"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the
fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first
existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher
consideration."
~ Abraham Lincoln ~
Seven ALPA Pilots Chosen for FAA ARC
July
17, 2009 - The FAA is undertaking a comprehensive review of flight-time
and duty-time (FT/DT) regulations to better reflect current research on
sleep, rest periods, and alertness. The next phase of the process in
updating FT/DT rules is to convene an Aviation Rulemaking Committee
(ARC), a group made up of representatives from labor, industry, and the
FAA, who will draft the proposed changes. Seven ALPA pilots have been
selected to participate in this endeavor.
ALPA, Other Labor Unions Push Back on Health Care Tax Proposal White House, Key Congressional
Members Support Our Position
July 16, 2009 - Late last week, a senior White House official informed ALPA’s
president, Capt. John Prater, and other union leaders that President Obama would
not support taxing health care. The House version of health-care reform does not
contain this onerous provision.
ALPA lobbyists and other labor groups have been working behind the scenes urging
congressional lawmakers and staff to back away from any proposal that would tax
health-care benefits. More than 5,000 ALPA members who responded to ALPA’s
grassroots “Call to Action” on health care supported this effort. They wrote
letters and placed phone calls to their respective senators and representatives
opposing any legislation that would tax health plans. Several employer groups
also joined labor groups to oppose taxing health-care benefits.
ALPA has argued that taxing health-care benefits would encourage employers to
offer low-cost plans of inferior quality—or no coverage at all—to avoid paying
taxes on health-care benefits, adding even more Americans to the roster of the
uninsured. Unions have much to lose in this fight, as many have agreed to lower
salaries in order to preserve quality health-care benefits. If the tax is
approved, those health-care plans would be in jeopardy.
The fight now shifts to the Senate, where some senators are continuing the push
to pay for health-care reform by taxing these plans. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.),
chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa),
and other like-minded senators such as Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have reportedly
suggested taxing only those health-care plans that cost the employer more than
$17,000 per employee each year. However, other Senate Finance Committee members,
including Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Robert
Menendez (D-N.J.), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) are strongly against the idea
and have openly supported alternatives.
ALPA is encouraging its members to reach out to their members of Congress and
voice their opposition. The Senate Finance Committee is currently debating the
bill internally, which—if passed by the Committee—will go to the full Senate for
a vote by the end of July, according to most reports.
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For Immediate Release: July 9, 2009 Contact: Corey Caldwell 202-434-0586
Flight Attendants Advance Towards FMLA Coverage
Bipartisan Group of U.S. Senators Introduces Legislation to Clarify FMLA Language for Flight Crews
Washington, DC - The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA)
today applauded Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK),
Jim Webb (D-VA), Sue Collins (R-ME), Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Kit Bond
(R-MO) for introducing the Airline Flight Crew Family and Medical Leave
Act. The legislation would clarify the intent of the original Family
and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and finally provide all flight attendants
equal coverage under this statute as was intended.
"AFA-CWA has worked hard to ensure that no flight attendant is left
behind when it comes to FMLA coverage," said AFA-CWA International
President Patricia Friend. "We are extremely pleased with Senator
Murray's leadership in making this bill a bi-partisan effort to correct
and clarify current FMLA language that has repeatedly denied many
flight attendants from qualifying for coverage for years," said Friend.
Currently, flight attendants face many hurdles in order to qualify
for FMLA benefits. These hurdles are particular to airline employees
since current FMLA language has been narrowly interpreted and has
failed to take into account "the unique way in which the airline
industry counts its workers hours." The current bill, S. 1422 will
clarify the original 1993 FMLA law and ensure that flight crews are
treated fairly and qualify for benefits. A similar bill was passed by
the House on a unanimous voice vote earlier this year.
"No one can question the benefits FMLA has provided for working
women and men by being able to take time off from work to care for
themselves or family members," said Friend. "This bill will clarify the
original intent of the law in order to provide a fair and well-deserved
benefit to the hard-working airline crewmembers. I urge the U.S.
Senate to pass this important legislation quickly."
The FMLA requires most employers to provide job-protected unpaid
leave to employees who have worked 60 percent of a full-time schedule
over the course of a year. However, the courts and federal agencies
disregarded that original intent and narrowly defined the "full time
schedule" as that of a traditional 40 hour work week, thereby excluding
flight attendants since their schedule does not fall within the
traditional 9-5 work day. The Airline Flight Crew FMLA will correct
this misinterpretation of the original legislation.
