IAM Political Action: Support Clean Extension of Payroll Support to Prevent Airline Furloughs

IAM Political Action: Support Clean Extension of Payroll Support to Prevent Airline Furloughs

Sep 14, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, Hawaiian, MNPL, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

In March, as U.S. COVID-19 cases began rising exponentially, Congress rose to the occasion by enacting the CARES Act to provide assistance to tens of millions of Americans who found their financial security, if not their health, directly imperiled by the pandemic.

Among other things, the CARES Act created the Payroll Support Program (PSP), under which the Treasury Secretary issued $32 billion in grants to airlines and their contractors exclusively to keep their workers on the payroll through September 30, 2020.

But while time marches on, so does the pandemic, Airline workers are facing the worst crisis by far in the industry’s history. Last Wednesday, a major airline put 36,000 workers across the country on notice that they could be furloughed on or after October 1. Other carriers have issued and will issue similar notices.

Please ask your member of Congress to join House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) on a bipartisan letter to House and Senate Leadership, urging them to extend the PSP authorities in the CARES Act through March 31, 2021, and save hundreds of thousands of frontline airline workers’ jobs.

Additional Resources  /// Ask Lawmakers to Support Clean Extension of PSP///  Support the Machinists Non-Partisan Political League

Help Save Thousands of Airline Jobs This Fall

Support a clean extension of the Payroll Support Program for airlines, and help save thousands of airline worker jobs this fall.

Send Lawmakers a Message Now

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IAM Airline Workers Need Action: 23 Days Until Relief Expires

IAM Airline Workers Need Action: 23 Days Until Relief Expires

Sep 9, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, Hawaiian, MNPL, Perusals, Philippine, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

The airline Paycheck Support Program contained in the CARES Act is set to expire on October 1, 2020. Carriers are making plans on how to deal with its loss, and the outlook doesn’t look good for many IAM members and other airline workers.

American Airlines has announced it will lay off 19,000 workers on October 1. Southwest Airlines is eliminating 35,000 flights from its October schedule, and Air Wisconsin, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, ExpressJet, Hawaiian Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, and United Ground Express have issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN). 

TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators and Representative to support a clean extension of the airline Payroll Support Program

The only hope of staving off mass furloughs is Congress taking action to extend CARES Act protections for airline workers. What we need to save jobs is:

  • Increase PSP funding levels by an additional $32 billion (covering six months);
  • Extend requirements relating to involuntary furloughs, share repurchases, dividend payments, and collective bargaining agreements to March 31, 2021;
  • Require Treasury to immediately disburse funds to every air carrier and contractor that executed a Payroll Support Program Agreement, an amount equal to their current payroll support.

“These are not controversial goals,” said IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “We already have bipartisan support for a clean extension of the program, and President Trump has also signaled his support. What we need is for Congress to actually start doing its job and take action to save the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of airline and aviation families.”

“The airline industry is in dire need of immediate assistance from Congress,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Their inaction is jeopardizing the futures of all airline workers. The Machinists have been leading this fight from the beginning, and we must continue to keep the pressure on Congress. Do not stop contacting your Representative and Senators until this extension is enacted.”

U.S. Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA) recently led a bipartisan letter to American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, asking the carrier to continue its advocacy for the PSP extension and to keep communities and working families in mind when considering layoffs. Keller also led a separate letter to congressional leadership, highlighting the dire situation of the aviation industry and the need to include an extension of the PSP in future COVID-19 relief legislation.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators and Representative to support a clean extension of the airline Payroll Support Program

 

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Pennsylvania Representative Conor Lamb Supports Extension of PSP: “Air Travel is Going to Come Back”

Pennsylvania Representative Conor Lamb Supports Extension of PSP: “Air Travel is Going to Come Back”

Sep 2, 2020 | Airlines, American, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Perusals, Philippine, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

Pennsylvania Representative Conor Lamb Supports Extension of PSP: “Air Travel is Going to Come Back”

Members of District 141 took part in a Zoom call with Representative Conor Lamb (D-PA) this week, where he shared his views about the possibility of an extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP) to save airline jobs. He presented a grim view of current negotiations.

“I hope that I’m wrong, but I’m very pessimistic at the moment based on what I’m hearing within our caucus about negotiations,” he said, responding to a question from District 141 Legislative Director Dave Roderick. The negotiations led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are deadlocked, and Rep. Lamb explained that despite offers to modify parts of the HEROES Act which the House passed in May, “there’s a group of Republican Senators, somewhere around 20 or so, who won’t go for a single thing. They don’t even have terms, they don’t have suggestions or areas for compromise,” he added.

Rep. Lamb expressed confidence, however, in the House of Representatives voting to “give a lifeline” to airline workers, but did not see “glimmers of hope” in the Senate. He said he hoped that as the end of the current PSP approaches, the “pain becomes a little bit more clear to some of these senators who maybe are spending too much time in DC and not realizing it.”

