, flight attendants and other union workers. The cuts are to remain in effect for four months, not the six-month period US Airways management sought. The judge's order does not permit any subcontracting of agents' work, but it does allow US Airways management to reduce the minimum number of aircraft from the 279 it had agreed to fly under CWA's contract. The judge's order is effective immediately. US Airways wanted "emergency" across the board cuts in union workers' wages of 23 percent for six months. Overall, US Airways wants union workers to give up more than $950 million a year in wage and benefit concessions; that's in addition to the $1.2 billion that workers already sacrificed. CWA expects that management will immediately begin pressing workers for additional, longer term cuts in pay, benefits and working conditions. In negotiations, CWA has been fighting for fair treatment for passenger service agents who are among the lower paid workers at the airline. In negotiations, US Airways management demanded extreme pay cuts of more than 30 percent that would reduce the top rate for an agent with more than ten years' experience to $13.10 an hour. Management also pressed for major cutbacks in its contribution to agents' 401(k) retirement plan and other extreme concessions. Management has arbitrarily rejected CWA proposals that would provide substantial cost savings through an employee buy-out plan, a work from home proposal and other measures, CWA has pointed out. Before the bankruptcy judge, CWA, AFA-CWA and other unions made a strong defense against management's demands. In several exchanges, CWA showed Judge Mitchell that despite the airline's claims that management employees would take a 23 percent cut, as was demanded of all union workers, managers actually would make just a 1 percent sacrifice, after factoring in a raise they received this year. CWA also disputed management's comparison of passenger agents' salaries and benefits at US Airways with those at "low cost" carriers, outlined the proposal agents made that would have met the company's demand for $33 million in interim savings and stressed that US Airways demands were unfair and inequitable to the lower paid work groups.
CWA Passenger Service Agents Take Strike Vote
October 29, 2004
CWA passenger service agents are voting whether to authorize a strike or other legal work action at US Airways if negotiations fail to reach a fair contract. Ballots are in the mail to 6,000 active agents, with the vote to be counted in mid-November.
CWA is preparing a counter proposal to the devastating cuts that management is demanding from agents, including a wage cut of 34 percent and further erosion of benefits and working conditions. Management also is demanding the right to contract out all agents' jobs.
CWA local union presidents at US Airways said the strike vote will make a united show of support among agents at the bargaining table. "The goal of CWA's negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our pay and our standard of living. We need to take a stand to support our contract and our careers," they said in a mailing to members.
Like agents, flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, had a 21 percent wage cut imposed by US Airways management with the approval of the bankruptcy court. AFA-CWA has asked the judge to reconsider this decision. "US Airways is saving an extra $3.9 million a month" by not paying into the pension plan as required by law and the AFA-CWA collective bargaining agreement, the union said. AFA-CWA called on the court to reduce the pay cut to reflect this additional cost savings
CWA, AFA-CWA and the Machinists are continuing to negotiate with the airline, although management has threatened workers that it will seek approval of the bankruptcy court to throw out the existing collective bargaining agreements if new long-term settlements are not reached by mid-November.
At the bargaining table and in leafleting at major airports, passenger service agents have pointed out the great discrepancy between the 34 percent wage cut management has demanded of agents - that would reduce the immediate top pay rate of agents to $13.62 - and the 5 percent pay cut taken by management.
CWA Passenger Service Agents Take Strike Vote
October 29, 2004
CWA passenger service agents are voting whether to authorize a strike or other legal work action at US Airways if negotiations fail to reach a fair contract. Ballots are in the mail to 6,000 active agents, with the vote to be counted in mid-November.
CWA is preparing a counter proposal to the devastating cuts that management is demanding from agents, including a wage cut of 34 percent and further erosion of benefits and working conditions. Management also is demanding the right to contract out all agents' jobs.
CWA local union presidents at US Airways said the strike vote will make a united show of support among agents at the bargaining table. "The goal of CWA's negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our pay and our standard of living. We need to take a stand to support our contract and our careers," they said in a mailing to members.
Like agents, flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, had a 21 percent wage cut imposed by US Airways management with the approval of the bankruptcy court. AFA-CWA has asked the judge to reconsider this decision. "US Airways is saving an extra $3.9 million a month" by not paying into the pension plan as required by law and the AFA-CWA collective bargaining agreement, the union said. AFA-CWA called on the court to reduce the pay cut to reflect this additional cost savings
CWA, AFA-CWA and the Machinists are continuing to negotiate with the airline, although management has threatened workers that it will seek approval of the bankruptcy court to throw out the existing collective bargaining agreements if new long-term settlements are not reached by mid-November.
At the bargaining table and in leafleting at major airports, passenger service agents have pointed out the great discrepancy between the 34 percent wage cut management has demanded of agents - that would reduce the immediate top pay rate of agents to $13.62 - and the 5 percent pay cut taken by management.
Agents, Flight Attendants Fight Extreme Demands by US Airways
November 1, 2004
CWA and AFA-CWA are fighting back against the staggering demands that US Airways management is making of passenger service agents, flight attendants and other union workers.
