NEW YORK (AFP) - Leaders of the largest US flight attendants' union voted in favour of a strike Tuesday to protest threatened wage cuts by a slew of bankrupt and cash-strapped US carriers.
The leadership of the Association of Flight Attendants unanimously backed a strike by AFA members if their employers proceed with plans to unilaterally scrap labour contracts and impose wage cuts as part of broader cost-savings programs.
"Airline management needs to understand that there will be serious consequences if they persist in their attacks on our contracts," said Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, in a statement.
Seven US carriers with employees represented by the AFA have filed for bankruptcy, and two of those are talking about voiding collective bargaining agreements.
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.
And United Airlines, the nation's second-largest carrier, is seeking nearly 140 million dollars in concessions from flight attendants, on top of the 314 million annually it has already extracted from the flight attendant work group, according to AFA figures.
The carrier has also said it will have to ditch its under-funded employee pension plans in order to attract the financing it needs to exit court-supervised bankrutpcy protection.
"Our entire industry is in turmoil and the careers of our flight attendants all hang in the balance," Friend said. "Pensions, for which flight attendants have dedicated many years of hard work, are being wiped out with the sound of a judge's gavel. Health care coverage for employees ... is reaching cost levels unaffordable to flight attendants who every year sacrifice more of their income to 'save their airline.' This must stop."
11/16/2004 - 21:02 GMT - AFP