For over 60 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been
serving as the voice for flight attendants in the workplace, in the
aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. More than 50,000
flight attendants at 20 airlines come together to form AFA-CWA, the
world's largest flight attendant union. AFA is part of the
700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO.
Visit us at www.afanet.o
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SHOESTRING STAFFING AT MAJOR WASHINGTON REGIONAL RADAR FACILITY FORCES CLOSURE OF BUSY AIRSPACE; RALEIGH TRAFFIC MOST AFFECTED
06/20/2009
CONTACT: Curt Johnson, NATCA Washington Center, 571-242-2660
LEESBURG, Va. – The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday
evening was forced to close several air corridors above eastern North
Carolina for 30 minutes as a desperation move to avoid a serious safety
risk when its poor management and woeful staffing reached this breaking
point at Washington Center: One controller, forced to do the job of two
for four hours alone with nobody to relieve him, working two sectors of
airspace at the end of a long shift that included forced overtime.
The closure, from 5:25 p.m. EDT to
approximately 6 p.m., created the biggest impact on Raleigh-Durham,
N.C., traffic. Eastbound departures were delayed for an hour, forced to
wait on the ground at the airport. Those flights already airborne were
forced to be re-routed, having the same fuel-burning, delay-inducing
negative effect as if a giant thunderstorm covered eastern North
Carolina.
Washington Center is the nation’s third
busiest air traffic control facility, handling more than 2.7 million
flights a year traversing a large chunk of busy airspace extending
north to southern New Jersey, south to the Carolinas and west to the
middle of West Virginia. Much like a hospital closing down blocks of
rooms because it doesn’t have enough doctors and nurses – forcing
existing staff to work more patients short-handed – Washington Center
FAA management declared what is called “ATC-0” in two airspace sectors
that stretch north-south from an area starting northwest of Wilmington,
N.C., meaning the airspace was shut down.
Friday’s incident was just the latest symptom
of chronic management failures surrounding the FAA’s nearly two-year
long effort to redesign the airspace boundaries that controllers work
at the facility, shrinking the number of separate areas of jurisdiction
from eight to seven. The project, undertaken to try and hide the
staffing problem prevalent at Washington Center for several years,
specifically excluded NATCA. As a result, the current situation has
created a proverbial “no man’s land” – three total sectors of airspace
in eastern North Carolina virtually ignored by the FAA as far as
ensuring adequate staffing and training.
There are no trainees assigned to these
sectors. There are just five veteran controllers certified to work this
airspace, but the training given to them was rushed and inadequate,
leaving them uncomfortable handling busy times of their shifts. There
is very little to no relief available, meaning long hours on position,
forced overtime and many six-day weeks, leading to chronic fatigue and
the loss of focus.
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Release #09.CAL2
July 10, 2009
Continental Pilots Optimistic About Future
with Star Alliance
HOUSTON, TEXAS---Continental pilots applaud
today’s U.S. Department of Transportation announcement of final approval for
Continental to join the existing antitrust immunized alliance with United and
eight other Star alliance carriers. As Continental transitions from the SkyTeam
to the Star alliance, this grant of immunity allows Continental to join and
participate in the Star alliance as an equal partner.
“We have supported the granting of antitrust
immunity to help our airline remain competitive and are optimistic about the
opportunity that this presents. We look forward to capitalizing on the future
benefits of Continental’s participation in the Star alliance and its position as
an immunized carrier. We believe this is a positive step for our carrier, our
customers and our pilots. However, the pilots, as essential partners, must
benefit from the potential that immunity offers,” says Captain Jay Pierce, union
leader of the Continental pilots. Continental pilots, along with pilots at
United, are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA). Capt.
Pierce adds, “For the partnerships and joint ventures proposed under this plan
to succeed, pilots at the affected carriers must play a key role. We will not
support any plan that does not recognize our contribution or attempts to pit one
carrier’s pilots against another.”
Continental and United pilots have been
coordinating efforts for nearly two years as the two carriers courted first a
merger and now Continental’s entry into the Star alliance as an immunized
carrier. The support has also extended to cooperation during bargaining efforts,
with both pilot groups currently in contract negotiations with their respective
companies.
Says Capt. Pierce, “We will continue to work with
the United pilots’ leadership as these partnerships are developed. It is in the
best interest of both our pilot groups to ensure that adequate labor protections
are included in these deals. United management’s actions in forming an alter ego
airline (between Aer Lingus and UAL) have made us very aware of the lengths that
they will go to, at the expense of labor, to line their own pockets.”