Management is demanding devastating cuts from agents, seeking to cut wages by 34 percent and to further slash benefits and working conditions. Management also is demanding the right to contract out all agents' jobs.
Agents are voting whether to authorize a strike or other legal work action at the airline if negotiations fail to reach a fair contract. Ballots are in the mail to 6,000 active agents, with the vote to be counted in mid-November.
CWA local union presidents at US Airways said the strike vote will demonstrate agents' solid support for CWA negotiators. "The goal of the CWA negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our pay and our standard of living. We need to take a stand to support our contract and our careers," they said in a mailing to members.
The local presidents also countered management's claims that talk of strike action would harm the airline.
"Management has been talking about liquidation and a drop off in sales for months. That's what is harmful to our airline," they said.
Like passenger agents, flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, had a 21 percent wage cut imposed by US Airways management, with the approval of the bankruptcy court. AFA-CWA has asked the judge to reconsider this decision. "US Airways is saving an extra $3.9 million a month" by not paying into the pension plan as required by law and AFA-CWA collective bargaining agreement, the union said. AFA-CWA called on the court to reduce the pay cut to reflect this additional cost savings.
CWA, AFA-CWA and the Machinists are continuing to negotiate with the airline, although management has threatened workers that it will seek approval of the bankruptcy court to throw out the existing collective bargaining agreements if new long-term settlements are not reached by mid-November.
At the bargaining table and in leafleting at major airports, passenger service agents have pointed out the great discrepancy between the 34 percent wage cut management has demanded of agents - that would reduce the immediate top pay rate of agents to $13.62 - and the 5 percent pay cut taken by management that was offset by an average 4 percent increase awarded earlier this year.
Passenger Agents Authorize Strike, Legal Work Actions at US Airways
November 10, 2004
Washington, D.C. -- Passenger service agents at US Airways, members of the Communications Workers of America, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike or other legal work action at the airline if they are unable to reach a fair, equitable contract.
In a mail ballot counted on Nov. 10, 86 percent of voting members approved the strike authorization vote, demonstrating support for the bargaining team and determination to win a fair contract.
"The goal of the CWA negotiating team is to reach a fair agreement that agents can ratify, an agreement that maintains our living standard and that acknowledges the value that experienced, skilled and professional customer service brings to US Airways," the CWA bargaining committee of local presidents said.
In bargaining, US Airways management is demanding long-term pay cuts, severe reductions in retirement benefits and other working conditions and the right to contract out jobs. CWA is continuing to propose alternatives to help the airline meet its goal of cost savings while limiting the hardship on workers.
Agents already were hit with a 21% wage cut and a 6% pension cutback in October, on the approval of the federal court overseeing US Airways' bankruptcy. Those cuts reduced the top wage for an agent with 10 years' experience or more to just over $16 per hour.
AFA-CWA Plans CHAOS to Stop Industry AssaultNovember 19, 2004The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has called for a nationwide strike by flight attendants. The union is taking a stand against airline management's misuse of the bankruptcy process to wipe out the economic and professional gains made by generations of flight attendants, said AFA-CWA President Pat Friend. At its meeting in Pittsburgh, the AFA-CWA board of directors unanimously approved a resolution to implement the union's CHAOS strike program when any carrier, with or without the approval of a bankruptcy court, unilaterally imposes new contract terms on flight attendants. CHAOS - Create Havoc Around Our System - was first used by flight attendants from Alaska Airlines to gain a fair contract. The tactic calls for flight attendants to strike one flight or dozens, in one city or the entire country, when flight attendants at any carrier have their contract thrown out. This strategy is necessary, because "our entire industry is in turmoil and the careers of our flight attendants all hang in the balance," Friend said. "Pensions are being wiped out with the sound of a judge's gavel. Health care coverage for employees is reaching cost levels unaffordable to flight attendants who every year sacrifice more of their income to 'save their airline.' Almost everywhere we look, flight attendants are being forced to work longer hours with reduced rest time and all for ever-decreasing wages. This must stop," she said. At US Airways, flight attendants are facing the loss of their pension plan and the elimination of retiree health care, in addition to demands for steep wage cuts. The strike authorization vote process for flight attendants at US Airways, United, ATA and Hawaiian Airlines which have all filed for bankruptcy protection, will get underway shortly. Flight attendants at all other airlines will be asked to support the strike. Secondary strikes are legal under the RLA. AFA-CWA represents about 46,000 flight attendants at 26 carriers.
CWA Board Clears the Way for Possible Strike by US Airways Passenger Service AgentsNovember 30, 2004WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Communications Workers of America's national executive board voted unanimously to authorize strike action by 6,000 passenger service agents against US Airways, clearing the way for CWA's president to set a strike date. The passenger agents earlier this month voted by 86 percent to authorize a strike against the airline in a membership referendum. Meanwhile, CWA negotiators are continuing to meet this week with US Airways management in an attempt to reach a new labor settlement. The airline has demanded devastating pay and benefit concessions from the agents and has petitioned the bankruptcy judge to throw out their union contract. Abrogation of the contract would allow the agents to strike or engage in other job actions.
