March 22, 1999
ALPA, Intl
Committees
Even if the Transport Workers Union wins its challenged
bid to represent America West’s approximately 2,200 baggage handlers, that will still
leave almost half the airline’s 12,000 employees without union affiliations.
Analysts point out that it’s the lowest union penetration of any major airline,
and an opportunity for further union-organizing efforts.
Besides the 2,400 flight attendants, the carrier’s 1,500 pilots are represented by
the Air Line Pilots Association and its 400 mechanics by the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters Local 104. In January, the airline’s baggage handlers and other fleet
services workers voted to join the Transport Workers Union. The union’s narrow
victory, 1,063 out of 2,000 eligible voters, has been challenged by America West
management, which has asked the National Mediation Board to order a new election.
The fleet service workers narrowly rejected a union-organizing effort in 1997 and, by
law, had to wait a year before requesting a new election. America West fleet service
workers say their pay ranges from $6.95 to about $10 per hour. That, they say, compares
with fleet service workers at rival Southwest Airlines who are paid up to $19 an hour.
After they voted to unionize, America West canceled annual bonuses to those workers.
The airline gives out AWArd Pay to non-union employees, and last year passed out $7.2
million to about 7,200 workers, with payments totaling about 5 percent of their earnings.
Union organizers Pat Rezler and Frank Trotti are scheduled to meet with the National
Mediation Board in Washington, D.C., on Friday. “It’s nothing negative,”
Trotti said. “They want to hear the truth.
We’re confident we will be certified.”
If the union is certified, it will begin contract negotiations on behalf of the America
West employees.
The airlines’ mechanics voted to join the Teamsters local in 1996 following the
termination of about 400 co-workers in 1995 due to management’s decision to outsource
much of the work. The union claimed the firings were deliberately planned to reduce the
union’s ranks before a ratification election. In the end, the fired mechanics were
allowed to vote in the election, which saw 97 percent of the eligible voters cast ballots
in favor of the union.
In September, the mechanics won a five-year contract with America West that could
increase wages 34 percent over the period and bring back work lost to outside contractors
in 1995.
The wage increases would bring America West up to the industry average. The
airline’s outsourcing of mechanical work has been connected by some to the $5 million
fine levied against America West last year by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The pilots joined the Air Line Pilots Association in 1993 and approved a five-year
contract in 1995. That contract is up for renegotiation next year.
In a letter to America West pilots on March 5, Donald W. Steinman, chairman of the
ALPA, noted that the no-strike clause in their contracts that prevented them from striking
in sympathy with flight attendants does not limit their right to strike in support of
their own contract negotiations.
“Our no-strike commitment ends 30 days after we are released from mediation, if
and when we reach that stage,” he said.
| Attendants’ Contract May Open Door Other workers ripe for union efforts by Max Jarman, The Arizona Republic |
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| The successful battle for higher wages by America West Airlines flight attendants could galvanize the carrier’s other unionized labor groups in future contract negotiations and open the door for labor unions to organize additional workers. |