Group Demands Respect And Contract Returns

ANN has learned union officials representing pilots from 40 airlines in the US and Canada met recently in Washington DC to discuss negotiating goals and strategies. In a release, the group says it intends to begin "a focused, industry-wide campaign to recoup the enormous contract cuts in pay, benefits, and work rules that management -- often with bankruptcy judges' assistance -- inflicted on airline workers over the last five years."

The three-day meeting, sponsored by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), drew the top elected officers and negotiating committee chairmen from 25 pilot groups represented by ALPA, and representatives of independent unions for pilots at Air Canada, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, AirTran, Republic, and Horizon, among others.

"No one attending the conference came out and said, 'We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it any more' -- they didn't need to," said John Prater (right), president of ALPA. "The pendulum is swinging back in our favor. As the industry has returned to profitability, management has rewarded itself. Pilots are demanding that their issues be addressed at the same time. Management didn't hesitate to seek changes it said it needed during the term of a union contract, and we aren't going to either."

Allied Pilots Association President, representing American Airlines' pilots said there is a "strong ...commitment to reverse the erosion of our profession."

ALPA pilots for feeder carriers face unique challenges. The union has formed a task force to study the issues and says it's found management for feeder carriers use cuts in pilot salaries to bid against each other for contracts.

"We will continue to coordinate across company lines to protect our profession," said Tom Wychor, chairman of the Mesaba Airlines chapter of ALPA. "Pilots will not be whipsawed by management pitting one group against another with promises of growth or quick upgrades in return for rock bottom wages."

Prater declared solidarity among the various pilots' groups as the best way to "stop the 'race to the bottom' and take back what is rightfully ours," adding "Whatever harms one pilot harms the entire profession."

ALPA says it's formed a national strike committee to consolidate and share resources for pilots who need to prepare for the worst. Prater, who served as strike coordinator in the 1983 pilots' strike at Continental Airlines said that strike failed because pilots were unprepared for it. "That can never happen again," Prater emphasized.

The first joint conference of pilot union leaders, held last summer, focused on broad industry and bargaining trends. According to the release, this week's conference was more narrowly focused on benefit and pay issues. The group says unions have already agreed to schedule another conference this summer, to be hosted by the Allied Pilots Association and the Southwest Airline Pilots Association in Dallas.

FMI: www.alpa.org, www.alliedpilots.org, www.swapa.org