American Airlines Customer-Service Agents Approve Labor Contract
November 30 2015 - 5:10PM
Dow Jones News
A majority of the 14,500 customer-service agents and
reservationists at American Airlines Group Inc. on Monday ratified
a five-year labor contract by a 73% vote, according to the
Communications Workers of America union, which, along with the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, represents the group.
The new pact represents the first combined contract since
American and US Airways merged in late 2013, the CWA said, and is
the first contract ever for the American agents, who voted to join
the unions last year after a yearslong effort to be represented.
The former US Airways group had already been unionized.
A total of 6,993 people voted for the new accord, with 2,522
voting against it, the CWA said. The contract will raise pay by 30%
over the term and will provide pay equal to that of agents at Delta
Air Lines Inc., plus 3% over the term, the union said. At a time
when airlines are producing record profits, some labor groups in
recent months have rejected tentative contract agreements, hoping
for more to make up for previous years of sacrifices and
concessions. Delta pilots and Southwest Airlines Co. pilots and
flight attendants defeated proposed deals earlier this year.
Separately, an American flight attendant was charged in a
federal criminal complaint last week with interfering with flight
crew and assaulting federal air marshals on a flight she worked
from Charlotte, N.C., to Frankfurt, Germany, earlier that week. In
an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, Joanne Snow
was accused by Air Marshal Joseph Fialka of slapping other
attendants and shoving and hitting air marshals assigned to the
flight.
Ms. Snow, who couldn't be reached for comment on this article,
made unsolicited remarks to Mr. Fialka even before the flight
departed, the affidavit said, called herself "crazy" and a "train
wreck." The marshal said he had been told by several other
attendants that Ms. Snow was behaving irrationally and that the
others had asked American to remove Ms. Snow from the flight.
On the return flight to Charlotte from Frankfurt Nov. 25, the
marshal said, Ms. Snow "appeared to be mentally unstable this
entire flight as well." When the plane landed, the attendant
allegedly started screaming and attempted to bypass the passport
control officer, so Mr. Fialka said he handcuffed her and took her
to an interview room, where she kicked him five or six times.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the union
that represents American cockpit crew, couldn't immediately be
reached for comment. In a statement, American said it is aware of
the incident and the subsequent criminal complaint and is
cooperating fully with law enforcement in the investigation. It
also said it is working with its employees but declined to comment
about Ms. Snow.
Write to Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2015 16:55 ET (21:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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