JetBlue’s bid to acquire and merge with Spirit Airlines comes with many questions and uncertainties. Who will run the combined airline? What future guarantees do non-union JetBlue employees have?

Which carrier’s business model will be employed?

As we have seen in merger after merger in the last 15 years, airline executives make a lot of promises to win government approval. But, many of those promises can be broken if workers don’t have a contract to protect them.

A contract guarantees that workers will maintain their employment, seniority, wages, benefits, and working conditions when a merger occurs. Without these protections, management can change almost anything it wants, whether it benefits workers or not.

However, if workers are unionized and have representation, then their rights and interests are represented throughout the process.

For example, in the ten years since American and US Airways merged, IAM- represented workers’ wages have increased by approximately 50%, seniority was integrated fairly and benefits and working conditions greatly improved. After the merger of United and Continental much the same occurred, with about 15,000 pre-merger Continental workers gaining union contracts and the protections afforded by them.

The fact is, only union representation and a legally enforceable contract can provide the much-needed protection that JetBlue GO Crewmembers deserve.

Study: JetBlue as a Career

Is Ground Operations at JetBlue a good career choice? Do you plan to work at JetBlue long-term? How do you think your time at JetBlue will end? Let us know by participating in our careerism study below.

Related News

In 2020, as a response to the destruction of demand for air travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the CARES Act. The legislation, which included the PSP, provided approximately $50 billion in aid for U.S. airlines and mandated that the carriers not engage in involuntary layoffs, cut the salaries or reduce the benefits of airline workers.

JetBlue Airways received approximately $2 billion in aid, with most of it coming in the form of taxpayer-funded grants that do not have to be repaid. However, as they took the government funds, JetBlue management cut the working hours of its employees, which consequently cut their pay and benefits.

“We believe what JetBlue did was wrong,” said Richard Johnsen, IAM Chief of Staff to the International President. “JetBlue cut the salaries of thousands of ground workers by at least 20 percent. These are frontline, essential workers who risked their lives coming to work during the height of the pandemic when no vaccine was available. They’re heroes in my book and deserve to be repaid with interest by JetBlue executives.”

The IAM’s Transportation and Legislative Departments are in communication with government officials to get specific answers to specific questions.

“JetBlue just came up with $3.6 billion to buy Spirit Airlines last week,” continued Johnsen. “Some of that money needs to be put back in the pockets of JetBlue workers and not used to shower money on greedy airline executives and shareholders.”

The IAM is the largest airline union in North America and represents over 600,000 members.

Related News

The workers prevailed even though Amazon spent millions of dollars to an anti-union consulting firm. The firm, GSG, directed Amazon supervisors, managers, and executives, to distribute anti-union materials via emails and flyers and hold meetings to discourage workers from unionizing by touting their “direct relationship” with the Amazon workers.

Sound familiar?

Why? Why do companies such as Amazon and JetBlue try and discourage workers from unionizing? Why do they want to block workers from gaining the legal right to have a real VOICE AND A VOTE ON HOW THEIR WORKPLACE IS RUN?

It’s all about control, power, and the bottom line. The more control and power that JetBlue has, the better it can control its bottom line. Without union representation, JetBlue can do whatever it wants when it wants without our consent, and that’s very valuable to them.

Our time is now.

Please sign your a-card today, so we can call for a vote ASAP! You have the right to sign a card under federal law. JetBlue is prohibited by federal law from knowing who signed a card. Signing a card is not a vote for the union, it only means you want a vote.

Related News