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AFA-CWA Blasts Assault on Retiree Health Care
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA is fighting back against United Airlines' attempt to renege on the agreement it made with the union last year on retiree health care benefits for attendants who retired before July 1, 2003, AFA-CWA President Pat Friend reported.
AFA-CWA members picketed outside the Yale Club in New York, where United CEO Glenn Tilton spoke on Jan. 28. Attendants also will be leafleting passengers at airports and other locations worldwide and will be on Capitol Hill next week to meet with members of Congress.
Flight attendants at United had agreed to $314 million in concessions in wages and benefits last year - including increases in medical benefits for attendants who retired after July 1 - as part of the carrier's plan to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy, Friend said. That agreement, with a six-year term, was approved by the federal bankruptcy court and took effect last May. The sacrifices of flight attendants and other employees at United exceeded $2.5 billion, she noted.
As part of that negotiation, United agreed that flight attendants who retired before July 1, 2003 would have their comprehensive medical benefits protected. More than 2,500 AFA-CWA members took advantage of this promise and retired before the July 1 deadline.
Now, United is illegally seeking to drastically slash medical benefits and raise out-of-pocket costs for those retirees. Flight attendants would see as much as a ten-fold increase in their medical costs - to as much as $650 a month - which would take from one-third to one-half of their pensions, Friend said.
Friend said United's action jeopardizes "the product and validity of the concessionary negotiations. I am not taking any action, including signing the contract, that could be perceived as affirming the validity of the illegal cuts United wants to make," she said.
United must petition the bankruptcy court for a hearing on this further cost shifting; AFA-CWA will continue to press United management not to take this action.
AFA-CWA members picketed outside the Yale Club in New York, where United CEO Glenn Tilton spoke on Jan. 28. Attendants also will be leafleting passengers at airports and other locations worldwide and will be on Capitol Hill next week to meet with members of Congress.
Flight attendants at United had agreed to $314 million in concessions in wages and benefits last year - including increases in medical benefits for attendants who retired after July 1 - as part of the carrier's plan to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy, Friend said. That agreement, with a six-year term, was approved by the federal bankruptcy court and took effect last May. The sacrifices of flight attendants and other employees at United exceeded $2.5 billion, she noted.
As part of that negotiation, United agreed that flight attendants who retired before July 1, 2003 would have their comprehensive medical benefits protected. More than 2,500 AFA-CWA members took advantage of this promise and retired before the July 1 deadline.
Now, United is illegally seeking to drastically slash medical benefits and raise out-of-pocket costs for those retirees. Flight attendants would see as much as a ten-fold increase in their medical costs - to as much as $650 a month - which would take from one-third to one-half of their pensions, Friend said.
Friend said United's action jeopardizes "the product and validity of the concessionary negotiations. I am not taking any action, including signing the contract, that could be perceived as affirming the validity of the illegal cuts United wants to make," she said.
United must petition the bankruptcy court for a hearing on this further cost shifting; AFA-CWA will continue to press United management not to take this action.