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Agents Seek CWA Voice: American Airlines Campaign Soars
Passenger service professionals at American Airlines are on a fast track for a real voice at the airline and a seat at the bargaining table.
The 15,000 agents now are the only employees at American without union representation. That will change as the National Mediation Board has scheduled the first election among agents in 25 years. Ballots will be mailed out Nov. 12, with the results to be counted Dec. 15.
CWA President Morton Bahr called CWA "the best fit for passenger service professionals, because of our position as the largest union of professional and technical employees and our experience in representing more than 140,000 customer service professionals at major employers," including US Airways, NBC and Disney/ABC, major telecom companies, newspapers like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and others.
"More than ever, CWA is the union of choice for professionals in a growing number of areas - from research scientists at the University of California to broadcast journalists in Canada and the United States. We're making great strides in the fields of media, customer service and technology, leaving no doubt that CWA is the union for the 21st century," he added. Agents at US Airways who voted for CWA representation last year are well on the way to a first contract.
The American agents work in reservations centers and city ticket offices, at airport ticket counters, at the gates, where they make certain passengers get to their planes, at the Admiral Clubs and in meeting passengers' special needs.
No matter where they work, or whether they're full-time or part-time, agents want a voice at American, and they're working to build a strong organization for passenger service professionals. The passenger service employees are the only group at American not represented by a union; the pilots, flight attendants and mechanics all have a voice in the decisions and policies that affect them.
Agents are subject to different policies and are treated differently, depending on whether they work at the reservations centers or the airports. There are even differences in working conditions and policies between agents who do the same work but in different departments, and for those who joined the airline a few years later than other employees.
"Everyone else has a contract at American that spells out what's going to happen in the next three or four years. So there is consistency, and no surprises. When I came into AA, they told us we were a family. Well, I'm organizing a union to make the AA family better," says L.C. Suggs, a reservations agent in Cincinnati.
Michael Payne, a reservations agent in Dallas, points out that despite management rhetoric, agents "don't have a real voice with the company" but instead simply get "empty promises." What voice did we have when management acted on the max pay issues, outsourcing, retirement issues, and the performance review system, he asks.
Greg Liebman, an agent in Chicago, reminds his colleagues that American Airlines is quick to offer the perks and improvements agents want when an organizing drive is underway, but that those changes often disappear whenever the company wants to take them away. He recalled that during an earlier union drive, the company reinstated the steps to achieve maximum pay levels; that opportunity has since been eliminated. "Our only hope...for longterm guarantees is by building our own organization," he said.
Currently, agents hired after December 1996 can expect to earn hourly wages that top out at $13, far below the $19.66 top rate that American claims makes it the best-paying airline in the business. Since American eliminated the pay advancement policy, there is no guarantee that agents can ever reach maximum pay, and in fact, without a union voice, most never will. The two-tier wage system means that newly hired agents earn a starting wage of $7 an hour; a res agent with four years' service earns just a dollar or so an hour more.
"Our co-workers with unions haven't had to pay so dearly," Peter Budke, an agent at Washington's Dulles Airport points out. "The flight attendants and pilots can negotiate pay changes. The fleet service workers have a pay plan with real wage scales but the agents, who have no union, are always one step behind. We need a union at American to control our own destiny and have a voice in our working conditions," he said.
For example, flight attendants at American, who have a union voice, have won greater flexibility and benefits because of their union representation. "We've gained flexibility and improved it in every contract negotiations. It's a win-win flexibility that helps both the employer and the union member," said Valerie Immler, a 21-year veteran attendant.
"We deserve to be treated like professionals...that's why I'm supporting CWA," said Jane Hunter, a reservations agent in Raleigh, N.C.
That means a fair system of pay raises, transfer rights and promotions. Among American res agents, pay rates vary across departments, and depend on the date employees were hired and other factors, often resulting in unfair treatment. Raises are based on a number of factors that make up an employee's PER - performance evaluation record - including how much revenue an agent generates, peer monitoring and whether the passenger who has booked a ticket actually takes the flight. Res agents who help with overflow calls from another department don't always get credit for the work they do.
Agents also are looking for flexibility and fairness in hours and working conditions and an end to the arbitrary enforcement of policies by local management. At airports, agents hired since December 1996 are on part-time status, and the number of hours they work varies greatly, especially in the smaller airports. Very few res agents are able to work part-time; those who do have part-time night schedules have no benefits. With a union voice, agents would be able to bargain for flexibility and fairness in their work schedules.
"Reservations is now more efficient than ever," says Robert J. Barbuto, a reservations agent in Hartford, Conn. In fact, "all agents can be kept working non-stop for the 7.5 hours they are expected to be on the phones. But at what cost?" he asks.
Reservations and airport agents are looking for a fair share of the company they have helped to make so successful. Last year, passenger service professionals handled record-setting traffic and helped make American number two in on-time arrivals. The number of calls handled by res agents increased 3.8 percent while the corresponding cost dropped 2.9 percent. Overall, this boosted American's operating profits last year to $1.4 billion, the second highest in the industry and just slightly behind Delta Airlines.
But agents have yet to make up the ground they lost, when American cut LeAAp pay, shift differentials, and holiday, lead premium and vacation pay.
"At $7.50 an hour, you have to work 60 hours a week to make $450. That career you thought you were starting will top out at a whopping $12 an hour," Tawney Nail, an agent at the Dallas airport points out. "I want to see this company continue to grow and succeed" but the quality work of our group should also be recognized and rewarded, she said.
