|
|
For Immediate Release: October 1, 2012
Contact: Corey Caldwell 202-434-0586
US Airways Express Flight Attendants Request Release To Strike
Piedmont Airlines Flight Attendants Request NMB Proffer of
Arbitration
Washington, DC – Piedmont Airlines Flight Attendants,
represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA),
today requested a proffer of arbitration from the National
Mediation Board (NMB) as the next step to compel management to
negotiate a new agreement. In August, 98 percent of the Flight
Attendants authorized a strike if released and management fails
to reach an agreement before the strike deadline. Piedmont is a
wholly owned subsidiary of US Airways Group, Inc. and operates
as a US Airways Express carrier.
“Despite being under the supervision of the NMB for the last
year in mediated negotiations, management insists on
disregarding the Piedmont Flight Attendants’ contributions to
the success and profitability of our airline by continuing to
demand concessions,” said Anita Jwanouskos, AFA Piedmont
President. “We are calling on management to be the ones to do
the right thing by recognizing the valuable contributions of the
hard working Piedmont Flight Attendants -- the front line first
responders of our airline. If they refuse to do so, then we must
alert them, and our passengers, to be prepared for CHAOS™.”
CHAOS, or Create Havoc Around Our System™, is AFA’s trademarked
strike strategy. With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire
system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how
to strike without notice to management or passengers. Throughout
negotiations, AFA has continued to address Flight Attendant
concerns while management has made concessionary and regressive
proposals. Management’s refusal to make significant movement
could lead the NMB to declare that negotiations are deadlocked
and release both parties into a 30-day “cooling off” period
leading to a strike deadline.
Piedmont Airlines is headquartered in Salisbury, Maryland and
provides over 400 daily departures to 55 cities throughout the
eastern United States and Canada including Charlotte, NC;
Philadelphia, PA; Charlottesville, VA; Roanoke, VA; and
Harrisburg, PA.
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 .
|
