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US Airways' Employees
Unite, Warn Management to Dump Anti-Labor Tactics
PHOENIX - For the first
time in the history of the new US Airways (NYSE:LCC), labor groups
representing approximately 30,000 union members at the airline have
joined together in a coalition to demand that management complete the
merger that began nearly three years ago. Specifically, management needs
to adhere to current labor contracts and reach new collective bargaining
agreements that improve the wages, benefits and working conditions of US
Airways employees. The following is a statement from the newly-formed US
Airways Labor Coalition, which includes the union leaders for the
pilots, flight attendants, customer service representatives,
dispatchers, fleet service workers, mechanics, and all other labor
groups at US Airways.
"US Airways management failed to work with labor from the beginning of
this merger and has continued this practice for nearly three years,
leading us to where we are now-a once promising airline with a
plummeting stock price, consistent rankings at the bottom of the
industry, and disgruntled employees. Instead of addressing the myriad of
problems, management has done nothing but issue excuses to our
investors, passengers and employees. The lack of leadership and know-how
displayed by this management team is appalling and has forced us to take
action.
"US Airways employees want to complete this merger, take advantage of
the cost-saving synergies that it created, and live up to the
expectations that management promised us, our investors and our
passengers. The US Airways Labor Coalition will help us achieve our
goals by creating a strong, unified voice for labor that management
cannot ignore.
"With so much talk of future airline consolidation, we urge management
teams across the industry to learn from the mistakes of US Airways'
management and work with labor before, during and after the merger
process. We have also put our own management team on notice that if they
plan to participate in a future transaction, they must throw out their
anti-labor tactics and work with us to succeed."
The US Airways Labor Coalition represents approximately 30,000 employees
from the two merged carriers- America West and US Airways. The pilots
are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l. (ALPA). The
flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight
Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA). The customer service representatives are
represented by the Airline Customer Service Employee Association-IBT/CWA.
The fleet service, mechanic and related, and maintenance training
specialist employees are represented by the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). The dispatchers, flight crew
training instructors and simulator engineers are represented by the
Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).
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Thank you,
Mike Flores, President
US Airways Master Executive Council
704-576-3174
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