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Frontier Flight Attendants File For Union Election

Midway Flight Attendants Begin Mediation

Ordering pizza? Hold the mushrooms

WASHINGTON, DC * The Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, filed a petition Wednesday on behalf of Frontier Airlines flight attendants to hold a union representation election.

The flight attendants want to have their work rules and scheduling solidified in a legally-binding contract with the company.  The flight attendants are also concerned about revised scheduling practices and fair pay.

This will be the third union election for the flight attendants at Frontier. A majority of flight attendants have signed union authorization cards.

"Management has made empty promises to us in the past; this time we're going to get it in writing," said Kathie Weis, a Frontier flight attendant who has been flying for six years. "A contract is the best thing flight attendants can do for our future, and we're committed to carrying this through."

Upon validation of the cards filed, the National Mediation Board, the government agency responsible for overseeing labor relations in the airline industry, will order an election and set dates for the secret ballot vote.

Midway Flight Attendants Begin Mediation
Lawsuit Pending over Recall Rights

WASHINGTON, DC - Midway Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, will begin mediation with the company on Wednesday in their three-year old contract talks.

The flight attendants and airline management had reached tentative agreements on 75 percent of the contract when the flight attendants originally requested mediation. However, sessions had not yet begun when the airline shut down in September. The flight attendants resubmitted their request for mediation in January after Midway resumed operations.

Contract provisions covering seniority, furlough and recall of employees had already been decided but financial issues such as pay, benefits and scheduling are still open. Now the company wants to renegotiate the already agreed upon portions of the contract, bringing three years of negotiations back to square one.

Midway management showed its complete disregard for its flight attendant workforce when the company restarted operations. Midway ignored the agreement on recall of employees and refused to recall flight attendants to work based on years of service to the airline. Instead, flight attendants were brought back arbitrarily and a vice president and supervisors who were not flight attendants prior to the shutdown were given flight attendant positions over furloughed flight attendants. Other Midway employees have been recalled in seniority order as has been done in the past.

On behalf of the Midway flight attendants, AFA filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Feb. 11 for injunctive relief to force the company to recall flight attendants in seniority order. The lawsuit also encompasses a number of other issues, including anti-union animus and bad faith bargaining. The case is still pending.

"We're fighting for respect, fairness and a legally-binding contract that management can't change on a whim," said Gwendolyn Savoy, a Midway flight attendant and AFA council 63 secretary who hasn't been recalled to the job. "All Midway flight attendants, whether or not they have been recalled, have worked hard for our airline and it is shameful what management has done. We'll continue to fight at the negotiating table, in the courts and in public and do whatever it takes to win a good contract that protects our careers and our families."

Mushroom workers at Pictsweet Mushrooms in Ventura, Calif., have been trying for years to win fair pay, benefits and, most of all, safe working conditions. Conditions at Pictsweet in Ventura are cruel and dangerous. Mushroom workers labor in dark and damp rooms. Floors are slippery. Only the lights on their helmets guide the mushroom workers. Workers have complained that over time the lack of proper lighting has caused their vision to deteriorate.

Because of these conditions, workers are asking customers to stop buying Pictsweet mushrooms. Pictsweet has lost many major customers including Vons, Safeway and Ralphs supermarkets which are honoring the workers' requests.

You can help. Pizza Hut is one of Pictsweet's largest customers and has refused to do the right thing by keeping Pictsweet mushrooms off its pizzas until Pictsweet signs a union contract and workers win safe and healthy jobs and better pay.

Click on the link below now to send Pizza Hut a fax. Tell Pizza Hut to stop buying Pictsweet mushrooms. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/pizzahut/is57x29b8w

After you send your fax, tell your friends, family and co-workers about this struggle for justice for Pictsweet mushroom workers. http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/D7aC1od1qpqB/