Answering a question from Rich Howell, Vice President of the Pennsylvania State Council of Machinists and a member of Local 1776 in Philadelphia, Rep. Lamb said that six months into the pandemic, there are lessons learned about how different businesses will survive and the importance of sustaining “assets” such as airports. “Air travel is going to come back. We are in a global and interconnected world, people are going to want to get on airplanes again, and that will happen when they believe it is safe.”

He stressed that before large segments of the public return to the skies, it is important to “suppress and ultimately defeat this virus.” In the meantime, the congressman supports new federal financial help for airlines with restrictions identical to those of the PSP, ensuring that public money goes directly into the pockets of workers and it is not a “blank check.”

A former Marine, Representative Conor Lamb was elected in 2018 to represent the 17th Congressional District of Pennsylvania with broad support from labor unions. At the end of the call, the congressman praised the work of Obie O’Brien, President of the Pennsylvania State Council of Machinists, and his commitment to working families, calling him “the soul of what we’re trying to do here.”

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IAMAW 141 Video Report: Bill Gula, President of Newark’s Local 914

IAMAW 141 Video Report: Bill Gula, President of Newark’s Local 914

Aug 28, 2020 | Airlines, American, Community Service Page, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized, United, Video | 0 comments

Bill Gula, Local President and Activist 

Brother Bill Gula began his career in 1996, as a Ramp Services Agent at Continental Airlines.

Bill split his time between working on the ramp and later took on additional responsibilities as a Load Planner. He worked as a Hub Operations Coordinator for several years, in the tower at Newark Liberty Airport.

In 2010, Bill began organizing for the IAMAW after the merger of Continental and United Airlines. Working with Grand Lodge Reps Tom Regan, Bill Rody, and Edison Fraser, he began organizing the Newark workforces under the IAMAW banner. After the successful campaign for representation in 2011, Brother Bill initiated into the Machinists Union and began service as a ramp Shop Steward.

In 2013 Bill was elected Vice President of the United Lodge Local 914, filling a vacant position.That same year, he began his affiliation with the NJ State Council of Machinists. In 2014, Brother Gula was re-elected as Vice President of the local during the normal election cycle.

Bill rose to the position of Local 914 President in 2016 when former President Richard Creighton was promoted to Assistant General Chair at District Lodge 141. That same year, Bill was elected Vice President of Airlines for the NJ State Council of Machinists. He continued his work on behalf of union members and in 2017 was elected president of his Local for a full term, a position he proudly holds to this day. Bill continues to be active in Community Service endeavors as well as legislative efforts in his IAM local and in the NJSCM.

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Without PSP, AA Cuts 40,000

Without PSP, AA Cuts 40,000

Aug 26, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Organizing, Philippine, Row 2, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

American Airlines announced plans to eliminate the jobs of “at least” 40,000 employees if lawmakers do not quickly renew funding for payroll support programs.

The furloughs would begin within hours of the expiration of the Payroll Support Program (PSP), the section of the CARES Act scheduled to end on October 1, just over a month before Election Day. The IAM has responded by calling on members to make a last stand on Capitol Hill and redouble efforts to convince lawmakers to renew funding for the PSP, which has stalled in the Senate. Airline executives agree that legislative action, if taken soon, would prevent the job cuts. 

In a notice sent to workers, the airline said it planned to involuntarily furlough about 19,000 employees beginning on October 1. The cuts are in addition to 12,500 American Airlines workers who have already left the company through early out separation packages and retirements. Another 11,000 employees have accepted voluntary and company-offered leaves of absence. 

Despite the thousands of voluntary separations, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker says more cuts are needed. “Even with those sacrifices, approximately 19,000 of our team members will be involuntarily furloughed or separated from the company on Oct.1, unless there is an extension of the PSP,” Parker said in the statement co-signed by airline President Robert Isom. 

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, air traffic has dropped below 60% of 2019 levels. The loss of revenue, combined with fixed overhead costs and mandated quarantine and travel restrictions in many countries, drives the airline’s “cash burn” to over $40 million in daily losses. In March, Congress voted to approve a program to cover payroll costs for commercial airlines, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Payroll Support Program is a job security program at its core, allowing airlines to keep their highly specialized and trained staff. Airline workers such as pilots, load planners, flight attendants, dispatchers, and other airport agents have specialized skills and security clearances, making them difficult to replace. The PSP funded payroll costs for six months, but airlines were required to retain workers, so they would be available quickly once the industry showed signs of recovery. 

