Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Talks Continue After US Airways Filing
CWA is continuing to negotiate with US Airways in the wake of the carrier's federal bankruptcy filing and restructuring.
Since May, CWA's bargaining team has been developing, presenting and countering proposals in meetings with management over the airline's concession demands. Those discussions have continued following the airline's Aug. 11 announcement that it was seeking federal bankruptcy protection.
Under the bankruptcy process, if an agreement is not reached, US Airways can seek the approval of the bankruptcy court to impose contract terms on employees.
Over the past several months, US Airways management has been demanding extreme salary and benefit cuts from agents and has refused to acknowledge the economic sacrifices agents already made over the past decade, CWA noted.
The company demanded even greater cuts in one post-bankruptcy negotiating session, but CWA negotiators have been fighting back to gain the best settlement possible for agents. If a tentative settlement is reached, it will be presented to the membership for a ratification vote.
Agents already endured a 10-year wage freeze, in effect from 1989 to 1999, when they won CWA representation, as well as the loss of the defined benefit pension plan and supplemental medical and prescription drug coverage, all benefits that other employee groups - pilots, mechanics and flight attendants - retain.
Management's demand that agents shoulder the burden for the pension shortfall and the costs of the medical and drug coverage programs is unjust, because agents were stripped of these benefits years ago, CWA has pointed out.
US Airways, the nation's 6th largest airline, already received conditional approval for a $900 million government loan. Of the other employee groups, the pilots and flight attendants have ratified settlements and the mechanics and fleet workers are reviewing proposed agreements.
Since May, CWA's bargaining team has been developing, presenting and countering proposals in meetings with management over the airline's concession demands. Those discussions have continued following the airline's Aug. 11 announcement that it was seeking federal bankruptcy protection.
Under the bankruptcy process, if an agreement is not reached, US Airways can seek the approval of the bankruptcy court to impose contract terms on employees.
Over the past several months, US Airways management has been demanding extreme salary and benefit cuts from agents and has refused to acknowledge the economic sacrifices agents already made over the past decade, CWA noted.
The company demanded even greater cuts in one post-bankruptcy negotiating session, but CWA negotiators have been fighting back to gain the best settlement possible for agents. If a tentative settlement is reached, it will be presented to the membership for a ratification vote.
Agents already endured a 10-year wage freeze, in effect from 1989 to 1999, when they won CWA representation, as well as the loss of the defined benefit pension plan and supplemental medical and prescription drug coverage, all benefits that other employee groups - pilots, mechanics and flight attendants - retain.
Management's demand that agents shoulder the burden for the pension shortfall and the costs of the medical and drug coverage programs is unjust, because agents were stripped of these benefits years ago, CWA has pointed out.
US Airways, the nation's 6th largest airline, already received conditional approval for a $900 million government loan. Of the other employee groups, the pilots and flight attendants have ratified settlements and the mechanics and fleet workers are reviewing proposed agreements.