Teamsters to Champion Air: "Have A Heart!"

Teamsters to Champion Air: "Have A Heart!"

Flight Attendants Bring Valentine's Day Greetings to Airports Nationwide

February 14, 2001

(Washington, D.C.) – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters today urged Champion Air to "Have a Heart! Champion flight attendants spent the morning handing out Valentines to airline passengers at airports in Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit and Minneapolis. Along with their Valentines, the Teamster flight attendants distributed leaflets and engaged in informational picketing to protest their employer's unwillingness to pay them a living wage.

"Champion Air flight attendants have been negotiating for a contract since early 1999, said Ray Benning, Director of the Teamsters Airline Division. "Champion's offers have been totally inadequate. We're hoping the company will have a heart on Valentine's Day and change its ways.

Negotiators for the 200 Teamster flight attendants are scheduled to meet with the company today, under the auspices of the National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency that supervises collective bargaining in the airline industry. If Champion's refusal to address the flight attendants' needs continues, the Teamsters will ask the NMB for a release from mediation before week's end. When the NMB grants such a release, a 30-day "cooling off period begins. Once the 30 days pass, employees are free to go on strike.

Champion's most recent proposals include a wage scale that does not keep up with the cost of living and health insurance provisions that leave employees vulnerable to exorbitant increases in premiums. The company refuses to contribute to any pension plan. Champion flight attendants have expressed a willingness to compromise, but their employer has stonewalled.

"It's frustrating and it's disappointing, said Benning. "We've spent more than two years plowing over the same ground and getting nowhere. We're hoping our presence out here today and a request for release from the NMB gets Champion's attention. Especially on Valentine's Day, hope springs eternal. But we're running out of patience.

Today's protest targeted vacationers who booked Valentine charters on Champion through Adventure Tours and MLT Vacations.

The Teamster Airline Division represents nearly 50,000 employees at 48 airlines. Teamsters work in every craft in the airline industry. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.5 million men and women throughout the United States and Canada.