Moreover, since the US civil aviation infrastructure is a necessary part of a fully functioning economy, and provides services that are vital to the operation of many businesses, Congress also required airlines to maintain air service in several markets despite deep reductions in passenger demand. These conditions prevented cities and regions of the country from being cut off from the rest of the economy, safeguarding the flow of products, including medical equipment, and transporting health workers and first responders where they were needed. By any measure, the Payroll Support Program is a success, but its future is tied to deadlocked negotiations in Congress for a new round of coronavirus relief legislation.

Help Prevent Furloughs This Fall

Contact your lawmakers and ask them to support the Payroll Support Program, and prevent airline furloughs this fall.

Contact Your Lawmakers Now

Sito Pantoja, General Vice President of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, who, in an alliance with the Transit Workers Union, make up one of the largest organized workgroups at American, responded to the announcement by calling for immediate, emergency action in the Senate. 

“The only hope of staving off mass furloughs is Congress taking action to extend CARES Act protections for airline workers,” Pantoja told members in a statement issued before the American Airlines announcement. 

Pantoja laid out a plan that he said would avert airline job cuts in the near term, and would buy the industry time to recover. He called for lawmakers to approve $32 billion in payroll support funding to cover the labor costs of the industry for six additional months. Also, airlines would be required to preserve their workforces and labor contracts, so that these assets could be quickly available in the event of a faster than expected recovery. 

District 141 President and Directing General Chair Mike Klemm called on union activists to keep the pressure on Senators and demand a vote on a “clean” version of the PSP. “This is the responsibility of every union member, and we must do it this week. Call or write your Senator and demand they put partisan differences aside, return to Washington and take a clean vote to extend the PSP,” he said. 

“Remind everyone you interact with to please send a message to their lawmakers, especially if they have received RIF notices. Of course, our IAM contracts are in full force, with all the protections we have earned, but without an extension of the PSP, thousands of union members will soon be out of a job. In this economy, that spells disaster,” Klemm said, stressing how furloughed workers would lose their work-based health coverage, putting the health and security of their families at risk in the pandemic.

“This is our lifeline,” he added. 

Additional Resources

///  Contact Your Senator and Ask Them to Extend the Payroll Support Program

/// Click HERE to call a Senator who has not decided to support the extension of the PSP.

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The Airline Industry in Africa Could Collapse Without Taxpayer Assistance at National Level

The Airline Industry in Africa Could Collapse Without Taxpayer Assistance at National Level

Aug 12, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured News, Front Page, Hawaiian, MNPL, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

As a consequence of the pandemic and associated restrictions, African airlines are forecast to lose $2 billion in 2020. Without urgent financial relief, the industry is at risk of collapse, putting about 3.3 million jobs and $33 billion in African GPD in jeopardy.

To date, the governments of Sub-Saharan Africa Rwanda, Senegal, Côte D’Ivoire and Burkina Faso have pledged a total of $311 million in direct financial support for air transport. A further $30 billion has been promised for air transport and tourism by a variety of governments and institutions throughout the region. However, much of the relief is yet to reach those in need due to bureaucracy and complex processes.

“Over $30 billion in financial support has been pledged to aviation and tourism in Africa,” said Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East. “Some of this money has been allocated by governments, but far too little of it has reached its intended recipients. Governments and lenders need to urgently unchoke the bottlenecks so that the money can flow quickly, otherwise it will be too late to prevent closures and job losses. There will be no point re-opening the borders and skies if there is no industry left to speak of that is capable of supporting trade and tourism, which are the key components of any thriving economy.”

The harmonized adoption of the ICAO Take-Off guidance which outlines recommended biosafety measures, is also essential to the recovery of African aviation. The guidance includes adequate physical distancing, wearing face masks or coverings, enhanced sanitation and disinfection, health screening, contact tracing and the use of passenger health declaration forms. It also calls for testing, where rapid and reliable testing is available.

“To instill public confidence and avoid repeating the mistakes made after 9/11, which created disjointed airport security measures, governments and local authorities must adopt ICAO’s biosafety measures in a harmonized fashion and implement them consistently and diligently,” said Albakri. “This will also ensure that air travel is able to support the revival of economies without becoming a vector for spreading COVID-19.”

Air transport is at the core of the travel and tourism value chain. Combined the sectors support the livelihood of 24.6 million people across the continent, contribute $169 billion to Africa’s economy and represent 7.1% of the continent’s GDP.

“Containing the pandemic is the top priority,” said Albakri. “But without a lifeline of funding to keep the sector alive, and a roadmap to restart aviation safely as soon as possible, the economic devastation of COVID-19 could take Africa’s development back a decade or more. Aviation supports livelihoods, trade, education, good health and wellbeing, and quality education. It reduces hunger and poverty and ensures access to essential medical supplies and humanitarian aid, as proven throughout this crisis. Without an air transport industry, the people of Africa are at risk of not being able to realize their dreams and aspirations.”

Additional Resources  ///  Lobby Your Senator 

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