Tell Congress to Stop Bush Plans to Sell U.S. Airlines to European Union

by Tula Connell, Jun 13, 2006

When Dubai sought to take over management of key U.S. ports, public outrage caused a stir in Congress and ultimately led to the United Arab Emirate backing away from the $6.8 billion deal for handling cargo at major Eastern and Gulf Coast ports.

Far less well-known is the Bush administration’s current attempt to sell U.S. airlines to the European Union.

As noted by the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), which represents several million transportation workers in the private and public sectors:

Foreign control of airlines would be catastrophic for workers who have already had to deal with bankruptcies and lost jobs and pensions. With airlines still suffering from the impact of Sept. 11, 2001, it seems as if our government’s only solution to fixing the airline crisis is to let foreign companies start taking them over and control decisions about sending our jobs overseas.

Congress will vote this week on an amendment to stop the administration from sending U.S. airlines jobs abroad. The administration’s proposal likely will ship jobs held by U.S. pilots, flight attendants and skilled mechanics overseas. Not exactly a recipe for a strong U.S. aviation industry.

Following pressure by the Bush administration, the House on June 7 dropped language from an emergency appropriations bill that would have prevented foreign control of U.S. airlines.

TTD President Edward Wytkind said members of Congress:

…should reject administration bully tactics and instead complete the job they started in the supplemental appropriations bill. The administration’s zeal to placate foreign governments should not dictate U.S. aviation policy to the detriment of our workers, economy and national security.

The TTD makes it easy for you to tell your representative to support the amendment offered by Reps. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.).

Click here to tell your members of Congress to stop the Bush administration from selling our airlines to overseas interests and protect our jobs and safety.

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