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ALPA Condemns Midwestern Union-Busting Efforts

Dépèche transmise le 24 février 2011 par Business Wire

ALPA Condemns Midwestern Union-Busting Efforts

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) President Capt. Lee Moak issued the following statement today in response to recent union-busting campaigns by several Midwestern state legislatures:

“As we have seen too often in our own industry, pay, benefits, and work rules can change, and not always for the better. But we firmly believe that any changes in employment deserve to be negotiated directly with an employer, not arbitrarily imposed by government or the courts.”

“The 53,000 members of the Air Line Pilots Association, International, stand together with the public sector workers of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio and anywhere collective bargaining rights are threatened. The ability to join as a group to negotiate working conditions with an employer is a fundamental tenet of a free democracy.

“Teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, and other public employees are the bedrock of our society. They deserve our respect and recognition for the essential work they do. Like all workers, they also deserve the right to organize their members and bargain on their behalf.

“Many of the basic work conditions every American takes for granted, including retirement plans, employer-sponsored health care, the five-day work week and paid holidays came as a direct result of advances made by organized labor. Regardless of whether they belong to a union, every working American enjoys benefits won through collective bargaining. The current anti-labor backlash perpetuated by some cynical politicians ignores our history and cheapens the collaboration between labor and management that has created the most prosperous, best-educated workforce in the world.

“As we have seen too often in our own industry, pay, benefits, and work rules can change, and not always for the better. But we firmly believe that any changes in employment deserve to be negotiated directly with an employer, not arbitrarily imposed by government or the courts.

“We urge all ALPA members to support their union colleagues and take a stand with them for the American principles of fairness, equity, and justice.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing nearly 53,000 pilots at 38 airlines in the United States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.