Fighting the Attack on GOOD JOBS: AFA Saves Union Jobs At Northwest Airlines

Pushed by angry AFA-CWA members and Congress, Northwest Airlines last year dropped its plan to outsource flight attendant jobs to non-union workers on certain flights leaving the United States.

"AFA-CWA members from all of our airlines went to Congress and Congress responded," said Sara Nelson Dela Cruz, communications chairperson for AFA-CWA at United. "Over 100 members in Congress wrote a very stern letter to Northwest management telling them not to outsource. We know that if Northwest had been successful, all the other airlines would have followed."

At the time, the union did not represent the Northwest Flight attendants, but the workers recently voted for AFA-CWA to represent them in place of their former independent association (see page 11).

In spite of the victory at Northwest, AFA-CWA leaders say they have to be constantly vigilant as airlines are always trying to find their way around union contracts and U.S. laws protecting jobs.

The union is bracing for the airline industry to press Congress to allow foreign carriers to fly some domestic routes in the United States. "If suddenly Singapore Airlines was able to fly between Chicago and Denver, with low paid, non-union flight attendants based in Asia, our pay, health care, pensions and work rules would be under attack as U.S. airlines would claim they couldn't compete," Nelson said.

"We've fought for years to make the flight attendant job a middle class job," he said. "If we're not vigilant, just like jobs in so many other sectors of the economy, this will no longer be the case," said Shane Larson, AFA-CWA director of government affairs.

Dianne Tamuk, president of AFA-CWA Council 5 at United Airlines, speaks against airline outsourcing at a Capitol Hill news conference.