World Airways Flight Attendants Seek Strike Release from NMB

World Airways Flight Attendants Seek Strike Release from NMB

Members Reject Concessionary Agreement, Urge Government Release

December 27, 2002

(Washington, D.C.) – Teamster flight attendants at World Airways (NASDAQ: WLDAC) today voted to reject the company’s latest concessionary contract offer and authorized the union to seek a strike release from the National Mediation Board (NMB). The nearly 500 flight attendants, who have been seeking a fair contract for more than 30 months, voted to strike by an 280–39 margin.

“The company’s offers have not been adequate,” said Margo Brady, an 35-year Teamster and member of the Negotiating Committee. “The company is not moving forward and we are not giving any more concessions. It is our right to strike and we are urging the NMB to let us do so.”

The flight attendants at World Airways negotiated their first contract with the Teamsters Union in 1967, and now have the leading contract in the charter industry. The contract became amendable on July 1, 2000, leaving flight attendants without wage increases since that date. Both parties have been in mediation since March 15, 2002. All of the World Airways flight attendants are members of Teamsters Local 210 in New York, New York.

Among the many concessions the company continues to seek, flight attendants would be forced to:

• Fly 19 hours on any given day, an increase from the current maximum of 16 hours;
• Deadhead at 75 percent of pay, reduced from 100 percent, reducing pay from 3 to 11 percent; and,
• Pay health care premiums, resulting in a net pay reduction of 3 to 7 percent.

With a wage offer of 4 percent in the first year and 3 percent in the subsequent three years, flight attendants would be subjected to a real-wage reduction resulting from work rule

“We are at the end of the bargaining process,” said Victoria Gray, International Representative for the Teamsters Airline Division. “Our members are unable to obtain a fair contract at the negotiating table. It is time for the government to allow our members to strike.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents nearly 50,000 hard working men and women in the airline industry and more than 1.4 million workers throughout the United States and Canada.