War Zone: Northwest Agent Sharon Caldwell at Detroit Airport joined thousands of agents and flight attendants nationwide in a "Day of Action" against passenger rage.
Barbarians at the Gates
Passenger Rage On the Rise
"I've had somebody throw their briefcase at me," United Customer Service Agent and Local 1487 member Robin Eulo told the Associated Press.
In Detroit, holiday decorations on countertops became weapons. "The passengers were picking them up and throwing them at agents," said Northwest Agent and District 143 Vice President Sharon Caldwell. Fiona Weir, a flight attendant on an international trip, required eighteen stitches when a passenger broke a vodka bottle on her head and raked her body with the jagged glass.
"Out-of-control passengers are getting away with everything short of murder," said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. "On the ground and in the air, we need laws that hold passengers to a more civilized, more lawful standard."
The IAM and the International Transport Workers Federation want airlines, airports and government authorities to take action. "Our flight attendants are at risk because legal loopholes can allow criminal behavior by passengers on international flights to go unpunished," said Transportation Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "We want international agreements that close those loopholes."
Within the U.S., in-flight confrontations are a federal offense, but laws against assaults on ground-based airline workers are more lax, which lets local authorities take incidents less seriously. "Laws to protect airline workers should not change the moment a passenger boards or leaves an aircraft," says Carla Winkler, IAM coordinator for the campaign to end passenger rage.
Breaking the Bottleneck In
Airline Negotiations
Airline workers work under pressure. Now, in their
fight to achieve the contracts they deserve, they face even more: the White
House. President Bush has no qualms about interfering in their contract
negotiations.
Recent agreements for pilots
at United and Delta and record-setting wages for aircraft mechanics at
American Airlines came only after years of delays at the bargaining table.
At United Airlines, management is using every trick in the book to stall
agreements for 44,000 IAM members. United is using court injunctions and
restraining orders against employees and blaming them for the company's
abysmal performance.
"It's clear that airlines see a financial advantage to lengthy negotiations,
but the latest tactic by airline management is more sinister," said IAM
Transportation General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "By encouraging
rival associations to conduct organizing raids during negotiations, airlines
help destroy solidarity just when members need it most. Plus, it provides
them with an excuse to balk at the bargaining table if the raiders gain
a toehold.
"Airlines will prolong negotiations as long as the law allows," said Roach,
"But the determination and solidarity of all AFL-CIO affiliated union members
is a force no airline can ignore."
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