United Seeks To Ax 1,000 Flight Attendants

[hatrack]

"United Airlines proposed to eliminate 1,000 flight attendant jobs as part of a bankruptcy exit plan that seeks $137.6 million in annual concessions from that group, the workers' union said.

United's Association of Flight Attendants told members in a Web site message Monday that it will ask members to authorize a strike in response to the demands, including pay and benefit cuts. The 1,000 jobs amount to 6.5 percent of the Chicago-based airline's work force of 15,400 attendants."

EDIT

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/BC8426BBD335F35586256F4E000EF65C?OpenDocument&Headline=Auditor+refuses+to+OK+Fannie+Mae's+results

[Krupskaya]

1. Man, those community colleges...

...are just going to be bursting at the seams.

Godamnit.

[mhr]

2. "Flipping Burgers With Style" The Latest From Your Local College

No course prerequisites required and you will learn to wow your new immigrant boss. Maybe, with practice, you can represent the college at the national Burger Flipping championships. All that and more is possible as you toss those four year degrees in the trash.

[makhno]

3. Strike

If the flight attendants go on strike and are not supported by the pilots' and engineers' unions, the latter deserve to get screwed when their time comes (again).

[maddezmom]

6. AP;Flight Attendants Union Wants Strike Vote

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=716&e=6&u=/ap/20041116/ap_on_bi_ge/flight_attendants_strike

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. So the planes will be even more sardine-packed than before, and

the flight attendants will be even more frantic and bad-tempered.

The downward spiral that began with deregulation is accelerating.

[flygal]

5. I quit flying because basically the glamour had totally gone out

of it. I hate to sound elitist, but flying is just "public transportation" anymore. Cheap airfare brought out all the trailer trash and quite frankly, they were always the most demanding.

[ret5hd]

7. you're right...

that did sound elitist.

[flygal]

10. I know I know that did sound snobbish...

I hated saying that while I was a flight attendant b/c I certainly couldn't have afforded to travel without my benefits. But, I just did too many trips to Vegas and Mexico with guys in Hooters shirts being obnoxious. They had no regard for safety precautions (opening bins while taxing, getting drunk).

When I was a kid my folks always dressed us in matching outfits to fly. It was a big deal! Now everyone expects it to run like the city transit.

[reprobate]

8. Yep. No more than Greyhounds with wings.

I know the feeling. One of my earliest memories is of Dad taking me to a small airport and seeing an Aerocoupe. I was so young I thought it would grow up to be a Constellation.

I don't fly anymore for an entirely different reason. Under airline regulation you knew that the company made a reasonable profit after legitimate expenses. And those expences included mandated maintenance. With deregulation there is no longer incentive to ensure a safely maintaned aircraft. In fact there is a disincentive. I give you Alaska Airline. Among aothers. And the costcutting goes on other places too. Like sitting another couple of inches closer to your neighbor.

Thinking back, I recall in fact having more confortable rides on Greyhound busses. Nowhere nere as much bouncing around.

[Eurobabe]

9. ha! whatcha want to make a bet they just don't fly the planes?

I got bumped in Charlotte 2 wks ago, from an evening flight because USAir didn't have a crew.

Get used to it people, flying is going to suck even more...

[TahitiNut]

11. (Flight Attendants') Union President Calls for Nationwide Strike

For Release after 10:00 a.m. ET November 16, 2004

Union President Calls for Nationwide Strike

Flight Attendants Say 'No' to Unrelenting Concessions

PITTSBURGH - Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, today called on the union's Board of Directors to authorize a nationwide strike against the concerted effort by airline management to wipe out union contracts and deprive employees of their livelihood. AFA represents flight attendants at 26 airlines.

"We will stand up for the profession we have built by taking a stand for flight attendants everywhere, in this country and around the world," Friend declared to board members at the opening of the board's annual meeting, in Pittsburgh. "Airline management needs to understand that there will be serious consequences if they persist in their attacks on our contracts."

Friend noted that through bankruptcy, management has made an end run around the collective bargaining process by threatening liquidation and introducing a third party, the court, with the power to impose a draconian settlement. For example, US Airways last week asked a court to approve its plan to tear up its union contracts, scrap its pension plans and eliminate health coverage for retirees. United Airlines, the nation's second-largest carrier, wants nearly $140 million in concessions from flight attendants, on top of the $314 million annually it has already extracted from the flight attendant work group. United also seeks hundreds of millions more by attempting to terminate its pension plans. Seven carriers with AFA representation are currently in bankruptcy, and others are on the brink.

<snip>

---

PATRICIA A. FRIEND
International President
Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO

A United Airlines flight attendant since 1966, Pat Friend is the International President of the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO. During her seven years in office, Friend has been a respected leader in the airline industry and throughout the labor movement.

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Friend was appointed by Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta to serve on the DOT Rapid Response Team for Aircraft Security, a group of industry experts assembled to recommend aircraft security improvements. Since then, she has tirelessly lobbied Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration and the public for their support of more stringent security measures and financial relief for displaced workers.

Under Friend's leadership, AFA has fought for and won whistleblower protections for aviation employees, increased penalties for crew interference, a smoking ban on international flights, and opened the door for occupational safety and health protections for all flight attendants. Friend also spearheaded the largest private sector organizing campaign in airline history by providing Delta Air Lines' 20,000 flight attendants with the opportunity to have a voice at work.

<snip>

http://www.afanet.org/default.asp?nc=8972&id=38

[makhno]

12. More power to them

I can't stand the fact that bankruptcy laws are so outrageously used to protect incompetent management and further an anti-labor agenda. Management should be accountable for their inability to properly design and execute a sound business plan. Instead, they use the opportunity of their own failure to pass the burden on those at the bottom of the chain. That is reprehensible.

As an aside, I didn't realize Delta's FAs weren't union. That will narrow my choice of airline in the future.