Steelworkers Standing In Solidarity With Flight Attendants

United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard has pledged the USW's full support for the Flight Attendants Union Coalition, a group representing nearly 90,000 flight attendants campaigning to reverse the TSA decision to allow knives in aircraft cabins for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001. "The decision to allow knives on planes flies in the face of logic and puts our dedicated flight attendants, as well as countless innocent passengers, needlessly in harm's way," Gerard said. "There is simply no good reason to do this, and there are a million reasons not to do it."

The TSA announced last week that air passengers would be allowed to carry knives with blades up to 2.36 inches. The decision is scheduled to go into effect on April 25. The flight attendants coalition is planning a series of actions to increase pressure on the TSA to reverse the decision, beginning with an online petition to the White House.

"One of the most important jobs our leaders have is to stand up for the safety and health of the people in our workplaces and our communities," Gerard said. "We fully support our hard-working brothers and sisters whose workplaces are in our aircraft, and we join them in urging the TSA to put a stop to this ridiculous and unsafe plan."

The USW represents about 850,000 workers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean in a wide variety of industries, ranging from glassmaking to mining, steel, oil, paper, tire and rubber to the public sector, service and health care industries.

FMI: www.usw.org