CWA, TWU Form New Partnership
The Transport Workers (TWU) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have voted to work together in a new partnership. The two unions represent more than 120,000 airline workers and are joining forces to support bargaining and organizing at American Airlines and campaigns at other airlines.
In New York and Philadelphia, TWU members have been a big part of the fair contract fight by CWA and Electrical Workers (IBEW) members at Verizon and Verizon Wireless. In the Midwest, where TWU represents transit workers and CWA represents university and public workers, there’s a lot of common ground.
TWU President James C. Little says the two unions share “common values and principles that should intuitively benefit our members through working together.” CWA President Larry Cohen says partnerships like this “are the only way we will make progress for workers.”
Pledge Your Support for Workers at American Airlines
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Last week, American Airlines announced plans to eliminate the jobs of 13,000 workers and dump pension plans for nearly 90,000 workers pensions as part of its bankruptcy plan.
You can show you support for American Airlines employees by going to www.isupportamericanjobs.com and pledging to support the workers by telling public officials, the news media and community leaders that employees at American Airlines and regional carrier American Eagle and all workers dependent on these airlines must be treated fairly.
In the day since the pledge has been posted more than 10,000 people have signed. Click here add your name.
Transport Workers (TWU) President James Little—about 9,000 TWU members work at American—says the “plan is wrong for American and wrong for America.”
The same management team that took hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses while the airline was losing money now wants workers to pay a high price for their mistakes.
Read more from Little here.
Transport Workers Set to Protest ‘Job Cremator’ Romney
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Members of the Transport Workers (TWU), whose jobs are facing elimination by Bain & Co., will protest outside campaign offices of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the days leading up to the Florida primary election on Jan. 31. Calling Romney ”a job cremator, not a job creator,” TWU President James Little says Romney:
made a fortune snatching up companies, closing factories and laying off workers. Now, Bain & Company—which still lines Mitt Romney’s pockets with their profits—has been hired to axe workers at AMR Corporation.
Some of that fortune is on display today, as Romney’s tax returns show he amassed $45 million in the past two years alone.
Qatar Airways Refuses to Use Union Labor at JFK
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Members of Transport Workers (TWU) local unions from throughout the New York area, joined by Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) 153, rallied yesterday outside Trump Tower in Manhattan, headquarters of Qatar Airways. Qatar is moving operations to Kennedy Airport Terminal 8, operated by American Airlines, but, unlike other foreign carriers, is not using American ground service workers who are members of TWU Local 501.
The company instead is contracting out the work to a third party. The union says this move, with American’s approval, is an attack on the wages, working conditions and job security of Local 501 members at Kennedy Airport.
Says Dave Virella, president of Local 501:
If Qatar doesn’t want to make use of the trained and experienced workforce at the American Airlines terminal, they should take their business elsewhere.
At American, Passengers Pay for Bags, Execs Get Bonuses, Workers Get Shaft
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Passengers are paying fees for bags, blankets and maybe someday for those tiny restrooms at the back of the plane, but top executives at AMR, parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, are set to rake in millions in bonuses next week. The Transport Workers (TWU) says those bonuses are “Excess Baggage.”
TWU, which represents 28,000 ground workers at the two airlines, yesterday kicked off a new advertising and text campaign protesting the bonuses. Several hundred TWU members marched outside American’s terminal at the Dallas International Airport to let passengers know those bag fees are being turned to executive bonuses.
The ads feature suitcases full of cash under the heading “Excess Baggage,” and invite readers to join a campaign to curb sky-high executive pay by texting “Excess” to 30644.
For more on excessive executive pay, visit the 2010 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch website here. Read the rest of this entry »
TWU Campaigns Against ‘Outrageous’ Exec Bonuses at American
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Tired of corporate executives taking seven-figure bonuses while other workers are laid off, the Transport Workers (TWU) launched a national advertising campaign to raise awareness about outrageous pending awards at AMR, the parent company for American Airlines and American Eagle.
The union began running ads April 2 in major news outlets such as CNN and in newspapers in Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Tulsa and other major American Airlines markets.
TWU also is reaching out to the public through ads on Google and other Internet sites and search engines. Each message encourages frequent flyers and the general public to play the “American Exec Check” game here. The interactive online game challenges the public to guess how much various CEOs make and to drag their caricatures to a desk marked with differing dollar figures.
