HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Congress should require certification for the nation’s flight attendants, declared a resolution adopted today by 35 AFL-CIO unions representing transportation workers. At its winter Executive Committee meeting, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) unanimously approved a resolution calling for legislation to correct what they termed a “great oversight” in aviation safety.
“Flight attendants are not flying waiters and waitresses – they are safety professionals whose important role has been minimized for decades,”declared TTD’s member unions in endorsing congressional action while also urging the Bush Administration to “recognize the critical safety functions fulfilled by the nation’s flight attendants…”
Saying that flight attendants are “critically important to ensuring the safety and well being of the flying public,” the resolution said, “action on flight attendant certification legislation is long overdue and Congress should act now.”
The transportation labor leaders took action today because they believe it is important to establish a standard level of training that would create a level playing field for carriers of all sizes. The policy statement said flight attendants must serve a wide range of roles – fighting in-flight fires, performing certain medical procedures including using a difibulator, and quelling in-flight violence – that on the ground would be performed by certified professionals. While many carriers are currently laying off flight attendants, the resolution said, certification would simplify and make more efficient the hiring process when carriers return to filling these positions.
For a copy of the resolution, visit www.ttd.org or call 202/628-9262. TTD represents 35 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org