AFA-CWA, CWA Seek Protections for Workers from H1N1 Virus

CWA and AFA-CWA are calling on Congress and the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure protection for health care workers and flight attendants at risk of exposure to the H1N1 virus, or swine flu.

In a letter to OSHA, CWA and other unions called on the agency to make sure guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control are being met. "Unfortunately there is documented evidence that in a number of states and facilities, these guidelines are not being followed," the letter states.

Guidelines involve safe interaction for health care workers with patients through airborne precautions, including surgical masks and eye protection.

The letter also asks OSHA to immediately issue a "hazard alert and/or compliance directive" that makes it clear that exposure to the H1N1 virus in health and emergency response settings "poses a recognized hazard to workers and requires protective measures."

Separately, AFA-CWA President Pat Friend testified before the House Aviation Subcommittee, stressing that the Federal Aviation Administration for too long "has failed to protect those who work onboard aircraft and continued to deny flight attendants common OSHA protections." 

At the first onset of the H1N1 virus, AFA-CWA called on the FAA to issue an emergency order to all U.S. carriers requiring them to take specific steps to help flight attendants protect themselves from the virus and minimize the spread aboard aircraft.

These included: a requirement that aircraft be supplied with masks and non-latex gloves on flights to, from and within at-risk areas; that flight attendants with flu-like symptoms be able to call in sick free from discipline, and that flight attendants who are pregnant or have compromised immune systems be able to change their scheduled trips if they involve flights to areas of the disease outbreak. Unfortunately, the FAA did not issue the emergency order.

"Management appears less concerned with minimizing the risk of exposure to potentially dangerous illnesses than in minimizing the perception and appearance of a possible threat to health," Friend told the subcommittee. The FAA's focus should be "on protecting those who work onboard aircraft and the millions of airline passengers rather than inconveniencing airline management or acting as the U.S. aviation tourism board."