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Spirits High as First US Airways Local Takes Off
Susan Saylor laughs when she remembers what she said at the first union organizing meeting she attended five years ago.
“I said, ‘I’ll try to help, but my name can’t appear anywhere,’” Saylor recalled. “And now, here I am, my name is everywhere.”
That’s because Saylor is the first president of CWA Local 4404, the newly organized US Airways local covering nine states — all of Districts 4 and 6 and part of District 7. The local represents about 1,300 passenger service employees.
The first US Airways contract, covering about 10,500 workers, was ratified in December. Since then, the union’s work has focused on setting up locals and training officers and stewards.
Local 4404 is the first fully organized, all-US Airways bargaining unit. Other units being organized include Local 2000 in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, which is in the process of nominating officers. Newly formed locals in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Winston-Salem, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Orlando, Fla., and a local covering New York, New Jersey and New England are composing bylaws.
Saylor, a reservations agent for the past 15 years, said she’s “totally amazed” to find herself as president, but is excited about the opportunity. And she’s delighted to see her fellow union officers and newly trained stewards brimming with energy and enthusiasm.
“It’s been so encouraging,” she said at the end of February, as new phone lines were being installed and furniture delivered to the local’s office in a Dayton, Ohio, suburb. “This is really a positive thing.”
Saylor, Vice President Judy Dreyer and Secretary-Treasurer Betty Grove, were sworn in at the end of January. In recent weeks, Saylor, Dreyer, and District 4 CWA Representative Crystal Roberts have traveled throughout the local’s nine states, from Michigan to Texas, to lead training sessions for about 80 shop stewards.
“We put on a four-hour class, but we never got out of there in four hours,” Roberts said. “These people are just so energetic and they want to learn so much.”
“I said, ‘I’ll try to help, but my name can’t appear anywhere,’” Saylor recalled. “And now, here I am, my name is everywhere.”
That’s because Saylor is the first president of CWA Local 4404, the newly organized US Airways local covering nine states — all of Districts 4 and 6 and part of District 7. The local represents about 1,300 passenger service employees.
The first US Airways contract, covering about 10,500 workers, was ratified in December. Since then, the union’s work has focused on setting up locals and training officers and stewards.
Local 4404 is the first fully organized, all-US Airways bargaining unit. Other units being organized include Local 2000 in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, which is in the process of nominating officers. Newly formed locals in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Winston-Salem, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Orlando, Fla., and a local covering New York, New Jersey and New England are composing bylaws.
Saylor, a reservations agent for the past 15 years, said she’s “totally amazed” to find herself as president, but is excited about the opportunity. And she’s delighted to see her fellow union officers and newly trained stewards brimming with energy and enthusiasm.
“It’s been so encouraging,” she said at the end of February, as new phone lines were being installed and furniture delivered to the local’s office in a Dayton, Ohio, suburb. “This is really a positive thing.”
Saylor, Vice President Judy Dreyer and Secretary-Treasurer Betty Grove, were sworn in at the end of January. In recent weeks, Saylor, Dreyer, and District 4 CWA Representative Crystal Roberts have traveled throughout the local’s nine states, from Michigan to Texas, to lead training sessions for about 80 shop stewards.
“We put on a four-hour class, but we never got out of there in four hours,” Roberts said. “These people are just so energetic and they want to learn so much.”