Passenger Service Workers Demand Company End Delay Tactics

(NATIONWIDE) – Passenger service workers at American Airlines who are members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) – International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Association held informational pickets yesterday at airports in Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; Philadelphia; Phoenix; St. Louis; Salt Lake City, and San Francisco.

“We’re fanning out across the country to let the flying public know that American Airlines needs to stop playing games and bargain a fair contract for these workers,” said Kim Barboro, Teamsters Airline Division National Coordinator for Customer Service and Flight Attendants and Co-Chair of the CWA-IBT Passenger Service Association. “We’ve been in bargaining for nearly a year, and the employer still hasn’t delivered actionable proposals that will improve job security, safety, wages, or working conditions. This airline completed nearly half a million flights last quarter, and it wouldn’t have been able to do that without these workers. It’s time to pay up.”

The association represents the reservations agents, gate and ticket counter agents, customer assistance agents, and club and travel center agents at American Airlines. Many of the workers have not received a raise in nearly four years, despite American Airlines earning $1.3 billion in profits last quarter.

“These are the essential service workers who unfortunately have had to face the brunt of the increase in unruly passenger behavior that we’ve all seen in the media ever since the onset of the pandemic,” said Joe Ferreira, Teamsters Airline Division Director. “They deserve a contract that reflects not only how profitable this industry has become, but how their jobs have changed. This company loves to thank its workers on social media, it needs to start thanking them at the bargaining table. Enough is enough.”

“We are the lowest paid passenger service and reservation workers among our peers in the airline industry,” said Lynn Koch, a Teamsters Local 104 member who serves on the CWA-IBT Passenger Service Association Bargaining Committee. “It is far past time we are paid wages that reflect our status as the world’s largest airline.”

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org to learn more. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

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