Concessions and Furloughs – NT Webinar Rebroadcast
TWU LOCAL 556 NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
Concessions and Furloughs – NT Webinar Rebroadcast
Dear Member:
Your Negotiating Team held a webinar on Friday, October 9, to address the topics of concessions and furloughs, and to educate Members on our rights as a Union. A replay of the webinar is now available here, and we strongly encourage you to watch or listen. Members of the Negotiating Team were joined by labor attorney Lucas Middlebrook and airline economist Dan Akins to discuss key issues and answer questions from Flight Attendants. The discussion included:
- Concessions vs. Furloughs – The proposal presented to the Union by the Company contains a clause that says if Members vote to take a 10 percent cut, there will not be furloughs “unless there are unforeseen or uncontrollable circumstances.” Labor attorney Lucas Middlebrook noted that the loophole in the Company’s language is “a hole big enough to drive a truck through.” This makes reversing this promise an option for Southwest Airlines.
- The real information on Southwest Airlines’ economic position, executive compensation, and what a “10 percent cut” would actually mean for Flight Attendants flying the line. Airline economist Dan Akins talked about stock buy-backs, why Southwest Airlines did not take $2.8 billion in government loans that it could have accepted to pay for salaries, and how big profits are generated on the backs of Union Members.
- Concessions aren’t the answer for Members at any point in their career. Executive Board Member at Large Chantil Huskey, a more junior Flight Attendant, made an impassioned plea for no concessions. She knows concessions aren’t the answer based on her experience with other airlines and through her husband, who is a pilot recently furloughed from another carrier. Concessions don’t save jobs, and they hinder your pay and benefits for many years to come.
- The Company is not being transparent. Southwest Airlines has enough cash on hand to operate for another two years without concessions. Meanwhile, the Company is misleading Members with a false “choice,” saying that unless Members vote for pay cuts, it’s the unions that are choosing to send WARN Act notices (furlough notices) to our fellow Flight Attendants. This is a notion that is both inaccurate and offensive. While mismanagement and overstaffing, even prior to the pandemic, have led us here, the Union has offered up creative ideas to save money that doesn’t involve pay cuts. Communications directly from the Company to you, the Members, have misconstrued the negotiation and review process for any proposal that is put before the Membership for a vote.
After our webinar aired, Southwest Airlines Labor Representative Brendan Conlon sent the Membership a communication through Inflight Info on the Go, asking you to vote for a 10 percent pay cut. Through this, the Company is demanding you forfeit an important part of your rights under the Railway Labor Act, to a fair and equitable bargaining process. Don’t let that fool you.
Get educated on how the process for voting actually works, and why concessions don’t, by watching a replay of the webinar.
As TWU Local 556 continues to advocate on behalf of Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants, securing an extension of the CARES Act is incredibly important. This would help avoid furloughs through March 2021. It is strongly recommended that all Members reach out to their legislators to make our voices heard. If you have already reached out, please do so again, and ask your family and friends to do the same. Click here to email your representative.
In Solidarity,