Hang Up and Fly—Tell Senate to Back In-Flight Cell Phone Ban
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If you get a chance, take a minute and do your part for airline safety and passenger sanity. The Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) ) is urging the U.S. Senate to maintain the ban on in-flight cell phone use. Click here to send your senators a message.
The ban was included in the House-passed version of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill (H.R. 915) in May. The Senate is expected to act this summer. The union says:
“Cell phone usage in the cabin would create a new security risk, compromise flight attendants job of safely executing an emergency evacuation, and ability to maintain order within the cabin amongst cabin noise and tension.”
Pilots Hold Info Picket at Continental Shareholders’ Meeting, and More Bargaining News
Pilots hold info picket at Continental shareholders’ meeting—and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
ALPA, Continental: Continental Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), conducted informational picketing at the annual stockholders’ meeting to press for a fair contract that acknowledges many of the sacrifices and the cuts made by the workers to help the airline. Capt. Jay Pierce, chairman of the ALPA chapter for the Continental pilots, stated that the carrier has “gained a reputation as a leader in the industry and a leader in its treatment of employees. I come before you with one simple demand: show us that you are willing to be a leader when it comes to dealing with your pilots.”
Flight Attendants, Pilots, Mechanics, Stagehands and Others Join AFL-CIO Unions
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Airline pilots, flight attendants, city employees, mechanics and stagehands are the latest workers to choose a voice at work with AFL-CIO unions.
The independent National Pilots Association (NPA)—made up of the cockpit crews at AirTran Airways—has agreed to merge with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The executive board of the 1,700-pilot union approved the merger agreement last month, and ALPA endorsed the merger in December. AirTran pilots will vote on the proposal starting this month.
NPA and AirTran have been in contract talks since 2004. NPA President Mike Best says:
Our hope is that the [switch to ALPA] will give us more resources to get a better contract sooner.
20,000 Telecom Workers Set to Strike, and More Bargaining News
Some 20,000 telecommunications workers at AT&T are set to strike, and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES AND ACTIONS
CWA, AT&T: Some 20,000 telecommunications workers at AT&T, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), voted to authorize a strike. The contract expired Saturday at midnight. When the two parties met Sunday, AT&T made what it called its “last, best and final offer.”
Flight Attendants Condemn Demeaning Spirit Airline Ads
The whole world has hailed the professionalism and heroism of flight attendants aboard US Airways Flight 1549 who were instrumental in the safe evacuation of 150 passengers after the plane made an emergency water landing in New York’s Hudson River. But just days later, flight attendants at another airline were being disrespected and insulted by their own corporate employer.
Flight Attendants-CWA President Patricia Friend wrote Spirit Airlines Inc. CEO Ben Baldanza this month to condemn the carrier’s new ad campaign that she says is demeaning to women.
If your intent was to insult and demean your customers, employees and future customers, you may well have succeeded. I feel as though I have entered a time warp and I am reliving the battles for respect and justice for women that we fought 40 years ago.
Union Heroes Save Passengers on US Airways Flight
The quick thinking, bravery, experience and extensive training of US Airways Flight 1549 pilot, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, the crew of flight attendants, the air traffic controllers guiding the flight low over Manhattan and the rescuers were the key factors in yesterday’s “Miracle on the Hudson,” where 155 people survived an emergency landing in the river.
The mainstream media is chronicling the miracle, but as Marcy Wheeler on Emptywheel points out:
What they are not telling you is just about every single one of these heroes is a union member.
