June 9, 2007

• Testimony Before Congress

Dear Council AFA-CWA Members,

The week of June 4, 2007 saw AFA issues front and center in the United States Congress. The Senate version of the FAA Reauthorization Bill is awaiting a final vote on the floor of the US Senate. In the House of Representatives, the final draft version of the same bill is being written as we speak. The Aviation Subcommittee is expected to take up the issue before the end of the month. According to sources it is expected to mirror the language passed by the Senate. One issue that is drawing the fire of airline management is the amendment offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) addressing merger protection for airline employees should two airlines merge. The Air Transport Association (ATA), the lobby group for airline management, has raised a major objection to this issue and is actively looking to strip it out of the final Bill. This amendment was passed by a unanimous voice vote in committee during the Senate hearing on the FAA Reauthorization Bill. AFA members made their voices heard in Senate and the same will be needed for the House version of this bill as well. Please stay tuned for more information on this important piece of legislation as it heads to committee and a final vote on the floor of both chambers of Congress.

On June 6, 2007, AFA-CWA International President Pat Friend testified before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure regarding the National Transportation Safety Board’s Most Wanted Aviation Safety Improvements. President Friend focused her testimony on flight attendant fatigue and the safety concerns that fatigue my play in the event of an on board emergency or possible evacuation of the aircraft.  

Here is the link of the written testimony provided to the committee by AFA-CWA.  http://www.afausairways.org/DCA/testimony_pfriend.doc.

Also on June 6, 2007, AFA-CWA provided written testimony before the Homeland Security Committee concerning the recent Tuberculosis event that swept the media’s attention the past couple of weeks when a passenger knowingly traveled on several international flights and possibly exposed passengers to this drug-resistant disease. Below is the link to the testimony provided to the Committee.
http://www.afausairways.org/DCA/statement_pfriend.doc.

Another important issue that will come before Congress in the coming weeks is a Bill that will be offered by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) concerning Family Medical Leave for airline crew members. As the law was written in 1993, an employee who works 60% of a full time schedule (1250 hours in a 12 month period) would automatically qualify for FMLA coverage. The Bill offered by Rep. Bishop would be a technical correction to the current law. Since aviation crew members are paid in a very different fashion then those not in the industry, from time to time a technical correction is needed to make sure that the rights of all employees are respected. Since FMLA became the law, this has largely become a function of our contract negotiations and varies from carrier to carrier. The Legislative Policy Committee for AFA-CWA has focused on issues that can be removed from the agenda of our negotiations committees. When possible it is important to “legislate it, not negotiate it”.

The next couple of weeks look to be very exciting for our members. Thank you all for your continued support of our legislative agenda.

Alin Boswell
Chairperson, Legislative Policy Committee
LEC President, DCA
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA