Cuts in Service Reaching Crisis Proportions for Millions Dependent on Public Transportation

Press Release: U.S. Transportation Unions to Launch Campaign Wed. with Support from Civil Rights and Environmental Groups to Call on Congress for Additional and Immediate Transit Funding
Wednesday, 5 p.m., March 31st, launch announcement for “Keep America Moving” to be held outside Penn Station will feature Jesse Jackson, local political and labor leaders and supporters of mass transit

New York – Across the nation, financially strapped public transit systems are cancelling routes and cutting hours of operation, while raising fares. These cutbacks are creating an extreme hardship for those dependent on public busses and trains and an economic strain on communities all across America as well as slowing the nation’s economic recovery.

On Wednesday, leaders of transportation unions representing more than one million transit workers will be joined by civil rights leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, local elected leaders and representatives of community and environmental groups to launch a national campaign, “Keep America Moving” with the goal of redirecting a portion of federal stimulus dollars and transportation funds from capital projects toward underwriting operating costs at local transit agencies.

WHO: Rev. Jesse Jackson, ATU President Warren S. George, TWU International President James C. Little, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, other labor community, civil rights and elected leaders
WHAT: Announcement of national campaign “Keep America Moving”
WHEN: 5 p.m., Wed., March 31, 2010
WHERE: Outside Penn Station, 7th Ave. at 34th Street, New York City

“Here in New York, tax revenues are down and state funding is being cut,” said TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen. “MTA is using hundreds of millions in Federal stimulus dollars for long range construction projects, meanwhile we’re kicking schoolchildren off our trains and busses to save money – this doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Warren S. George, President of the Amalgamated Transit Union added, “It’s not just New York. In Washington for example, Metro may end weekend subway service at midnight, which will hurt restaurants, theaters and other entertainment businesses and their employees. It will also put more bar patrons behind the wheel of their own cars. Cuts in the D.C. area now stretch commuting time for some workers from what was once a matter of minutes to hours because of the cancellation of bus routes. It’s not right, with redirected federal money we can do better.”

The federal government currently allocates 82 percent of transportation dollars toward highway projects. The federal stimulus programs created in 2009 sharply limit dollars that may be directed toward operating costs. Earlier this month, at an ATU legislative conference, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood backed the idea of releasing more federal funds to defray operating costs at local transit agencies.

Jerry Brown, a professor at Florida International University and the editor of the online publication Green Labor Journal said, “We talk about green jobs, about reducing our dependency on foreign oil, about getting people out of their cars and then we cut public transportation. We don’t need new money; we just need to redirect money already set aside for transportation. Congress needs to act now before it’s too late.”

Founding partners of Keep America Moving are the 190,000 –member Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) representing transit workers in 44 states and nine Canadian provinces and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) represents 200,000 workers and retirees, primarily in commercial aviation, public transportation and passenger railroads. Both unions are affiliates of the AFL-CIO.
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For further information contact:
Jamie Horwitz 202/549-4921
jhdcpr@starpower.net or
Roger Kerson 734/645-0535
roger.kerson@gmail.com

TWU Leaders Rally for Transit Future

On March 27, TWU leaders joined Reverend Jesse Jackson, other labor leaders, green jobs advocates and political figures at a rally in Chicago to speak out against transit worker and service cuts at a time when jobs are vital to our country's economic recovery and passenger safety is a national priority. They also rallied against more than 1,000 recent Chicago Transit Authority layoffs and service cuts, with plans to take their message to other major cities dealing with the same.

The rally, held at Rev. Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, was the first organized by a newly formed coalition, which consists of the TWU International and several TWU transit locals, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the United Transportation Union, other labor groups, green jobs and environmental groups including Transportation for America, and various community groups across the country. The coalition has launched a campaign called "Keep America Moving."

Rev. Jackson, TWU President James C. Little, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen and other TWU Local leaders, ATU President Warren S. George, local politicians and others involved with the new coalition, will be at New York City's Pennsylvania station this week to send the same message to the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Their message is a call for the government to apply simple logic to the way transit stimulus funds are allocated: if desperately-needed transit stimulus funds can be used to employ the latest technology and build new trains and buses (capital expenses), it needs to go towards paying the people needed to operate the vehicles and services (operations). While millions of dollars have been allocated for transit funding, that money can only be used for operating costs if a city's population is under 200,000.

The federal government currently allocates 82 percent of transportation dollars toward highway projects. The federal stimulus programs created in 2009 sharply limit dollars that may be directed toward operating costs. Earlier this month, at an ATU legislative conference, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood backed the idea of releasing more federal funds to defray operating costs at local transit agencies.

Keep America Moving campaign also focuses on using mass transportation to make the country more environmentally friendly. Mass transportation jobs are green jobs. Buses and trains are "more energy efficient and time efficient than cars that people drive back and forth to work every day," said Rev. Jackson at the rally. It is better for the environment to have "sixty people on the bus, as opposed to sixty cars on the road," said Rev. Jackson in an interview with MSNBC.

On behalf of TWU International President James C. Little, TWU Executive Vice President Harry Lombardo addressed the crowd at the Chicago rally, explaining it is time for the government to take care of the everyday people who have to get to work. Service cuts will force more cars on the road, and could even exasperate unemployment in areas where people will not be able to get to or from their jobs without mass transportation.

"We are not just talking about cutting routes, we are talking about changing people's everyday lives if we don't get the money," said Lombardo. "We are talking about cutting night service, weekend service - people who work at night will not be able to get to work, or home from work. It’s a question of having our elected officials require transit authorities to do the right thing and provide the service to the general public that they are supposed to provide."

The new machinery and vehicles should be built and maintained here at home where close to 15 million people are out of work, rather than in foreign countries like Japan, where workers are often overworked and underpaid.

Keep America Moving will be spreading its message about the importance of proper funding for mass transportation and the need to use it to help solve some of our country's environmental and unemployment problems, rather than use it to perpetuate these pressing issues.

TWU at CLUW’s Working Women’s Celebration

The Transport Workers Union was a proud participant in the Coalition Labor Union Women's first annual working women's celebration and awards this women's history month. "The national recognition of women's history provides a good avenue to recognize and celebrate women's historic achievements," said Sandra Burleson, TWU Women's Committee Chair and a CLUW Vice-President, who attended the three-day in mid-March. "It creates an opportunity to honor women in our unions and communities."

The CLUW celebration involved a lobby day at the White House, with discussion on the Healthy Families Act, Pay-check Fairness Act and health reform; and speakers, workshops and panels, all which focused on women's history and issues of the past and present. A women's history program, presented by the Metro D.C. CLUW Chapter, carried the theme, "Writing Women Back into History," which sparked a lively discussion on the challenges women of different backgrounds face today and challenges they have faced in the past.

During the event, CLUW awarded eleven women with a "Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award." Among the awardees were Elizabeth Schuler, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer; Arlene Holt Baker, Executive Vice-President of the AFL-CIO; Barbra Easterling, National President of the American Retirement Association; Anna Burger, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Elizabeth Bunn, Secretary-Treasurer of the United Auto Workers (UAW), and Linda Chavez-Thompson, retired national Executive Vice-President AFL-CIO; Gloria Johnson, President Emeritus of CLUW; Joyce Miller, a CLUW founder; Barbra Easterling, National President American Retirement Association; Augusta Thomas, American Federation Government Employees; Jane Broomdel; and Nancy Wohlforth, retired President of PRIDE at Work.

"The TWU is a proud supporter of equal rights and, of course, women's rights," said TWU International President James C. Little. "We are honored to be involved with CLUW and these kind of events that take the time to recognize these strong women leaders from the labor movement and their inspirational achievements."

Becker, Pearce Appointed to NLRB

This weekend President Barack Obama appointed 15 nominees to posts that have remained vacant for months due to roadblocks placed by Senate Republicans. Among the appointees were Mark Pearce and Craig Becker, both nominees for the National Labor Relations Board, strongly contested by Republicans for their connections to Labor.

"The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees. But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis," Obama said in a statement issued Saturday. This is the first time President Obama has wielded his recess appointment powers. The Senate must confirm the appointments after this year.

The NLRB, a five-person board which decides who -- and which groups of workers -- unions can represent, judges labor law-breaking complaints and settles jurisdictional disputes, has been functioning with only two people since the end of 2007. With only two members, courts have been split over if NLRB rulings from 2008 are now legal. The appointments of Becker and Pearce assure that the board's rulings will now be legitimate.

Becker was an associate general counsel to both the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO and supports card-check legislation, which would make it easier for employees to form unions.

"The TWU commends President Obama's demonstrated commitment to working families by finally appointing these well-qualified and much-needed nominees to the NLRB," said TWU President James C. Little. "The NLRB can now function properly and do its job for hard-working American citizens."


Besides Becker and Pearce, the other 13 recess appointees are:

• Jeffrey Goldstein, undersecretary for domestic finance, Department of the Treasury

• Michael F. Mundaca, assistant secretary for tax policy, Department of the Treasury

• Eric L. Hirschhorn, undersecretary for export administration and head of the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce

• Michael Punke, deputy trade representative - Geneva, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

• Francisco "Frank" J. Sanchez, undersecretary for international trade, Department of Commerce

• Islam A. Siddiqui, chief agricultural negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

• Alan D. Bersin, commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security

• Rafael Borras, undersecretary for management, Department of Homeland Security

• Jill Long Thompson, Farm Credit Administration Board

• Jacqueline A. Berrien, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

• Chai R. Feldblum, commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

• Victoria A. Lipnic, commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

• P. David Lopez, general counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Getting Closer to FAA Reauthorization

Unanimous Senate passage of legislation renewing the life of the Federal Aviation Administration moves the country one step closer to modernizing the air traffic control system, to much-needed regulations for the airline industry and protections for passengers and to the creation of thousands of jobs in the sector, but a key pro-union amendment has been left out.

On March 22 the Senate voted 93-0 in favor of the FAA Reauthorization bill, HR1586, which is now headed to the House for conference committee debate on several controversial items in the legislation. "The TWU is thrilled that our efforts have paid off and helped to get this long-awaited legislation passed," said TWU International President James C. Little. Little added that he commends the many members and International representatives who have worked towards this passage.

