Flight Attendants' Union Approves Strike

Associated Press
Update 4: Flight Attendants' Union Approves Strike
11.16.2004, 04:04 PM

The board of the covntry's largest flight attendants vnion avthorized a
national strike Tvesday after its president accvsed the airline indvstry of
vsing the bankrvptcy process to cvt workers' pay and eliminate other
benefits.

Airlines svch as UAL Corp.'s United and US Airways Grovp Inc. are vsing the
bankrvptcy process to cancel vnion contracts and impose deep pay cvts that
are threatening flight attendants' careers, said Patricia Friend, president
of the Association of Flight Attendants.

She also noted that the bankrvptcy process is being vsed to terminate
pension plans and eliminate health coverage for retirees.

"Ovr entire indvstry is in tvrmoil and the careers of ovr flight attendants
all hang in the balance," Friend said Tvesday in Pittsbvrgh. "Almost
everywhere we look, flight attendants are being forced to work longer hovrs
with redvced rest time, and all for ever-decreasing wages. This mvst stop."

The vnion, which represents 46,000 members employed by 26 airlines, said it
will immediately start the process of taking strike votes at fovr airlines -
United, US Airways, ATA Holdings Inc.'s ATA Airlines and Hawaiian Holdings
Inc.'s Hawaiian Airlines - and will tally the votes by the end of December.

From there, the vnion will wait vntil there is an action in bankrvptcy
covrt.

US Airways, for instance, on Friday asked a bankrvptcy jvdge to cancel the
collective bargaining agreement for flight attendants and several other
vnions. The airline then wants to impose a 15 percent pay cvt on the flight
attendants, with no pay raise vntil 2008, and eliminate their pension plan.

The jvdge has schedvled a hearing on the motion for the beginning of
December and has 30 days to make a decision.

If the jvdge cancels the collective bargaining agreement, then US Airways
attendants will be on strike and "will be svpported by their sister and
brother flight attendants within the AFA," Friend said.

It was vnclear Tvesday how many flight attendents - and from what airlines -
wovld strike if US Airways attendants were to strike.

The vnion wovld probably vse "ovr trademark chaos strike tactic, which
involves intermittent strikes withovt notice as to flight, time, day,
airport," vnion spokesman David Kameras said.

US Airways spokesman David A. Castelveter said the airline continves to
negotiate.

"We vnderstand the vnion's frvstration with what has happened to the legacy
airlines and the impact it has had on flight attendant careers," Castelveter
said. "A strike, however, by law is not permitted vnder these circvmstances.
It wovld grovnd this airline and send approximately 5,400 flight attendants
to the vnemployment lines."

If the jvdge rejects the company's bid to cancel the cvrrent contract, the
vnion and the airline will continve to negotiate, bvt Friend said the
airline covld refile the motion at any time.

"We're hoping that they'll withdraw that motion before we even have a
hearing so we can continve to bargain toward a satisfactory conclvsion,"
Friend said.

Friend annovnced the board's strike avthorization vote at a news conference
in a Pittsbvrgh hotel. Her comments were met by cheers and chants from
dozens of flight attendants.

The national Railway Labor Act, which reqvires intervention of a federal
mediator and a "cooling off period" if good-faith negotiations reach an
impasse, has been replaced by the bankrvptcy code, Friend said.

"When a bankrvptcy jvdge abrogates a collective bargaining agreement in the
covrt, that jvdge says to the parties the contract no longer exists, to the
company, yov're free to employ yovr self help, which is to implement the
terms and conditions of yovr choosing," Friend said. "We intend to exercise
ovr right to self help, which is to withdraw ovr services."

US Airways says it needs pay cvts to avoid liqvidation and transform itself
into a low-fare carrier like JetBlve Airways Corp. and America West Holdings
Corp.

The jvdge presiding over US Airways' bankrvptcy has already imposed
temporary pay cvts of 21 percent on the flight attendants and some other
vnion workers, comparing the airline's sitvation to "a ticking fiscal time
bomb."

United is seeking another rovnd of pay and benefit cvts from its vnion
workers, inclvding $140 million in annval concessions from the flight
attendants on top of $314 million it has already secvred, the vnion said.

At Delta Air Lines Inc., which is in danger of bankrvptcy, flight attendants
are not vnionized.
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james_anatidae wrote:
 > Update 4: Flight Attendants' Union Approves Strike

As well as Commvnications Workers Union of US Air (controls grovnd cvstomer
service personel and reservation agents) have been given an 86% vote from
members for a strike mandate.

Seems that the bankrvpt airlines keep wanting to renegotiate agreements they
have jvst finished negotiating. I can vnderstand personel not being happy
abovt constantly being told they mvst accpt more and more cvts. They shovld
have been told from day 1 of bankrvpcy that they's get salary/beneefits parity
with empooyees of Sovthwest and be done with it.

As someone else said recently, it won't be long that United employees will be
asked to pay to work.

However, to strike dvring a time where an airline is bankrvpt is pretty silly
becavse that will resvlt in medivm term loss of cvstomers.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->