Flight Attendant Union Pledges Support of Congressional Bankruptcy Reform Legislation
Washington, DC – The world’s largest Flight Attendant union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), issued the following statement of support after new bankruptcy reform legislation was introduced today in Congress by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL). The bills are geared toward helping workers recover their rightful share of lost wages, benefits and other earnings after a company declares bankruptcy. AFA stated:
“The lives of aviation workers have been devastated by the exploitation of current corporate bankruptcy laws. Time and time again, management uses ‘bankruptcy protection’ as a weapon to obliterate pay, pensions, health care, and the jobs of hard working Americans. It is time that we level the playing field so that bankruptcy cannot be used as a business model to destroy mutually-agreed contracts.
“By attempting to circumvent the collective bargaining process through the bankruptcy court, too much burden is placed on front line employees. While this legislation is not likely be passed in time to make a difference for the tens of thousands of Americans facing steep cuts imposed by the courts today, or for all those who have had their pay, benefits and pensions all but erased by this process, we can hopefully adopt changes that prevent this abuse from happening in the future.
“AFA has been a leader in calling for reasoned bankruptcy reform that finally puts an end to the corporate greed that has handicapped our industry. We appreciate the efforts of Rep. Conyers and Sen. Durbin and will do everything we can to ensure that these bills make it to the President’s desk.”
The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for over 65 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants at 21 airlines come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.