The House must reach agreement on several sensitive issues that remain in the bill, including: raising Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs), which the airline industry vigorously opposes; cabin air quality; the language in the section of the bill that deals with foreign repair of aircraft, which the European Union and some U.S. carriers oppose; antitrust immunity for airline alliances; and implementation of Next Generation Air Transportation System programs and its funding.

The biggest hang-up with the legislation is with the reclassification of FedEx under the National Labor Relations Act. The bill lacks an amendment that affects FedEx and subsequently UPS. Labor advocates and UPS, which is represented by the Teamsters, are eager for an amendment that would reclassify FedEx so that it is covered under the National Labor Relations Act, instead of the Railway Labor Act.

Just over a decade ago, Memphis-based FedEx got the then-GOP-run Congress to put a special section in the FAA bill saying FedEx workers could be organized under the Railway Labor Act, not the National Labor Relations Act. There’s a big difference. Under the NLRA, any union can organize a company worksite by worksite, and it needs to gain only a majority of ballots cast to win a recognition election, as difficult as that is.

The Teamsters and UPS campaigned to repeal the special FedEx provision and won, last year, in the House’s FAA bill. Tennessee’s two GOP senators threatened to filibuster the Senate’s FAA bill unless the FedEx repeal was dropped, and it was. Now lawmakers must work out the difference in bargaining. “We’re very optimistic it (the FedEx repeal) will be in the final bill,” a Teamsters spokesman says.

Florida State Conference Lobbies for Space Coast

TWU leaders from Florida Locals joined dozens of other unions in Tallahassee last week for the 2010 Florida AFL-CIO Legislative Conference. The issue of Space Coast jobs and Florida's jeopardized economy took precedence for the TWU at this year's Conference. President Obama's February announcement to cut funding for NASA's Constellation program and to make other drastic changes to the industry, essentially privatizing space travel, affect an estimated 65 thousand Florida jobs and cost approximately $4 billion in wages, according to spaceflorida.gov.

"Whether you work for the space coast or not, the fact of the matter is that these changes are going to affect the entire Florida economy," said TWU COPE Political Field Assistant Terry Daniels.

TWU State Conference participants were easy to spot in the state capital, dressed in bright yellow shirts in order to stand out amongst the crowds of suits and ties. "We wanted to wear the same color in solidarity so that when people saw yellow they knew who we were and why we were there," said Daniels.

The group met with 16 state representatives and senators to discuss TWU's concerns over the Constellation program budget cuts and to explain the widespread effect the changes would have on millions of Floridians and the state's economy. TWU representatives also emphasized the TWU's opposition to Representative Tom Grady's House Bill 1319, which essentially proposes to force Florida workers to work longer in order to receive less in his or her retirement.

"We all came together to make sure that our legislators know where we stand on these issues," said Interim COPE Director Alex Garcia. "Our Local leaders here in Florida have done an outstanding job making TWU's voice heard loud and clear and I hope that we see the same success in our State Conferences in other states coming soon."

Shown in photo: Front row from left: William Harris, Local 291; Alex Giarrocco, Local 540; Kevin Smith, Local 525; Todd Woodward, Local 561; Mike Williams, Local 291; J.W. Johnson, Int'l VP and Assistant Transit Director; Susan Kern, Local 556;
Back row from left: Brian Davis, Local 291; Tony Bernal, Local 561; Jim Volpe, Local 556; Mike Cernosek, Local 555; Andrew Rangolan, Local 570; Alex Garcia, Interim COPE Director; Terry Daniels, COPE Political Field Assistant

TWU in Solidarity with Unite

TWU has joined other unions from around the world in solidarity with British Airways cabin crew workers, who are in their fifth day of a strike against the company.

On March 17, TWU International President James C. Little and Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa met with Steve Turner, National Secretary of Civil Air Transport of Unite the Union, the British union representing the BA cabin crews.

"We are very grateful that Unite accepted our invitation to send a representative here to brief us on the dispute between British Airways and its employees," says a joint statement issued by Hoffa and Little. "Steve Turner has provided us a very thorough briefing on the dispute and the history of the problems with British Airways and the union's efforts to work with management to find common ground."

Unite members have been subject to staffing cuts that have caused service to suffer. The union has offered the airline savings worth millions and other sacrifices to help the company through these tough times, but BA refuses to negotiate with its workers and has been using intimidation and bullying tactics to quiet them.

Read the full TWU-Teamsters joint statement, released on March 19, 2010, below.

TEAMSTERS AND TWU STAND IN SOLIDARITY
WITH BRITISH AIRWAYS CABIN CREWS
Unions concerned about passenger safety compromises

(WASHINGTON) –Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and Transport Workers Union President James C. Little issued the following statement today regarding the March 17 meeting with Steve Turner, National Secretary of Civil Air Transport of Unite the Union, the British labor union representing the British Airways cabin crews:

"We are very grateful that Unite accepted our invitation to send a representative here to brief us on the dispute between British Airways and its employees. Steve Turner has provided us a very thorough briefing on the dispute and the history of the problems with British Airways and the union's efforts to work with management to find common ground.