CWA Gains Tentative Pact at Bankrupt US AirwaysDecember 6, 2004CWA has reached a tentative settlement with US Airways covering airport and reservations agents, boosted by an overwhelming strike authorization vote by members. In the face of devastating demands for wage and benefit cuts and other concessions at the bankrupt airline, the bargaining committee was able to push back against the harsh and excessive proposals made by US Airways management. US Airways filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 12 and has petitioned to abrogate its union contracts unless the unions agreed to concessionary settlements. The agreement calls for a 12.9 percent average wage cut in the first two contract years, reducing the current $20.05 top rate to $17 per hour. Top wages will increase to $18 an hour in 2007 and to the new top of scale rate of $18.60 in 2008. Wages will increase by 3 percent in 2009, 4 percent in 2010 and 4 percent in 2011. An additional 2 percent increase takes effect as negotiations get underway for a new contract beginning Jan. 1, 2012. Management had been seeking wage cuts of as much as 34 percent and was demanding a new top rate of $13.10 an hour. The bargaining team also won restrictions on the contracting out of reservations work, with only those positions made vacant through attrition or employee participation in the buyout plan allowed to be subcontracted. Even those jobs must be returned to the bargaining unit at the end of the agreement. The buyout plan provides a payment of up to $20,000 for call center workers and up to $15,000 for airport workers, based on seniority, plus negotiated health care and other benefits. The bargaining team fought for and won the restoration of 100 percent of vacation pay in this agreement. At the end of this contract, any reductions in sick leave, holidays, holiday shift and job premiums, travel and training per diems and other benefits also will be restored. The customer contact premium, now 25 cents per hour, will be restored in 2008 and increased to 30 cents at the end of the contract. The agreement also includes some enhancements in retiree health care. Passenger service agents saw their wages cut by 21 percent, and suffered other benefits losses, in October by approval of the bankruptcy judge. The agreement is subject to membership ratification and the bargaining team has recommended approval. Complete information and balloting instructions on the proposed settlement will be sent to members' home addresses; members will vote electronically in an American Arbitration Association election process. Separately, AFA-CWA negotiators are continuing to meet with US Airways management. Flight attendants at both US Airways and United now are voting on strike authorization.
Ratification Underway for US Airways AgentsDecember 13, 2004Passenger service agents at US Airways are voting on the tentative agreement reached with management, with the results to be available on Dec. 23. Under the American Arbitration Association process, CWA agents can vote by telephone or over the Internet between now and noon on Dec. 23. Materials and information on the full proposal have been sent to all members; US Airways local union presidents are holding contract explanation meetings to answer members' questions and address their concerns. The tentative agreement provides for an average pay cut of 12.9 percent - 15 percent for those at top of scale - far less than the 34 percent pay cuts that management was demanding. The bargaining committee, which is recommending approval of the contract, fought for and won "snapbacks" - the restoration of pay and most benefit levels - by the contract end in 2011. The committee credited members for their solidarity and the strong vote authorizing a strike if an equitable agreement couldn't be reached. Separately, AFA-CWA is continuing to bargain with the bankrupt airline, as court hearings proceed on the carrier's petition to throw out its collective bargaining agreements. The voting period for strike authorization by US Airways flight attendants ends on Dec. 13.
CWA Blasts Bonus Plan for US Airways Management
CWA is protesting the plan by US Airways' management to spend as much as $55 million in bonuses and compensation improvements for managers and executives.
More than 2,300 employees signed a petition that was presented to Judge Stephen Mitchell who is overseeing US Airways' bankruptcy motions. CWA also has filed legal objections to the plan with the bankruptcy court.
CWA-represented passenger service agents and other US Airways employees are clear: employees will not subsidize this management bonus plan while union-represented workers have given up more than $2 billion in wages and benefits in three rounds of concessions, CWA said.
Worse still, management has not met its pledge to cut $300 million in non-employee expenses and now wants to spend an additional $50 million on bonuses and other management perks that was not included in the original transformation plan, CWA said.
Flight Attendants Launch National Campaign Against Corporate Greed: Tell Congress and White House to 'Get to Work'
December 14, 2004
WASHINGTON - Flight attendants, other union members and labor supporters will rally in Washington, D.C., and at airports across the country today to focus attention on the critical need for government action to stop management's assault on workers' pensions, health care and jobs in the airline industry.
In Washington, a rally and candlelight vigil will be held just across from the White House beginning at 5:15 p.m. Hundreds of flight attendants, other union members and supporters will hear from Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Pat Friend, CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and other speakers, then will march to Washington's Freedom Plaza.
In other planned events, informational picketing will get underway at the Sea-Tac Flab Pavilion, in front of Sea-Tac International Airport, beginning at 8 a.m. PST, and flight attendants and supporters in San Francisco will hold a march and candlelight vigil outside United Terminal 3 between Doors 4 and 5, at SFO, beginning 4 p.m. PST.
These events and others are part of a national effo
YVINTERN
Veteran
I have a headache from reading all THAT but thank you john john for posting...
leprechaun
Senior
Blah Blah Blah - can't collect dues until contract is signed. Now that the contract is signed, got our money, where are you?
