BY DEBORAH LIATOS
PHILADELPHIA - Members of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) voted down a concession contract proposal by USAir that included $53 million in concessions for the 8,300 flight attendants. The package was rejected by 55 percent of the workers who voted.
AFA officials, who came to agreement on the concessions with USAir in May, had recommended that the membership ratify the deal.
The $53 million concession package is part of a plan by USAir to cut costs by $1 billion annually, $485 million of which the company hopes to take from workers' wages and benefits.
USAir is also demanding cuts of $190 million a year from the pilots, who are organized by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and $132 million a year from nearly 15,000 workers represented by the International Association of Machinists Union (IAM). The company also says it wants to cut $110 million a year in the wages of non-union employees.
Officials of ALPA and the IAM have also reached agreement with USAir on concession contracts for these unions and are recommending acceptance to their membership.
The flight attendants union was the first major union to put the proposed concessions to a vote. The membership of the Transport Workers Union, which organizes dispatchers, has already ratified a concession package. Members of the IAM and ALPA have yet to vote on their proposed agreements.
The agreements are subject to Board approval, union membership ratification, and shareholder approval.
In return for the concessions, USAir says workers will receive $400 million in preferred stock, a 20 percent stake in USAir's common stock, profit sharing, and four seats on USAir's 16-member board.
Discussions and debates among USAir workers are constant on the concession proposals. The vote by USAir flight attendants reflects dissatisfaction in the company's take back demands as well as skepticism that the promised "returns" will soften the blow of the concessions.
Deborah Liatos is a member of IAM Local 1776 at USAir in Philadelphia.