"We are very proud of the long history of mutual support between Unite, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Transport Workers Union. We greatly appreciate our friendship with Unite General Secretary Tony Woodley. Over the years, Unite, the Teamsters and the Transport Workers Union have worked closely to support each other, especially in this time of rapid globalization.

"It is very clear that British Airways CEO Willie Walsh is provoking this strike through a policy of abuse towards his employees, especially union activists. His contract proposals are designed to intimidate and frighten British Airways employees. We are greatly concerned that passenger safety will be seriously compromised if Walsh tries to operate with unlicensed, untrained and inexperienced crews. We recommend flyers seek alternatives during the strike.

"What is occurring at British Airways is not a simple labor dispute. The actions of Mr. Walsh and the ongoing abuse directed at the traveling public and loyal employees of this great airline, speaks volumes. By putting substandard proposals on the table and then removing them before they can be voted on shows the total disregard he maintains for the employees and customers of British Airways.

"Unite has exceeded the standard of not only negotiating, but presenting specific cost savings proposals to Mr. Walsh to help British Airways in these very difficult economic times. Sadly, these proposals were rejected. They were rejected because of one man’s bias and obsession with breaking a labor union.

"We are keenly aware of British Airways' operations in the United States and the cities served by the airline. We continue to look at this situation as it evolves and are keeping our options open."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hard-working men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
The Transport Workers Union was founded in 1934 and represents 200,000 men and women working in the transportation industry throughout the United States.

Photo courtesy of Mac Urata - ITF

Letter to Secretary LaHood Requesting U.S.-Haneda Slots

Click here to read the letter that TWU Int'l President James C. Little, Air Transport Division Director John M. Conley and Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Laura Glading sent to United States Secretary of Transportation Raymond H. LaHood on March 24, 2010. The letter requests for the allocation of two daily U.S. – Haneda slot pairs to operate year round scheduled air transportation from New York and Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda.

Read the text of the letter below:

March 24, 2010
The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood
United States Secretary of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Mr. Secretary:
We respectfully ask you to approve American Airlines’ request for allocation of two daily U.S. – Haneda slot pairs to operate year round scheduled air transportation from New York and Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda.
Your Department, and that of the Department of State, successfully negotiated a historic Open Skies accord with Japan last December, clearing the way for U.S. airlines to serve Tokyo International Airport (Haneda). Granting this request would intuitively benefit the broadest public interest, offer customers more service, scheduling and pricing options, and positively impact our members.
We encourage the Department of Transportation to approve American’s application – thank you.

Sincerely,

James C. Little
International President
Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO

Laura Glading
President
Association of Professional Flight Attendants

John M. Conley
International Administrative Vice President
Director Air Transport Division

TWU Editorial in Star-Telegram

TWU International President James C. Little and Air Transport Division Director John M. Conley co-authored an editorial printed in the Dallas Fort-Worth area newspaper The Star-Telegram. The editorial addressed TWU's recent request to be released from mediation. Read full text of the editorial below:

By JAMES C. LITTLE and JOHN M. CONLEY
Special to the Star-Telegram
A few days ago, the Transport Workers Union of America filed for release from mediation for 28,000 members at American Airlines and American Eagle. In other words, we asked the federal government for permission to go on strike. Under the Railroad Labor Act, strikes for workers employed by airlines and railroads are not guaranteed as they are for most other private-sector workers, who fall under a different set of labor laws.

Some people must think we're out of our minds. Why would anyone go on strike now? Why would anyone risk job security? The nation is suffering from a terrible economic downturn and high unemployment, and the aviation industry has been in a tailspin since even before the recession. What are union members thinking?

What are we thinking? Let's start by saying that going on strike certainly wasn't our first or second thought. Our first choice was to partner with the company, to improve it and make it more competitive.

We worked hard at being a full partner. Together, the union and AMR Corp., parent of American, developed hundreds of millions of dollars in productivity gains and brought in new revenue from outside maintenance work.

Furthermore, our union used its lobbying clout in Washington to push for antitrust immunity for the Oneworld alliance so that American could be more competitive on lucrative overseas routes. We also worked closely with the company to eliminate difficult problems with safety and maintenance.
The company and union were jointly recognized for these partnership efforts by the CBS Evening News, in features on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and by a global business group, the International Air Transport Association, which gave our union and AMR a top award. Even Star-Telegram columnist Mitch Schnurman chimed in with his thoughts not long ago: "American needed a model for a new type of labor-management cooperation -- something that would reverse a history of hostile relations with employees. The TWU became a great partner."

The union has been a great partner. However, what kind of partner has AMR turned out to be?

In 2003, TWU and other union members kept the airline aloft by taking hundreds of millions of dollars in concessions. The company made promises that those wage losses would be restored and that workers and managers would "share the pain." Management responded by pocketing $300 million in executive bonuses between 2005 and 2009.
Next month, managers will likely take millions more while trying to seek further concessions from front-line workers. This is not partnership. Partnerships are supposed to be two-way streets.

