US Airways’ Employees Unite, Warn Management to Dump Anti-Labor Tactics

PHOENIX – For the first time in the history of the new US Airways (NYSE:LCC), labor groups representing approximately 30,000 union members at the airline have joined together in a coalition to demand that management complete the merger that began nearly three years ago. Specifically, management needs to adhere to current labor contracts and reach new collective bargaining agreements that improve the wages, benefits and working conditions of US Airways employees. The following is a statement from the newly-formed US Airways Labor Coalition, which includes the union leaders for the pilots, flight attendants, customer service representatives, dispatchers, fleet service workers, mechanics, and all other labor groups at US Airways.

“US Airways management failed to work with labor from the beginning of this merger and has continued this practice for nearly three years, leading us to where we are now—a once promising airline with a plummeting stock price, consistent rankings at the bottom of the industry, and disgruntled employees. Instead of addressing the myriad of problems, management has done nothing but issue excuses to our investors, passengers and employees. The lack of leadership and know-how displayed by this management team is appalling and has forced us to take action.

“US Airways employees want to complete this merger, take advantage of the cost-saving synergies that it created, and live up to the expectations that management promised us, our investors and our passengers. The US Airways Labor Coalition will help us achieve our goals by creating a strong, unified voice for labor that management cannot ignore.

“With so much talk of future airline consolidation, we urge management teams across the industry to learn from the mistakes of US Airways’ management and work with labor before, during and after the merger process. We have also put our own management team on notice that if they plan to participate in a future transaction, they must throw out their anti-labor tactics and work with us to succeed.”

The US Airways Labor Coalition represents approximately 30,000 employees from the two merged carriers—America West and US Airways. The pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l. (ALPA). The flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA). The customer service representatives are represented by the Airline Customer Service Employee Association–IBT/CWA. The fleet service, mechanic and related, and maintenance training specialist employees are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). The dispatchers, flight crew training instructors and simulator engineers are represented by the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).

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ALPA Contacts: Captain Tania Bziukiewicz, (602) 214-3490; (602) 306-1208
Lydia Jakub, (602) 794-2882; (480) 586-5873

AFA-CWA Contacts: Gary Richardson, (602) 625-5573
Mike Flores, (704) 576-3174