After years of grumbling, US airlines have begun their first concerted attempts to revise the antiquated rules that govern how they must handle labour relations. These stem back to the Railway Labour Act of 1926 that deliberately created a lengthy process where talks are strung out in the hope of reaching a compromise while service continues.
The airlines say the lengthy negotiations are burdensome and that when threatened with strikes during this period, some are forced to accept contracts that hurt them financially. The period preceding actual industrial action gains wide publicity that can deter passengers from making bookings.
One measure that may be introduced in the Senate would eliminate the long cooling-off periods and require disputes to be referred to arbitration panels, which would have 30 days to select either the proposal of the union or the company. The decision could be appealed only in limited cases and would be binding on both parties. The arbitrators would be required to consider the financial condition of the airline and its need for a "reasonable profit". That could limit so-called pattern bargaining in which unions demand similar gains at each carrier based on the most lucrative recent contract elsewhere.
Duane Woerth head of the Air Line Pilots Association, calls the lobbying an outrage and an attempt to take advantage of the weakened condition of unions. He says it calls into question the good faith of airline managers who now seek consensus on concessions. Diplomatically, American Airlines chairman Don Carty says that labour-law reform "is interesting and worth study but changes now wouldn't help us in this crisis".
The lobbying is organised by former representative Susan Molinari though CESTA, Communities for Economic Strength Through Aviation. Molinari has support from several hundred airport directors and tourism bureaus and has recruited former transportation secretaries James Burnley and Neil Goldschmidt, former senators Slade Gorton and Charles Robb, and several former representatives to lobby for the new group.
DAVID FIELD WASHINGTON
Source: Airline Business
