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AFA-CWA Fights for Pension Fairness
AFA-CWA flight attendants at United Airlines have put management on notice: "either they go or we go," said Greg Davidowitch, president of the AFA-CWA United Master Executive Council.
The bankruptcy court's decision allowing United to dump its pension plans and its obligations to employees was an enormous disappointment to flight attendants who have made life-altering sacrifices to help their airline, Davidowitch said. "This management has failed at every turn during United's 29 months of bankruptcy and they still fail to have a viable business plan. Management must understand that it cannot run a service industry business while waging war on its employees," he declared.
The bankruptcy court approved a deal that allows United to drop its $9.8 billion in pension liabilities and transfer $6.6 billion of that liability to taxpayers. The result: flight attendants will lose as much as half of their pensions. AFA-CWA members at United have overwhelmingly authorized CHAOS actions - Create Havoc Around Our System - to make certain management gets the message, he said.
AFA-CWA President Pat Friend said it was clear that United was trying to manipulate the bankruptcy process. "This management team decided early on that it would dump its employees' pensions and it has refused to negotiate. Instead, management insulates its own pensions from creditors and deals under the table with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.," she said.
While United management was in court seeking approval to scrap workers' pensions, AFA-CWA flight attendants joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill to unveil a bill to stop companies from robbing employees' retirement funds while preserving executive benefits.
The Pension Fairness and Full Disclosure Act was introduced by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Representatives George Miller (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Pete Stark (D-Calif.).
"More and more there seems to be two sets of rules: one for the American workers and one for corporate executives," said Patrice Anderson, a 30-year United flight attendant who spoke at the news conference. "The bankruptcy system should not be used to saddle the American taxpayer with billions in liabilities so that companies like United Airlines can continue to pay its executives bonuses and fund executives' irrevocable pension plans."
Kennedy said pension cuts and company bankruptcies have made the retirement system a "nightmare" for millions of American families, while executive compensation goes "through the roof."
The bill requires companies seeking to end their pension obligations to fully disclose executive compensation plans and links the fate of management benefits to those of their workers.
"How many companies have to fail, how many companies have to abandon their pension plans, how many companies have to downsize their pension benefits before President Bush and Congress pay attention?" Miller said. "Despite Enron scandals and pension collapses in key industries, there's been no action to really protect employee pensions. Today, Democrats are offering an important and overdue reform: stop rewarding corporate executives with lavish retirement golden parachutes while slashing the retirement benefits of employees."
The bankruptcy court's decision allowing United to dump its pension plans and its obligations to employees was an enormous disappointment to flight attendants who have made life-altering sacrifices to help their airline, Davidowitch said. "This management has failed at every turn during United's 29 months of bankruptcy and they still fail to have a viable business plan. Management must understand that it cannot run a service industry business while waging war on its employees," he declared.
The bankruptcy court approved a deal that allows United to drop its $9.8 billion in pension liabilities and transfer $6.6 billion of that liability to taxpayers. The result: flight attendants will lose as much as half of their pensions. AFA-CWA members at United have overwhelmingly authorized CHAOS actions - Create Havoc Around Our System - to make certain management gets the message, he said.
AFA-CWA President Pat Friend said it was clear that United was trying to manipulate the bankruptcy process. "This management team decided early on that it would dump its employees' pensions and it has refused to negotiate. Instead, management insulates its own pensions from creditors and deals under the table with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.," she said.
While United management was in court seeking approval to scrap workers' pensions, AFA-CWA flight attendants joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill to unveil a bill to stop companies from robbing employees' retirement funds while preserving executive benefits.
The Pension Fairness and Full Disclosure Act was introduced by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Representatives George Miller (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Pete Stark (D-Calif.).
"More and more there seems to be two sets of rules: one for the American workers and one for corporate executives," said Patrice Anderson, a 30-year United flight attendant who spoke at the news conference. "The bankruptcy system should not be used to saddle the American taxpayer with billions in liabilities so that companies like United Airlines can continue to pay its executives bonuses and fund executives' irrevocable pension plans."
Kennedy said pension cuts and company bankruptcies have made the retirement system a "nightmare" for millions of American families, while executive compensation goes "through the roof."
The bill requires companies seeking to end their pension obligations to fully disclose executive compensation plans and links the fate of management benefits to those of their workers.
"How many companies have to fail, how many companies have to abandon their pension plans, how many companies have to downsize their pension benefits before President Bush and Congress pay attention?" Miller said. "Despite Enron scandals and pension collapses in key industries, there's been no action to really protect employee pensions. Today, Democrats are offering an important and overdue reform: stop rewarding corporate executives with lavish retirement golden parachutes while slashing the retirement benefits of employees."