ALPA represents nearly 54,000 pilots at 36
airlines in the United States and Canada, including the approximately 5,000
pilots at Continental Airlines. There are currently 147 pilots on furlough from
Continental. Visit the ALPA website at alpa.org.
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ALPA Commends FAA Action to Combat Pilot
Fatigue “Call to Action” Results Promise to Enhance Aviation Safety
WASHINGTON – This week’s Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) announcement of plans to form an Aviation Rulemaking
Committee (ARC) to develop new standards for pilot flight time and rest is
extremely encouraging in the decades-long push by the Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l (ALPA), to modernize the regulations as a fundamental step to
address pilot fatigue.
“The FAA’s aggressive timeline and commitment to
alleviating pilot fatigue is welcome news for airline pilots across the
country,” said Capt. John Prater, ALPA’s president. “ALPA stands ready to work
with the airlines and the regulators to create the innovative solutions we need
to make a safe industry even safer.”
“Considering that the pilot flight-time and rest
rules in use today were created more than 60 years ago, it becomes immediately
clear that we need a swift and innovative approach to modernizing these
standards,” said Prater.
ALPA also strongly supports the FAA
administrator’s challenge to the industry to strengthen safety in other ways,
namely the implementation of a code of ethics, formation of professional
standards peer groups, and better utilization of programs such as Flight
Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) and the Aviation Safety Action Program
(ASAP).
“ALPA was founded on the ‘Schedule with Safety’
motto and we are proud to verify that we are already fully compliant with FAA’s
requests,” said Prater. “Today, we are asking every ALPA pilot to review our
existing Code of Ethics and rededicate themselves to the highest professional
standards that form the bedrock of our profession.” ALPA adopted its Code of
Ethics in 1956. The Code has guided the Association’s work ever since.
Among ALPA’s formally chartered committees is the
Professional Standards Committee, devoted to ensuring that all pilots maintain
the highest standards of professional conduct. This key ALPA group, composed of
dedicated pilot volunteers supported by full-time professional staff,
coordinates ALPA’s professional standards activities at member airlines’ pilot
groups. It also provides training and interaction with airline and industry
professional standards practitioners.
Finally, ALPA has long maintained that voluntary,
non-punitive safety reporting systems such as FOQA and ASAP are critical to
bettering our already outstanding airline safety record.
Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest
pilots union, representing nearly 54,000 pilots at 36 airlines in the United
States and Canada.
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ALLIED PILOTS ASSOCIATION APPLAUDS U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER AND U.S. SENATOR KOHL FOR FOCUS ON “DUE DILIGENCE”
Justice Department to offer input on pending applications by various airlines for antitrust immunity
Fort Worth, Texas (June 19, 2009)—The Allied Pilots Association (APA), certified collective bargaining agent for the 11,500 pilots of American Airlines (NYSE: AMR), applauded U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for offering to provide input to the Department of Transportation regarding pending applications for antitrust immunity by various airlines, and U.S. Senator Herb Kohl for ensuring that the applications are appropriately scrutinized to determine their impact on airline competition. “We applaud Attorney General Holder and Senator Kohl for their focus on ensuring appropriate due diligence where pending applications for antitrust immunity are concerned,” said APA President Captain Lloyd Hill. “Antitrust immunity is by definition anti-competitive, as Attorney General Holder and Senator Kohl clearly recognize. If more airlines receive antitrust immunity, the result will be fewer choices and higher ticket prices for travelers.
“Also, APA continues to have serious concerns about the impact on hard-working Americans when global airline alliances receive antitrust immunity,” Hill said. “When companies cooperate and consolidate, some jobs inevitably become redundant.” In addition to its concerns about competitiveness and job security, APA has also been emphasizing the importance of ensuring that U.S. carriers can be deployed on short notice for Civil Reserve Air Fleet duty. That readiness could be compromised by crossborder airline alliances or a relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions.
American Airlines announced on Aug. 14, 2008 that it was applying for worldwide antitrust immunity with four other carriers. The airline also announced that it was entering into a related joint business agreement with British Airways and Iberia. Since those announcements, APA has been voicing its concerns about the outsourcing, national security and competitiveness implications of American Airlines’ plans. Continental Airlines and United Airlines also have a pending application for antitrust immunity.