Union members are still living under the terms of the 2003 concessions. That means a worker like Gloria Rodriguez, 64, who cleans planes for American in Los Angeles, is taking home $9 an hour, about what she earned 20 years ago. It's not easy to get by on that kind of wage in the Southern California housing market. Gloria rents a room in someone else's home, but she's worried that a few bad breaks could leave her without any place to live.

Workers like Gloria who helped save American Airlines deserve better. We've been at the bargaining table for more than four years, bargaining in good faith, working on an updated agreement. But while American executives can negotiate awfully fast when the company has urgent needs, it turns out that they're experts at holding lots of meetings that don't accomplish much when the needs of our members are front and center. Over the past four years we have used a facilitated approach, direct negotiations, mediation, supermediation and recess sessions, all to no avail.

We've had enough talk. Our members need more tools to get a contract settled, and that is why we filed with the National Mediation Board last week for release and the right to engage in "Self-Help," which includes the option of going on strike.

As aviation consultant Michael Boyd wrote recently on TheStreet.com, "the TWU is one of the most rational, forward-thinking unions out there, and yet they are at the end of their rope -- American management has to address that."

We're not asking for huge increases in wage and benefits. But we do think it's time that workers like Gloria Rodriguez, who sacrificed to keep the airline afloat in 2003, earn a fair return on their investment -- and a fair measure of dignity at work and at home.
We would like to negotiate a fair agreement that our members can ratify, and we would like to continue to work with AMR to build a better, more productive and profitable airline. We don't want to be on the picket line. The real question is: What does AMR want?

James C. Little of Hurst is the International President of the 200,000-member Transport Workers Union of America. John Conley of Colleyville is the director of the union's Air Transport Division.

TWU Calls for Antitrust Immunity on AA/Japan Agreement

The TWU called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to grant antitrust immunity for the joint business agreement proposed by American Airlines and Japan Airlines. The union represents workers at 23 U.S. airlines, including it's American Eagle subsidiary.

American and Japan airlines are part of the One World Alliance, which unites 11 global airlines on five continents.

"The proposed alliance between the two carriers is vital for Oneworld to compete effectively with the Star and SkyTeam alliances," said TWU President James C. Little and Vice President John M. Conley, director of the union’s Air Transport Division, in a letter delivered today to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The application by American Airlines and Japan Airlines, Little and Conley wrote, "will benefit our members, their families, and communities in which they live, by providing: greater and balanced ability to compete… enhanced opportunity for long-term growth; improved job security; [and] consistent regulatory approval."

American Airlines and Japan Airlines and the other partners in the Oneworld alliance are seeking the same privileges and antitrust immunities enjoyed for years by the competing Star Alliance and the SkyTeam alliance.

In addition to the letter to LaHood, TWU will be communicating the union’s position to members of Congress and encouraging TWU members to reach out to their elected representatives. TWU members supported the successful effort by American and its Oneworld alliance partners to apply for antitrust immunity for Atlantic routes last year. The U.S. Department of Transportation approved the application in February, 2010.

Read the letter to Sec. Lahood here.

TWU Files for Release from AMR Negotiations

After four years of contract talks and little progress, the Transport Workers Union today presented a letter to the National Mediation Board (NMB) requesting that the union, which represents 28,000 workers at American Airlines and American Eagle, be released from federal mediation. TWU’s action now starts a process where the NMB will determine if the union will be granted “self-help” -- essentially the right to strike.

“While we have reached tentative agreements for some workers at American Eagle and significant progress has been made in recent days for Fleet Service workers at American, overall AMR has not sufficiently demonstrated that they value the sacrifices and hard work of our members,” said TWU Air Transport Division Director John M. Conley. “We have been at the bargaining table for years and will continue to work toward agreements, but it’s time that we moved the settlement process to the next step.” TWU represents 11 bargaining units at American and American Eagle. You can read John Conley's letter requesting to be released from federal mediation here.

Labor laws in the transportation industry are different than the rules for other private sector workers and the right to strike is not guaranteed. Under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the law pertaining to labor relations for workers in commercial aviation and railroads, unions must request self-help before moving toward a strike. Once a request is made:

-the NMB will notify the opposing party, in this case, AMR, the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, of the request for “release.”
-Following notification, a comment period from 10 days to two weeks will be declared for both parties.
-After the comment period, the Board will then review the record and consult with the federal mediators who have been involved in the contract talks and then issue a determination.
-The Board can propose arbitration, further mediation or suggest other actions.
-If either AMR or TWU would reject an offer of arbitration, a 30-day countdown or cooling-off period is triggered. The union is granted self-help at the end of 30 days -- unless President Obama intercedes and declares a Presidential Emergency Board or PEB. (During the Obama presidency, airline unions on two occasions have requested release. In the case of Hawaiian Airlines, a settlement was reached without a strike, at cargo carrier Amerijet a strike did occur. TWU is the first union at a major carrier to file for release in the Obama years.)


