Air Rage

Air Rage

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In January the FAA issued an order directing staff to pursue a “zero-tolerance” policy for cases relating to interference with crewmembers and other unruly conduct on board aircraft. The move follows a year that has shattered records for the numbers of attacks against airline workers. 

Air Rage

The IAM is calling for stronger legislation with stiffer penalties against unruly passengers who assault customer service agents and other airline workers. Until these incidents end, our union will keep pushing for enforcement of laws, because air rage seems to be a never-ending issue that current penalties haven’t been able to stop.

The Machinists Non Partisan Political League seeks to advance public policy that benefits airline and aerospace workers. To support the work of the MNPL, please consider recurring, automatic donations of any amount today. Click Here to start supporting this important work.

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Machinists Union from Capitol Hill: JetBlue Must Repay Workers

Machinists Union from Capitol Hill: JetBlue Must Repay Workers

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Machinists Union from Capitol Hill: JetBlue Must Repay Workers

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The Machinists Non Partisan Political League seeks to advance public policy that benefits airline and aerospace workers. To support the work of the MNPL, please consider recurring, automatic donations of any amount today. Click Here to start supporting this important work.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) on Monday, Nov. 8, sent a letter to Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue Airways Inc., alerting him that the union will reach out to federal lawmakers in an attempt to help workers who wrongfully lost wages and benefits even as the carrier took taxpayer-funded relief as part of the CARES Act.

“We will reach out to key federal lawmakers, inform them that JetBlue management took almost $2 billion in federal tax-payer funds and then cut the hours, pay and benefits of hundreds, if not thousands, of JetBlue workers in potential violation of federal law. At present, you may ignore the IAM, but ignoring the questions of federal lawmakers would likely not be a good strategy,” wrote Richard Johnsen, IAM Chief of Staff to the International President.
 
Johnsen’s correspondence was a follow-up attempt by the IAM.
 

The Payroll Support Program, under Division A, Title IV, Subtitle B of the CARES Act, provided payroll support to passenger air carriers for the continuing payment of employee wages, salaries, and benefits trhough the pandemic. This money was given to airlines based on how much they spent on total labor costs in 2019. JetBlue executives took nearly $2 billion, and agreed to keep pay, staffing levels and benefits at 2019 levels. 
     However, soon after taking the money, JetBlue cut the hours, removed premium-pay positions, and reduced benefits for non-union Ground Ops Crewmembers. This meant that the amount of PSP funding the airline got was much more than it needed, allowing executives to pocket the difference. 
     Now, the Machinists Union is asking the same lawmakers who wrote the PSP provisions into the CARES Act to review the actions of JetBlue executives and determine if any violations have taken place. 

On Oct. 13, James Carlson, the IAM’s Assistant Airline Coordinator, wrote Hayes, urging him to rectify the matter.
 
“JetBlue Crewmembers deserve better,” Carlson wrote. “They deserve to be repaid the money you wrongly took from them last year. They deserve to have their 401k accounts increased by the exact amount that was lost due to their working hours/pay being wrongly cut.”
 
The IAM lobbied aggressively to make sure the airline Payroll Support Program (PSP) was included in the CARES Act.
 
JetBlue applied for and received taxpayer funds under the Payroll Support Program, which required airlines to maintain workers’ jobs, pay and benefits as a condition of taking the funds. In May 2020, a group of 13 U.S. Senators, led by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), wrote to Hayes, urging the company to reverse its decision to cut hours of workers after receiving the financial assistance of the CARES Act.
 
“Your decision to cut employee hours is inconsistent with congressional intent and is a blatant and potentially illegal effort to skirt your requirements to keep workers on payroll, and you should reverse this policy immediately,” the senators wrote.
 
The IAM is actively trying to organize JetBlue’s Ground Operations (GO) Crewmembers.
 
Johnsen’s letter to Hayes pointed out some falsehoods in the company’s messages to its workers, many of which are an attempt to thwart union representation.
 
“The truth is that JetBlue management will do everything in its power to coerce GO Crewmembers against forming a union. JetBlue management knows that by unionizing GO Crewmembers will be able to gain the power needed to secure a legally binding contract that they deserve, which recognizes their value to JetBlue Airways,” Johnsen wrote. “JetBlue management also knows it will lose the power to dictate every aspect of GO Crewmembers working lives if these brave, dedicated workers join a union.”

