IAM Airline Workers Need Action: 23 Days Until Relief Expires

IAM Airline Workers Need Action: 23 Days Until Relief Expires

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”

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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Without PSP, AA Cuts 40,000

Without PSP, AA Cuts 40,000

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.

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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Senate Plan Does Not Include Funds for Airlines to Avoid Furloughs

Senate Plan Does Not Include Funds for Airlines to Avoid Furloughs

The GOP has released the details of their latest COVID-19 relief legislation named the “HEALS Act.” The proposed legislation not only cuts unemployment benefits to the 20 to 30 million Americans who are currently out of work, but falls short in just about every area of concern for working families.

“This legislation is a slap in the face to working people in this country,” said International President Robert Martinez Jr. “They have no problem handing out a trillion dollars in tax cuts to corporations, but want to nickel and dime unemployed Americans at a time when they need it the most. It appears the Senate may go on summer recess a week from now without bringing a bill to a vote, leaving millions of Americans to fend for themselves when additional pandemic economic compensation ends this Friday. They need to pass a relief package that benefits the people they are supposed to be representing.”

Please contact your Senators and tell them to pass a relief package that helps working people.

In addition to cutting pandemic unemployment compensation from $600 a week to 200 a week, the HEALS Act shortcomings include:

  • No airline or railroad relief
  • Immunity for companies that endanger their employees and the public
  • No OSHA standard protecting employees
  • NO pension relief, no COBRA subsidy, no eviction moratorium extension
  • Fast track to cut Social Security and Medicare (TRUST ACT)
  • No relief money for state and local governments
  • No money for USPS
  • Inadequate funding for schools
  • No funding for, or protections for election
  • No hazard pay for essential employees

Legislators are running out of time, as many of the provisions in the last COVID-19 relief package are about to expire, and some have already ended.

“Disaster is on America’s doorstep,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “Republicans need to get serious immediately, and work with Democrats to save lives and livelihoods during this devastating time.”

“One of the few things that’s kept our economy from deteriorating further is that these unemployment benefits have boosted consumer spending,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “That’s why economists say the Republican proposal would cost us over a million jobs this year, and 3.4 million jobs next year.”

 

TAKE ACTION! 

ACTION ALERT: Contact Senators to Extend PSP and Avoid Furloughs

ACTION ALERT: Contact Senators to Extend PSP and Avoid Furloughs

Sisters and Brothers, 

As you know, Congress is currently negotiating another stimulus bill to address the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. I will be first to admit I didn’t think we had a chance to get an extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP), but now thanks to the hard work of our legislative team at the IAMAW Transportation Territory, collaborating with our own District 141 Legislative and Communications team and the grassroots work all of you are doing, we are very much in the game and a six-month extension of this vital program looks within reach.

This week we received the commitment of 223 members of Congress who signed a letter supporting the extension of the PSP. We must now turn our attention to the US Senate, who must act before their August recess so airlines can avoid widespread furloughs on October 1st. 

Please take a look at the list of senators below. We have identified them as being on the fence on their support of the PSP extension, and with another push from us, we may get across the finish line. The first link following the Senator’s name lists contact information if you would like to call their office or write a personal letter; the second link takes you to the IAM Action Alert program, which makes contact very easy with a written letter sent via email to your Senator. 

It is especially important to reach out to Senators in states where our companies have hubs or large operations where there are hundreds or thousands of jobs on the line, but every call we make or email we send can get us closer to our goal.  

I ask that you please contact your Senator this week, especially if his or her name is on the attached list. Together, we may be able to prevent anyone from getting furloughed come October 1st.

 

 

In Solidarity,

Michael G. Klemm

President & Directing General Chair,
IAMAW District 141

     United States Senate Call-List

ALASKA

ARIZONA

COLORADO

FLORIDA

IOWA

KENTUCKY

MAINE

MONTANA

MISSOURI

OHIO

PENNSYLVANIA

NORTH CAROLINA

TEXAS

UTAH

WISCONSIN

Lawmakers Backing Union Calls to Prevent Mass Furloughs this Fall

Lawmakers Backing Union Calls to Prevent Mass Furloughs this Fall

A bipartisan group of lawmakers are supporting a plan that would prevent the mass furloughs of tens of thousands of airline workers this fall by extending current payroll assistance into 2021.

Congressman Peter A. DeFazio, who serves as the Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, circulated a letter to several key legislators last week, seeking support for an extension of the $32 billion Payroll Support Program. The program allowed airlines access to billions of dollars in aid and loans in exchange for keeping employees on the payroll. Unions such as the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have strongly pushed for such an extension, in order to prevent mass furloughs of airline workers this fall.

About 950,000 aviation sector workers received funding from the program, which covered the costs of their paychecks in the absence of airline profits caused by the pandemic. The program is due to run out on October 1.

Major airlines such as United and American are warning that they will eliminate an estimated 60,000 positions within hours of the expiration of the program. Non-union positions at airlines, including management and administrative positions, and non-union ramp and ticket counter agents have already been the targets of job and hour cuts. Delta and JetBlue have already cut thousands of workers despite having accepted payroll assistance money that they promised to spend on wages. United cut thousands of non-union administrative positions after also slashing severance pay. Court action by non-union managers has yet to scale back  losses.

The letter, sent to lawmakers from both parties, calls for an extension of the Payroll Support Program, which would prevent mass furloughs and layoffs until at least March 2021. In addition to House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter A. DeFazio, (D-Ore.), the letter was co-signed by Subcommittee on Aviation Chairman Rick Larsen, (D-Wash). It has won the support of Republican Members of the Transportation Committee, Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), and John Katko (R-NY).

Other lawmakers supporting the extension include Reps. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.

IAMAW General Vice President, Sito Pantoja and other labor leaders signed a joint letter calling for a renewal of the Paycheck Support Program earlier this summer. That letter read, in part, “Aviation workers account for 5 percent of the nation’s GDP. Should October 1 arrive without extending the PSP grant job program mass layoffs are inevitable, as airline executives have acknowledged. Hundreds of thousands of workers will lose their jobs and health insurance—not only in aviation but across our entire economy.”

“Further, the industry would lose a large portion of the experienced and credentialed workforce that will be critical to bringing the sector and the broader economy back to prosperity once the COVID-19 crisis is over. Airline industry employment cannot simply be put back together overnight, and mass layoffs will do great damage to the sector, with potentially irrevocable consequences for Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union have banded together into a group called the Machinists Non-Partisan Political League (IAM MNPL) to call for legislation that would help airline workers and passengers. The group is asking airline workers to contact their lawmakers and ask them to support an extension of the Payroll Support Program and prevent mass furloughs starting October 1.

“We need this bill. This is a pro-airline paycheck bill,” said Dave Roderick, MNPL District 141 Legislative Director. “The Paycheck Support Program will help frontline airline workers weather this storm. We need everyone out supporting this.”

Airline workers who want to send a letter right now may do so HERE.