Some American Airlines Flight Attendants are Asking the DOJ to Investigate "Employee Price-Fixing"

WASHINGTON - July 5, 2015 - PRLog -- At the request of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they're going to be investigating American, Delta, Southwest and United for collusion and price-fixing. The investigation into the airlines came about after comments regarding "capacity discipline" were repeatedly mentioned at the 2015 International Air Transport Association's (IATA) 71st Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Miami, Florida last June.

But just as American Airlines comes under scrutiny for what some might consider anti-competitive practices, a group of American's flight attendants are also asking the DOJ to investigate the airline for what they call "employee price-fixing" — setting fixed costs on a unionized workgroup by denying members the right to negotiate and ratify their collective bargaining agreement.

The issue stems from the fact that the flight attendant's union president was secretly meeting with the executives of US Airways at a time when American's CEO and US Airways' CEO were having merger talks. Unbeknownst to the flight attendants, the meeting was hosted by the union president's cousin, who at the time was the treasurer of US Airways and is now the treasurer of American Airlines Group.

"To the detriment of the flight attendant workgroup," according to APFA member Rock Salomon, "this meeting led to the forfeiture of the profit sharing plan that was awarded flight attendants in bankruptcy. This meeting also stripped members of their right to negotiate a fair and equitable contract in a post-bankruptcy environment by placing a cap on the value of the new contract — one predetermined by management. This process also denied members the right to ratify their own contract in the wake of 'historical profits.'"

Salomon further added that "Some flight attendants feel that their rights have been violated because their union made an agreement with a non-employer in direct violation of their union constitution. These actions also violated their rights under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) because their union hogtied members at the bargaining table by denying members the ability to negotiate because the terms had already been determined in secret beforehand."

While flight attendants were allowed to vote on the contract, APFA Member Ruth Taylor noted that, "The terms reached between APFA and US Airways (a non-employer) dictated that a NO vote would result in $82 million less in contract value because the company and union were promising to take monies off the table in an effort to intimidate members into voting YES. When that failed, management then threw in extra money simply to appease the workgroup before members realized what was actually transpiring."

A group of flight attendants have decided that it may be best to seek legal counsel before their window for challenge expires in December. With the DOJ's concerns over antitrust, the idea that American could gain an unfair advantage over the competition by giving the carrier the lowest flight attendant costs for 24,000 flight attendants should raise more than a few eyebrows.

As APFA member Samuel Morales put it, "What's the point in voting if NO means YES?"

To Learn more please visit: https://callingonthedoj.wordpress.com/