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JetBlue Wrongly Cut Hours, Pay and Benefits

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JetBlue Wrongly Cut Hours, Pay, and Benefits

 

Robin Hayes, CEO JetBlue Airways Inc.
27-01 Queens Plaza North
Long Island City, NY 11101

November 8, 2021

CEO Hayes,

As expected, you did not respond to a letter sent to you on October 11, 2021. Instead, you had Alex Battaglia, JetBlue Head of Airports and System Operations, respond for you. In the aforementioned letter, a member of my staff requested that you reimburse JetBlue employees who wrongly had their hours, pay and benefits cut last year after JetBlue management took approximately $2 billion in tax-payer funded grants and loans under the Payroll Support Program (PSP) component of the CARES Act.

For this reason, the IAM will mobilize our Legislative Department. We will reach out to key federal lawmakers, inform them that JetBlue management took almost $2 billion in federal tax- payer funds and then cut the hours, pay and benefits of hundreds, if not thousands, of JetBlue workers in potential violation of federal law. At present, you may ignore the IAM, but ignoring the questions of federal lawmakers would likely not be a good strategy.

Mr. Battaglia’s response, both to the IAM and GO Crewmembers, contained some very questionable claims. Besides, in our opinion, wrongly claiming that JetBlue was in compliance with federal mandates concerning accepting PSP funds, he also appeared to kick off JetBlue’s anti-workplace democracy campaign by attempting to influence GO Crewmember’s decision to request a union representation election take place.

Besides patting himself on the back for taking basic pandemic safety measures, like installing hand sanitizer stations and plexiglas in gate areas and supplying surgical masks, Mr. Battaglia also took the time to spew the typical misrepresentations and falsehoods associated with attempting to influence and coerce JetBlue workers from exercising their right to form a union and gain collective bargaining rights.

Among the falsehoods and misrepresentations was Battaglia’s claim that JetBlue management “live[d] up to its no its no furlough promise”. Mr. Battaglia should know that because JetBlue management took billions of dollars in federal PSP funds, JetBlue was PROHIBITED BY LAW from furloughing any workers. To take credit for this is a clear attempt to deceive GO Crewmembers that it was the kindness JetBlue management that was the reason that no JetBlue

workers were furloughed. No JetBlue workers were laid off, as you know, because of the protections provided by under the CARES Act. A law, by the way, that was enacted due to the activism of IAM members and the labor movement as a whole.

Mr. Battaglia also claimed that “if a union were elected the Airports Compensation Advisory Team (ACAT) review would stop.” That would only be true if JetBlue management decided to stop the ACAT review. CEO Hayes, the IAM, as we have said before, demands that you raise the wages of GO Crewmembers right now. What’s to review? JetBlue just reported a Q3 profit of

$190 million. GO Crewmembers deserve exactly what was promised in 2019 and then some. They deserve significant improvements to their benefits and working conditions, as well. The IAM demands that be done now, so any assertion that electing a union would halt the process is another sad attempt to deceive JetBlue GO Crewmembers.

JetBlue GO Crewmembers deserve so much more than they are receiving. They deserve the respect to negotiate and vote on their terms of employment.

The truth is that JetBlue management will do everything in its power to coerce GO Crewmembers against forming a union. JetBlue management knows that by unionizing GO Crewmembers will be able to gain the power needed to secure a legally binding contract that they deserve, which recognizes their value to JetBlue Airways. JetBlue management also knows it will lose the power to dictate every aspect of GO Crewmembers working lives if these brave, dedicated workers join a union.

Lastly, the IAM will act to defend GO Crewmembers’ federal right to join a union and will not tolerate JetBlue management’s interference in the exercise of such rights.

Respectfully,

Richard Johnsen
Chief of Staff to the International President, Transportation
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO

Recording Secretaries: Please print and post on all IAMAW bulletin boards.

IAM Calling on Congress for Rail Safety and Job Creation

IAM Calling on Congress for Rail Safety and Job Creation

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IAM Calling on Congress for Rail Safety and Job Creation

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The Machinists Union is strongly urging Congress to help secure the livelihood of the nearly 40,000 IAM members working in the rail industry by passing the INVEST in America Act.

Many thanks to the Machinists & Aerospace journalists at IAM Transportation Newswire who wrote and originally published this story. 

This legislation will improve safety, create thousands of good-paying union jobs, and provide much-needed stability and growth to the freight and passenger rail industry.
 
“This legislation improves safety and creates thousands of good-paying union jobs, while providing much-needed security, stability and growth to the freight and passenger rail industry” said Chief of Staff to the International President Richard Johnsen. “The INVEST in America Act is a great first step forward in protecting and securing the livelihood of the members we represent.”
 
The Act addresses a wide variety of issues, including responding to dangerous changes and the deployment of new technologies in freight railroad operations, ensuring that the Federal Railroad Administration is a safety-first agency that works in tandem with rail workers, and requiring the necessary presence of a certified engineer and certified conductor on most freight trains.
 
 
The bill also includes significant investments in passenger rail, including historic funding levels for Amtrak and its operational and capital needs. It supports the growth of new rail operations, including high-speed rail.
 
Earlier this month, The IAM along with a coalition of rail labor organizations wrote a letter to House leadership expressing strong support for the INVEST in America Act.
 

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Machinists & Aerospace Union Endorses the INVEST in America Act

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Machinists & Aerospace Union Endorses the INVEST in America Act

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The IAM, along with a coalition of rail labor organizations, recently wrote a letter to House leadership expressing strong support for the INVEST in America Act.

Many thanks to the Machinists & Aerospace journalists at the IAMAW Transportation Newswire who wrote and originally published this story. To sign up for the email newsletter, visit the Transportation Newswire page at GoIAM.org.

The legislation, which was recently passed out of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, was introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ). This legislation will improve safety, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and secure a future with a vibrant freight and passenger rail industry.
“The IAM applauds Chairs DeFazio, Norton and Payne for again championing legislation that will help improve safety for rail workers and travelers while also creating jobs,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “The Machinists Union urges other members of Congress to support this vital legislation which will provide stability and growth to the freight and passenger rail industry.”
“The Committee’s passing of this Act is a great step towards protecting and securing the livelihoods of our rail members,” said Richard Johnsen, Chief of Staff to the International President. “We must keep pressuring Congress to pass this much-needed legislation which will help ensure the future viability of the rail industry.” 
 
The bill will prevent accidents, save lives, and promote the long-term viability of the industry. The Act addresses a wide variety of issues, including responding to dangerous changes and the deployment of new technologies in freight railroad operations, ensuring that the Federal Railroad Administration is a safety-first agency that works in tandem with rail workers, and requiring the necessary presence of a certified engineer and certified conductor on most freight trains. 
 
The bill also includes significant investments in passenger rail, including historic funding levels for Amtrak and its operational and capital needs. It supports the growth of new rail operations, including high-speed rail.

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Tell Your Senators to Support the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) Now! 

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Machinists Union Urges Congress to Protect Rolling Stock Production

Machinists Union Urges Congress to Protect Rolling Stock Production

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Machinists Union Urges Congress to Protect Rolling Stock Production

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The IAM was a signatory to a June 2, 2021 letter from a coalition of unions and manufacturers to key Senate and House leaders citing our continued support for the Transportation Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act (TIVSA). TIVSA was enacted into law in 2019 as a direct response to alarming national security and economic concerns with China’s state-owned and state-supported rolling stock manufacturers, and to oppose any attempts to undermine the TIVSA law.

Many thanks to the Machinists & Aerospace journalists at GOIAM.org who wrote and originally published this story. 

“TIVSA prohibits federal dollars from being used to purchase rolling stock, such as rail cars and buses, from Chinese government-owned or controlled companies,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “We should not be using American tax dollars to buy trains made in China. We proudly represent workers at Alstom in Hornell, NY, who produce the best rolling stock in America and are ready and willing to meet our transit and passenger service needs. Congress must ensure that these products, which are critical to our infrastructure, are not compromised in any way. They must be manufactured by entities that make the interests of this nation and its skilled workforce a priority.”

“I encourage the continued support for the TIVSA,” said Richard Johnsen, Chief of Staff to the International President. “Our members produce high-quality U.S. rail cars and buses. American taxpayer dollars should be invested to create good unions jobs here while also increasing the American manufacturing footprint.” 

“We urge that you reject any attempts to weaken the TIVSA law,” wrote the coalition. “Instead, Congress should focus on closing TIVSA loopholes, including: 1) eliminating any further delay in TIVSA’s effective date; 2) correcting FTA’s flawed implementation that gives four U.S. cities a permanent exemption; 3) cracking down on circumvention; and 4) validating Buy America compliance…”

The complete letter can be read here.

Other signatories to the letter included the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU); United Steelworkers (USW); Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM); American Foundry Society (AFS); American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI); Rail Security Alliance (RSA); Railway Supply Institute (RSI); Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE); and the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA).

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TAKE ACTION: Scholarships Available Now!

/// The Adolph Stutz Memorial Scholarship Essay Contest is Now Accepting Applications

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///The PRO Act will make it easier for working people to bargain together and win good contracts because it will: Empower workers to exercise our freedom to organize and bargain. Repeal “right to work” laws. Ensure that workers can reach a first contract quickly after a union is recognized.

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