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Successful Week in
Congress
Dear
Council AFA-CWA Members,
One Hurdle Cleared! Recap
of a Successful Week in Congress
 The
week of May 14, 2007, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee
took up the issue of the FAA Reauthorization Bill.
Congress must pass this bill every 3 or 4 years and is
AFA's primary tool to address our legislative issues. In
the weeks prior to the committee taking up the issue,
congressional staff consulted with Shane Larson
(Executive Director, Government Affairs for AFA-CWA) on
our legislative agenda. Earlier in the year the
Legislative Policy Committee for AFA-CWA held meetings
with the MEC Government Affairs leaders to identify and
prioritize the issues that needed to and could be
addressed on Capitol Hill and not at the negotiating
table.
The weeks prior to the committee hearing there were many
drafts of the bill. During this process many of our
issues were added and deleted. Our government affairs
department would here "we can give you this but we can
not give you that". One of the primary issues identified
by the Legislative Policy Committee was OSHA protection
for flight attendants. Congressional staff
representatives initially told AFA that OSHA protection
would be part of the draft bill. When Republicans and
airline management caught wind of this it looked like it
would become all out war. This is were AFA members
became their own lobbyist. AFA members began calling
their Senators and telling them they wanted and deserved
OSHA protection. Both Republican and Democrats heard
this loud and clear and a compromise was reached to
provide these important and long overdue protections.
AFA issues in the FAA Reauthorization Bill:
HIMS or "Return to the Cabin" Program for flight
attendants - The HIMS program allows a pilot to go
through the necessary drug and/or alcohol rehabilitation
if testing positive. This has been a byproduct of the
pilot certification. Now that flight attendants have
similar certification it should be the same on both
sides of the flight deck door. Flight attendants will
now (once the bill is passed and the program is in
place) be able to take advantage of the same program.
This is not a "get out of jail free card". Each AFA
carrier has different language concerning this issue.
For many of our carriers a positive test is the
equivalent to a death sentence. This is yet another
issue removed from the negotiating table for each of our
air carriers.
Comprehensive Fatigue Study - There is language
in the bill to mandate a more detailed Crew member
fatigue study. One of the primary issues for all flight
attendants from the smallest regional airline to the
largest legacy carrier is the long days and short
nights. The initial study identified that fatigue was a
serious issue and that a much larger study was needed.
This bill will mandate that the FAA carry out this
study. It is important to note that this is not the end
of the fight. We will still need to obtain the funding
needed for this study.
English Language Proficiency - English is the
official language of the International aviation system
for all air traffic controllers, pilots, dispatcher and
even TSA screeners. With current trends toward a more
global society and economy, at least one US carrier has
(Northwest) already attempted to outsource flight
attendant positions to foreign nationals. The bill
contains language that requires that all flight
attendants certified by the FAA would have to pass an
English language proficiency standard. AFA believes that
this standard would help improve aviation safety as well
as making it much more difficult to outsource flight
attendant jobs.
OSHA - AFA was able to, almost at the last
minute, get language into the bill requiring forward
movement on the adoption of OSHA standards for flight
attendants. While the language is not the ideal language
it forces the FAA to move forward on adopting OSHA
standards for flight attendants. In the end, the
Republicans on the Committee caved and accepted
language. With the Republicans accepting the language it
effectively silenced the lobbyist for the airlines. As
one airline lobbyist said "How did you do this"? The
answer was simple; it was the flight attendants speaking
with one voice. Every Senate office said they had been
hearing from the flight attendants in their state. This
has been a 30 years fight but it is not over until the
bill is signed into law. Thanks to all of you for making
this a reality with your calls and mobilization. This is
a major victory for the flight attendant community. This
is the type of victory that only can happen when flight
attendants mobilize and demand action by their elected
representatives.
Merger Protections for Airline Workers - Senator
Claire McCaskill (D-MO) offered an amendment to address
airline workers concerns during mergers. Aviation
workers currently have limited protection and none if
they are not represented by a union. First, it would
require that when merging two contracts into one after a
merger, those negotiations would fall under a section of
the Railway Labor Act which would give us the right to
strike. It also brings back provisions that existed
prior to deregulation that would require the airlines to
provide a number of protections such as moving and
relocation expenses, disruption expenses if domiciles
are closed and most importantly it mandates that if two
carriers are merging that the groups negotiate a "fair
and equitable" way to merge the two seniority lists.
This would help prevent what happened to the former TWA
flight attendants when they were stapled to the bottom
of the American Seniority list when TWA was bought by
American.
AFA was able to score this major victory during the
Committee vote on a provision that no one expected to
get out of committee. The Committee accepted this
amendment on a unanimous voice vote that shocked even
the most seasoned of AFA lobbyist.
Transportation Workers Rally in Washington, DC
 Thousands
of transportation workers and hundreds of AFA-CWA
members held a rally on the Mall in Washington, DC on
May 17, 2007. With a loud and collective voice, labor
leaders and leading congressional leaders said "Enough
is Enough". Calling for an end to the war that has been
waged by the Bush Administration on transportation
workers and the anti-labor agenda promoted by President
Bush, transportations workers put the administration on
notice that it was time to turn back the clock and to
begin to restore the benefits and dignity that our
profession deserves. It was also a call to the newly
elected Democratic majority to get to work and deliver
on the promises that were made during the recent 2006
elections. Pat Friend, AFA-CWA International President,
delivered a passionate speech outlining the devastation
to our industry. Airline management has abused the
bankruptcy laws to gut our contracts at the same time
they pad their golden parachutes. Several presidential
candidates including Senator Joe Biden and Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton rallied the crowd to continue our
fight against the attacks on the middle class. Thank you
to all the AFA-CWA members who attended the rally. Now
is the time to take the message back to our flying
partners and encourage each to be an active participate
in our legislative agenda.
In Solidarity,
Alin Boswell
Chairperson, Legislative Policy Committee
LEC President, DCA
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA |
