Flight Attendant Union Wins Seniority Protections for Flight Attendants

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) won a ground-breaking legal victory this week when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago strongly affirmed AFA's position that the McCaskill-Bond guarantee of fair and equitable seniority protection applies for all those affected by airline mergers.

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"This is an enormous victory for Flight Attendants everywhere. Through AFA's unwavering advocacy and expert legal team, we successfully defended Flight Attendant seniority across the industry," said AFA International President Veda Shook. "AFA's seniority integration policy promotes unity and protects a Flight Attendant's years of service. This is the ideal as we recognize the contributions all Flight Attendants make to our careers.  But, in cases where Flight Attendants are not represented by AFA, we have also successfully lobbied for seniority protection under the law.  And now through AFA's persistence, the court has confirmed that this law will protect a Flight Attendants' right to a fair and equitable process for seniority integration."

In 2007, AFA was instrumental in getting legislation passed by Congress, the McCaskill-Bond Amendment, which protects a Flight Attendant's seniority in the event of a merger at their airline. AFA's latest legal victory for Flight Attendants comes with this Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that McCaskill-Bond should have applied when Republic Airlines purchased Midwest Airlines. Midwest Flight Attendants are entitled to fair and equitable seniority integration at Republic.

"This is a victory for the hundreds of former Midwest Flight Attendants whose years of dedicated service will now be honored. It is an example of AFA's tireless dedication to the Flight Attendant profession and will have an enduring impact. Flight Attendants at merged carriers now have some career protections regardless of union representation," added Shook. "AFA never walks away from a fight that is important to the Flight Attendant profession."

AFA is the only union with a seniority integration policy that preserves a Flight Attendant's bidding seniority. 

The Association of Flight Attendants is the world's largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for over 65 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions.  Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants at 24 airlines come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.

SOURCE Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA)

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