American's management is stepping up its anti-union campaign, which in the past included $50 gift certificates to managers who talked against union representation. But thousands of agents across the American system are ready for a real voice and real representation at their airline.
The 15,000 agents now are the only employees at American without union representation. That will change as the National Mediation Board has scheduled the first election among agents in 25 years. Ballots will be mailed out Nov. 12, with the results to be counted Dec. 15.
CWA President Morton Bahr called CWA "the best fit for passenger service professionals, because of our position as the largest union of professional and technical employees and our experience in representing more than 140,000 customer service professionals at major employers," including US Airways, NBC and Disney/ABC, major telecom companies, newspapers like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and others.
"More than ever, CWA is the union of choice for professionals in a growing number of areas - from research scientists at the University of California to broadcast journalists in Canada and the United States. We're making great strides in the fields of media, customer service and technology, leaving no doubt that CWA is the union for the 21st century," he added. Agents at US Airways who voted for CWA representation last year are well on the way to a first contract.
The American agents work in reservations centers and city ticket offices, at airport ticket counters, at the gates, where they make certain passengers get to their planes, at the Admiral Clubs and in meeting passengers' special needs.
No matter where they work, or whether they're full-time or part-time, agents want a voice at American, and they're working to build a strong organization for passenger service professionals. The passenger service employees are the only group at American not represented by a union; the pilots, flight attendants and mechanics all have a voice in the decisions and policies that affect them.
Agents are subject to different policies and are treated differently, depending on whether they work at the reservations centers or the airports. There are even differences in working conditions and policies between agents who do the same work but in different departments, and for those who joined the airline a few years later than other employees.
"Everyone else has a contract at American that spells out what's going to happen in the next three or four years. So there is consistency, and no surprises. When I came into AA, they told us we were a family. Well, I'm organizing a union to make the AA family better," says L.C. Suggs, a reservations agent in Cincinnati.
Michael Payne, a reservations agent in Dallas, points out that despite management rhetoric, agents "don't have a real voice with the company" but instead simply get "empty promises." What voice did we have when management acted on the max pay issues, outsourcing, retirement issues, and the performance review system, he asks.
Greg Liebman, an agent in Chicago, reminds his colleagues that American Airlines is quick to offer the perks and improvements agents want when an organizing drive is underway, but that those changes often disappear whenever the company wants to take them away. He recalled that during an earlier union drive, the company reinstated the steps to achieve maximum pay levels; that opportunity has since been eliminated. "Our only hope...for longterm guarantees is by building our own organization," he said.
Currently, agents hired after December 1996 can expect to earn hourly wages that top out at $13, far below the $19.66 top rate that American claims makes it the best-paying airline in the business. Since American eliminated the pay advancement policy, there is no guarantee that agents can ever reach maximum pay, and in fact, without a union voice, most never will. The two-tier wage system means that newly hired agents earn a starting wage of $7 an hour; a res agent with four years' service earns just a dollar or so an hour more.
"Our co-workers with unions haven't had to pay so dearly," Peter Budke, an agent at Washington's Dulles Airport points out. "The flight attendants and pilots can negotiate pay changes. The fleet service workers have a pay plan with real wage scales but the agents, who have no union, are always one step behind. We need a union at American to control our own destiny and have a voice in our working conditions," he said.
For example, flight attendants at American, who have a union voice, have won greater flexibility and benefits because of their union representation. "We've gained flexibility and improved it in every contract negotiations. It's a win-win flexibility that helps both the employer and the union member," said Valerie Immler, a 21-year veteran attendant.
"We deserve to be treated like professionals...that's why I'm supporting CWA," said Jane Hunter, a reservations agent in Raleigh, N.C.
That means a fair system of pay raises, transfer rights and promotions. Among American res agents, pay rates vary across departments, and depend on the date employees were hired and other factors, often resulting in unfair treatment. Raises are based on a number of factors that make up an employee's PER - performance evaluation record - including how much revenue an agent generates, peer monitoring and whether the passenger who has booked a ticket actually takes the flight. Res agents who help with overflow calls from another department don't always get credit for the work they do.
Agents also are looking for flexibility and fairness in hours and working conditions and an end to the arbitrary enforcement of policies by local management. At airports, agents hired since December 1996 are on part-time status, and the number of hours they work varies greatly, especially in the smaller airports. Very few res agents are able to work part-time; those who do have part-time night schedules have no benefits. With a union voice, agents would be able to bargain for flexibility and fairness in their work schedules.
"Reservations is now more efficient than ever," says Robert J. Barbuto, a reservations agent in Hartford, Conn. In fact, "all agents can be kept working non-stop for the 7.5 hours they are expected to be on the phones. But at what cost?" he asks.
Reservations and airport agents are looking for a fair share of the company they have helped to make so successful. Last year, passenger service professionals handled record-setting traffic and helped make American number two in on-time arrivals. The number of calls handled by res agents increased 3.8 percent while the corresponding cost dropped 2.9 percent. Overall, this boosted American's operating profits last year to $1.4 billion, the second highest in the industry and just slightly behind Delta Airlines.
But agents have yet to make up the ground they lost, when American cut LeAAp pay, shift differentials, and holiday, lead premium and vacation pay.
"At $7.50 an hour, you have to work 60 hours a week to make $450. That career you thought you were starting will top out at a whopping $12 an hour," Tawney Nail, an agent at the Dallas airport points out. "I want to see this company continue to grow and succeed" but the quality work of our group should also be recognized and rewarded, she said.
American's management is stepping up its anti-union campaign, which in the past included $50 gift certificates to managers who talked against union representation. But thousands of agents across the American system are ready for a real voice and real representation at their airline.