Thu, Jul 02, 2009
Union Redoubles Efforts Following Concerns Outlined By
Department of Justice
Flight attendants, represented by
the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA-CWA) at
United Airlines, are pressing the DOT to ensure American jobs are
protected when considering the anti-trust immunity filing to join
Continental with United Airlines and the Star Alliance. The flight
attendants' efforts take on extraordinary meaning this week
following an announcement by United Airlines to furlough 2,150
Flight Attendants this fall.
"More than ever it is clear American jobs are an integral part
of our American economy. Our government has a responsibility to
ensure business ventures protect access to good American jobs,"
stated Greg Davidowitch, president of the AFA-CWA at United
Airlines. "Our country's anti-trust laws exist for a reason,
including consumer protections as recently highlighted by the
Department of Justice as well as job protections that take on even
greater meaning in today's economic climate."
The flight attendant union members
have been contacting Congress and calling the Administration for
weeks in a campaign to apply greater scrutiny of airline alliances
and help stem further job loss. As United Airlines management
helped grow the Star Alliance to the largest in the world over the
last decade, Flight Attendants at the carrier have experienced a
loss of nearly half their ranks or 12,000 jobs. The recent furlough
announcement again points to the critical nature of the flight
attendants' effort to insure job protections in any approval of an
airline alliance, and specifically the venture proposed by
Continental and United Airlines within the Star Alliance.
Flight attendants have connected consumer concerns to
worker concerns within airline alliances as they press the
Administration to look more closely at the Continental and United
venture. Domestic and international anti-competitive concerns
identified by the Department of Justice directly relates to the
very same conditions that lead to greater job loss. Fares rise as
frequency of flights is diminished when all competition is
erased.
Tuesday, Davidowitch again wrote to the Department of
Transportation on behalf of the United Airlines Flight Attendants.
"While the Department of Transportation takes care to review the
concerns detailed by the Department of Justice, as part of any
final order we again call on the Administration to enact durable
and meaningful provisions designed to insure an equitable measure
of protections for workers."
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