A PEB:
-Can occur if the NMB "notifies" the President that in its "judgment" the dispute between a carrier and its employees cannot be adjusted and "threaten[s] substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential transportation service."
-The President may then, "in his discretion,” create a board to investigate and report on such dispute. The NMB submits a recommended list of potential neutrals to the President.
-The PEB usually has 30 days to develop a proposed agreement and present that agreement to the parties for consideration.
-After the PEB delivers its proposed agreement, there is a further 30-day cooling off period. Under the law, Congress also can create a settlement if both sides reject the judgment of the PEB.

While TWU has filed for release, negotiations can continue.

“We want equitable and rational agreements, we are prepared to negotiate, but we will not stand by as AMR executives are awarded large bonuses and our members are left with pennies. We will not move aimlessly, we will not go in reverse, as today’s filing demonstrates we plan to move forward,” said Conley.

TWU Recognizes International Women’s Day

March 8 is celebrated around the world as International Women's Day, a day to recognize economic, political and social achievements of women. The day is also an opportunity to discuss issues that still affect women in many countries, like wages inequalities, lack of sick leave policies and workplace violence.

The first National Women's Day was observed in honor of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, when women protested against long working hours and low pay, and demanded voting rights and an end to child labor.

According to the ILO report on 2009 Global Employment Trends for Women, women are "often in a disadvantaged position in comparison to men in labor markets around the world [and] in most regions, the gender impact of the economic crisis in terms of unemployment rates is expected to be more detrimental for females than for males."

The TWU has been dedicated to continuing founder Mike Quill's vision of fair working conditions and equality for all, regardless of race, creed, religion and gender. The union's Women's Committee was formed several years ago to fill a need for union women to collaborate and learn from each other. Today, both the Transit and Air Divisions, and some locals, have their own, referred to as Working Women's Committees (WWC). More than 100 women and some men are involved in WWCs today, and the numbers continue to grow. Read more about TWU WWC's here , and watch a video that features Local 100's WWC here.

The TWU remembers women that made a difference in America's Labor Movement on this day, to name a few: Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, American Labor Union activist Karen Silkwood, the first woman professor at Harvard Medical School and founder of occupational medicine Alice Hamilton, the director of the Occupational Safety and Health during the Carter Administration Eula Bingham, and the former director of OSHA's Office of Risk Assessment Susan Harwood, who helped develop OSHA standards to protect workers exposed to blood borne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.

Today the tradition continues with the current Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. The TWU congratulates these sisters and expresses its commitment and solidarity with all women workers who fight for workplace rights and economic justice with equal opportunities.

Fighting for Women's Rights with CLUW
Sister Seher Tumer, branch secretary of SES, the Trade Union of Public Employees in Heath and Social Services in Turkey, was imprisoned in April 2009 for her activist in the Labor and Women's movement, according to Public Services International. The TWU supports the Coalition of Union Women's efforts to demand that charges against sister Tumer be dropped. If you can, please help in CLUW's efforts to demand the charges be dropped. See the letter below to learn how you can help.

Letter from Karen J. See,
CLUW President:

According to Public Services International, the global union federation for public sector workers, Seher Tumer, branch secretary of SES, the Trade Union of Public Employees in Health and Social Services in Turkey, will spend International Women's Day 2010 in prison. But international solidarity action, they say, could open the door to freedom for her.
Please take a moment to send a message to the Turkish prime minister, demanding that all charges be dropped and that Seher Tumer be immediately released. Her next court appearance is planned for March 9.

Ms. Tumer has now been detained in a Turkish prison for almost a year, with no clear charges being brought against her. PSI is convinced that her arrest is linked to her activities in the labor and women's movements in that country, including participating in International Women's Day activities last year. Tumer, who is Kurdish, was arrested and imprisoned in April 2009.

In solidarity,
Karen J. See,
CLUW President

Letter from ATD Director Conley to British Airways CEO Willie Walsh

Dear Mr. Walsh:

I am writing on behalf of our “Oneworld” colleagues at Unite.

Labor unrest and discord distracts the workforce, creates uncertainty in travelers (our customers), impacts the lending institutions and further weakens an already fragile enterprise.

It seems AA & BA are on the cusp of turning the corner in terms of potential opportunity resulting from ATI & JBA approval.

Your intuition must tell you, that if the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. One in your position cannot separate leadership from relationships – Unite is not the enemy – after all without labor, including you, nothing prospers. Labor drives and delivers on BA’s commitments and promises to the customer.

The ground floor gives life to the top floor’s ideas and propels them from fantasy to reality. The Cabin Crew, your employees and Unite members represent the face of BA and have the most interaction with passengers, providing for their safety and comfort, while enhancing the travel experience.

I am clear that your instincts and experience must prevail, in working to lead the parties to an amicable agreement and a return to a relationship of basic harmony, trust and equity.

The TWU at AA represents approximately 28,000 ground workers who as you know, are facing their own challenges in negotiations.

The Transport Workers Union of America AFL - CIO pledges its full support, influence and resources, squarely behind our contemporaries at Unite. Thank you for taking the time to indulge me and making every effort to strengthen the “Oneworld” Alliance, by exerting your considerable persuasive talents to secure an agreement.

