Fourteen airline unions from the United States and seven other countries have formed a cooperative global organization to give workers a stronger voice in dealing with the world’s major airlines.
The One World of Labor Council was created this week during a two-day meeting of union officials in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Transport Workers (TWU) and sponsored by the London-based International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).
The members of the council, which also includes the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), represent workers at American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Chile-based LAN Airlines, and several other carriers that belong to the oneworld global airline alliance.
Oneworld, whose carriers employ more than 300,000 workers, is one of three main international airline alliances that have been formed by most major airlines, including those in the United States. These alliances or “partner airlines” agreements function essentially like mergers. The “partners” routinely agree to change flights and routes and to share code, terminals and advertising. Some of the partnerships allow airlines to shift labor, offshore maintenance and avoid regulation.
These airline alliances pose threats as well as opportunities for workers, said TWU Vice President John Conley, who is coordinator of the council. Workers should share in corporate gains and “should not suffer dilution” of their labor contracts, Conley told a Washington, D.C. press conference yesterday.
In a statement, TWU President James Little said:
Employers in our industry have a global agenda. It’s imperative that working people also think globally–and act globally. If we are going to protect our members and compensate for labor laws that end at national borders, unions must begin to act multilaterally
“We know that the airlines are getting together, they’re working together,” and unions need to do the same to defend workers’ rights, said Gabriel Mocho Rodriguez, civil aviation secretary of the ITF.
Union officials who could not attend the Washington, D.C., meeting participated electronically, Rodriguez said. The unions agreed to extend “all possible support” to each other to achieve fair labor contracts and “the best safety standards,” Rodriguez said.
Linda White, assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Union, told reporters the common problems currently faced by airline unions around the world include a lack of job security, deteriorating working conditions, and outsourcing and offshoring of work.
