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CWA Fights for Passenger Agents, Flight Attendants

CWA is fighting back against US Airways' demands to slash salaries, benefits and working conditions for passenger agents and flight attendants as the company filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time.

US Airways management has petitioned the bankruptcy court to impose "interim relief" pay cuts of 23 percent and other extreme givebacks on nearly all union workers while it continues to press for even more concessions.

The airline filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 12. Over the next several weeks, hearings will be held by the bankruptcy judge on the airline's petition for the "interim relief" and other issues.

CWA and AFA-CWA, along with the air line pilots and machinists unions, were appointed to the creditors committee, which will be an important part of the decision-making process.

The CWA local presidents bargaining committee, representing passenger service agents, is preparing for three days of bargaining this week with US Airways management over the company's demands for devastating wage and benefit cuts. At the same time, AFA-CWA's negotiating committee continues to work on its response to management's "excessive and inequitable" demands as the bankruptcy process goes forward.

Agents and flight attendants have called on management to detail the non-labor cost savings and cost savings from management and administrative employees, as well as changes to the executive compensation plan that should be a part of the airline's restructuring.

To date, management has been very specific about concessions from union represented employees, and in fact has proposed cutting the take-home pay for agents nearly in half, yet it has provided no evidence it will lead by example, the CWA local presidents pointed out. Management also has not convinced workers that it has a plan to successfully emerge from bankruptcy, AFA-CWA said.

CWA represents 6,000 active and 3,000 furloughed passenger service agents at US Airways; AFA-CWA represents 5,200 flight attendants.