Respectfully,

John M. Conley
International Administrative Vice President
Director Air Transport Division


JMC:kla opeiu-153

C: Steve Turner
Tony McCarthy
Gerard Arpey

Local 100 Rally Unites Community Over MTA Threats

More than 3,000 Local 100 members rallied outside of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Public Hearing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan on Thursday evening. A large contingent of high school and college students joined the Local, vociferously protesting the MTA's planned elimination of student MetroCards.

The MTA has threatened to hike fares, cut service, layoff hundreds of workers and eliminate free student MetroCards. On March 1, more than 1,000 workers received a letter in the mail from the MTA explaining there would be a "Reduction in work force," but that it was not a lay-off notice.

That letter says that MTA Chairman Jay Walder doesn't care what caused the Authority's financial crisis, but that he wants transit workers, students, the elderly and the New York public to pay for it, Local 100 John Samuelsen explained at the rally.

"What kind of upside down society is this when the federal government bails out Wall Street bankers to the tune of $700 billion dollars. But students, transit workers, and New York’s working families get kicked to the curb?" said Samuelsen.


Many allies in the union movement and in the government supported Local 100 and the student activists. To name a few supporters: New York State AFL-CIO President Dennis Hughes, PBA President Pat Lynch, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, the UFT's Michael Mandel, DC 37’s Oliver Gray, Teamsters Local 237's Gregory Floyd, and Public Advocate Bill DiBlasio.

President John Samuelsen called upon members to speak in a single voice: "Hell no, Mr. Walder. We will fight your attempts to steal our jobs; we will fight your attacks on our students; you will not destroy our transit system."

UFT leader Mandel questioned the contradictions in the MTA’s budget priorities, seeking congestion pricing tolls on the one hand, while cutting service on the other. Pat Lynch spoke of his father’s longtime membership in TWU Local 100 and demanded that the fat cats on Wall Street surrender their raises and perks before working families face firings and pay cuts.

Local 100 is working a multi-pronged strategy to win additional funding streams for the MTA in Washington, Albany, and in New York's City Hall.

"Tonight we are speaking as one," said Local 100 President John Samuelsen. "We have to continue to shout in one, loud, unified voice."

APFA Requests Release, Statement by ATD Director Conley

Speaking for all 28,000 TWU members employed by AMR, we’re very disappointed that the flight attendants union was not able to reach an agreement with American Airlines. It now appears that APFA will seek release from mediation. We know where they’re coming from. It has become increasingly clear that management at American Airlines is not committed to reaching an agreement with the airlines’ workers and AMR’s unions must take additional steps to secure a new agreement.

Just sitting at the bargaining table is not negotiating. The flight attendants, like AMR’s ground workers, require a contract that is “ratifiable.” Our members who kept this company aloft by taking thirty percent wage cuts and making other sacrifices will not accept pennies for their labors, nor will they just grin and bear it when management is taking seven-figure bonuses.

American Airlines is gaining anti-trust immunity in the Atlantic and strengthening the Oneworld alliance in the Pacific, it’s stock is up 30 percent in February alone. If management would only address its labor issues it would fly even higher.

AMR’s executives are simply not recognizing the enormous contributions made by our members. Over the past four years we have utilized a facilitated approach, direct negotiations, mediation, super meditation and recess sessions, all to no avail. Releasing the parties is the natural order of progression and called for under the Railway Labor Act. TWU will be making an announcement about next steps in the bargaining process for ground workers next week.

Stay Connected Raffle Winners

Thousands of TWU members signed up for the Stay Connected Raffle. Thank you to all who participated. Division Directors randomly selected the winners by pulling names out of a hat at the International Executive Council and Board meeting in February. Winners are listed below by Division in order of the prizes won. Winners will receive their prizes within 4 to 6 weeks.

Don't forget to stay connected by coming here to twu.org!

Prizes:
1st Place = TWU Branded ASUS Netbook
2ndPlace=TWU Branded 120 mini Flip HD Video Camera
3rd Place=TWU engraved Ipod touch
4th Place = $50 gift certificate to the TWU Store
5th and 6th Place = $25 gift certificate to the TWU Store

Transit
1. Michael Walsh, Local 100
2. Michael Evangelista, Local 100
3. Stanley Coppola, Local 100
4. Andrew Winfeld, Local 100
5. Bruno Contrucci, Local 100
6. Mauricio Marroquin, Local 100

Air
1. Ty Julius, Local 514
2. Davide Romere, Local 514
3. Michael Cummings, Local 501
4. Corine Chillious, Local 514
5. Jennifer Platt, Local 505
6. Nikol Flowers, Local 556

Rail
1. Dan Johnson, Local 2053
2. Bertrand Poland, Local 2001
3. Marc Penno, Local 2003
4. Wayne Hollm, Local 2001
5. Steven St. George, Local 2001
6. Mark Stouffer, Local 2017

Gaming
1. Brian Bixby
2. John Oetken
3. Cynthia Falls
4. Kirstal Johnson
5. John Webb
6. Ru-Yi Yalich

Biden: Bailouts Prevented Another Great Depression

ORLANDO, Fla. (PAI)--Unpopular as they were with the public, had the federal government not financially rescued both the nation’s big banks and then two of the Detroit Three automakers, the U.S. would have descended into another Great Depression, Vice President Joe Biden says.

