Saving the  Airlines
The wave of pink slips that came crashing down on airline employees last year has not receded. Tens of thousands of airport ground workers and flight crewmembers remain unemployed, watching from the outside as union representatives and airline executives struggle to rebuild a crippled industry.

“Our number one goal is to preserve jobs,” said Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr. “That includes bringing workers back to good-paying, high value jobs that vanished in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

“It’s essential that airlines are not rebuilt or restructured in such a way that returning workers don’t recognize the job, the paychecks or the industry they left behind,” said Roach.

Stepping aside during the airlines’ time of greatest need, private lenders are leaving a government panel, the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB), as the sole recourse for cash- strapped carriers.

Thus far, less than $2 billion of $10 billion set aside for struggling airlines has been distributed by the ATSB. Of three voting members on the board, two are political appointees of the Bush administration, which staunchly opposed any loan assistance for airlines when the program was initially debated.

“I think most U.S. citizens would be outraged to find a government agency holding employees hostage to a political agenda,” said Roach. “The airlines are manipulating both the bailout program and the ATSB in an effort to force employee concessions.”

 

Rail Workers Say ‘Let’s Roll’
Fed up with stalled negotiations for 7,800 railroad employees at long-haul freight carriers, IAM negotiators renewed their call for a release from mediated talks, saying it’s time to get moving after 32 months of negotiations. “Not a single issue has been resolved,” said Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr. “There is no justification for additional delay.”

A move in Congress threatens to  further inhibit negotiated settlements by giving the Secretary of Transportation authority to impose forced arbitration in such disputes. “Clearly, this union’s legislative efforts are just as important as our work at the bargaining table,” said Roach.

The IAM called a meeting with U.S. rail labor unions and members of the National Mediation Board on Oct. 9-10 in Washington, D.C. to explore ways to expedite rail negotiations.