A coordinated effort by the IAM Legislative Team helped turn back an amendment proposed by anti-union Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to strike language in the FAA Reauthorization Bill extending OSHA protections to Flight Attendants.
The amendment died when Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) proposed an IAM-backed motion to table Senator Paul’s anti-Flight Attendant amendment.
Sen. Harkin spoke strongly in support of Flight Attendants before offering his motion to table the Paul Amendment, which was defeated by a vote of 52-47.
The vote capped off a week of intense lobbying on behalf of Flight Attendants, including a letter from IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger urging Senators on to vote “no” on Sen. Paul’s amendment.
“The IAM’s strategy of grass roots member involvement coupled with our legislative team on Capitol Hill engaging key Senators has resulted in a victory for all Flight Attendants,” said IAM Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted last week to advance its own version of the FAA Reauthorization. The House version, crafted by the new GOP majority, would deny Flight Attendants the OSHA protections contained in the Senate version and would also overturn a National Mediation Board rule that called for union-representation elections in airline and rail industries to be determined by a majority of votes cast.