In a long speech March 1 to the AFL-CIO Executive Council, meeting in Orlando, Fla., Biden added that without those two moves, the banks would have closed, “we would have been in a flat-out Depression and millions more would be without jobs.” That includes another million people in manufacturing: Auto workers and workers whose products the industry uses.

“And we wouldn’t have had any shot” at other measures to help restore the middle class, including revising the nation’s health care system, naming new National Labor Relations Board members, labor law reform, and energy efficiency legislation, the vice president stated.

Biden was interrupted several times by applause from the union leaders and invited guests, but took no questions after the address. He only briefly mentioned labor’s top legislative priority, the Employee Free Choice Act, designed to help level the playing field between workers and bosses in organizing and bargaining.

That measure, like the health care bill, the cap-and-trade energy plan and even an NLRB nomination, is marooned on Capitol Hill by Senate GOP filibusters, frustrating Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration, union leaders, and voters.

Biden acknowledged that frustration in his speech, saying a jobless single mother sitting at home is not cheered by economic indicators such as GOP growth, but is angry instead that yet another GOP blockade caused jobless benefits to temporarily expire for 6 million people.

“You’re having a hard time explaining to them” -- workers, employed and unemployed --“why these guys you elected aren’t doing things for you,’ Biden said. “The Great Recession…has put people who were already losing ground, in the 80s, the 90s and the first seven years of this century, in even worse” condition.

“There are millions of people who think we just don’t get it,” Biden said of both politicians and union leaders. ”This president gets it,” he declared.

But Biden also pleaded for time, saying “not even the intervention of God Almighty could restore” the 8.5 million U.S. jobs lost since the start of the crash, under GOP President George W. Bush, in Dec. 2007. The Bush Crash has also seen both the jobless rate and the number of unemployed more than double, to 9.7% and 14.8 million, respectively.

And Biden warned that in a recession, it takes 18 months before job creation catches up to other positive economic statistics, such as growth in output. That’s because “businesses found they can produce more with less people,” he explained.

Nevertheless, the vice president predicted that starting in spring, the economy would create 95,000-100,000 jobs monthly, “but it’s not enough.” Economists say you need to create 200,000 jobs monthly just to employ new entrants to the labor market.

In the meantime, Biden offered examples of how the Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus law helped workers. Earlier, AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka said the law was one-third of what it should have been. Going union by union, Biden ticked off a long list of projects started or aided by the law, including:

* 12,000 transportation construction projects, creating 262,000 jobs “at the prevailing wage and with Davis-Bacon” to ensure workers’ wages are not undercut by unscrupulous contractors. Construction unemployment is more than 20%.

* 300,000 jobs preserved in teaching and allied aides in U.S. schools.

* $800 million to be invested in clean coal technology. “It’s a start, Cecil,” he told Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts, whose union has been hard hit by coal’s contribution to climate problems.

* $8 billion to be invested in broadband technology, rewiring the country and bringing thousands of Communications Workers jobs. Another $8 billion for mass transit and for Amtrak, preserving jobs for Amalgamated Transit Union, Transport Workers Union and rail union members, while starting to rehabilitate Amtrak.

* Billions of dollars to state and local governments to preserve jobs and services. Biden quoted Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., as saying that without the aid from the stimulus law, he would have had to fire 37,000 people -- half the state’s workforce.

“I’m an optimist and you should be, too,” Biden said. “We’ll reconstitute the (older) industries while at the same time claiming a stake in the new world economy. “The list goes on,” Biden said, of jobs in the “new economy” the Obama administration is trying to help construct. And in his only mention of the Employee Free Choice Act, he told the union leaders: “That’s where you’ll have to organize,” once it is passed.

TWU Rallies to Save NASA Jobs

The TWU joined community activists, fellow unions, the AFL-CIO, small business owners and elected officials this weekend to save thousands of jobs. The rally in Titusville, Florida was organized by the AFL-CIO in response to the Obama administration's proposed budget cut for NASA's Constellation program, and as part of its campaign for jobs in America.

If passed by Congress, the proposed budget cut is expected to cause about 7,000 job losses at NASA and thousands more in central Florida. TWU members from the area and International officers and staff joined TWU Local 525, which represents hundreds of NASA workers who will be affected by the budget, at the rally on Saturday afternoon. The crowd numbered in the thousands and heard from speakers including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt-Baker.

"Millions of working families are fed up with handouts to Wall Street and not even a hand-up for Main Street. We’ve had it with politicians who think government should work for the wealthy but not for the people who do the work," said Trumka.

Protecting thousands of good-paying union jobs is vital for central Florida, which would be devastated from the cuts and has already been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis.

"We are definitely going to see a trickle down effect," said TWU Local 525 President Kevin Smith. "This is going to push the every day worker out, and our country can't afford that now or ever."

TWU will continue to join with other unions, activists, elected officials and the community to save these NASA jobs, and protect America's middle class.

View photos of the rally and Local 525 at work at TWU’s flickr page.