HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — At a time of heightened security risks throughout the transportation system, the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), today stood up for the health, safety, and core worker rights of airline employees. Specifically, they condemned an industry effort to carve out a dangerous loophole in air cargo security, spoke out against a new government regulation unfairly threatening the basic rights and livelihoods of workers, and urged certification for flight attendants.
TTD leaders expressed outrage that, at the behest of industry lobbyists, lawmakers included in the just completed FY 2003 omnibus appropriations bill a provision to delay implementation of a congressionally mandated requirement that all airlines, including cargo operators, strengthen cockpit doors. “Congress undermined the safety and security of the American public and aviation workers when it jammed this corporate giveaway into an appropriations bill,” the statement said, noting that federal law and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policy clearly mandate one consistent level of security for cargo and passenger operations.
“A cargo aircraft can be just as formidable a weapon as a passenger aircraft,” TTD member unions said, arguing that flight deck security enhancements should not be limited based on the mission or the size of the aircraft. “Just because one segment of the industry does not want to spend the money to improve security doesn’t mean we should lower the bar on protecting the safety of workers and of the public at large,” said TTD President Sonny Hall, adding that “in the darkness of the night aviation safety has suffered because special interests got their way.”
TTD decried the recent action by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to unilaterally determine whether a person poses a security threat and thus deny or revoke the government certification needed to hold his or her job. This would affect pilots, mechanics, flight instructors, and others in the aviation industry.
“This latest government action, combined with the criminal history check requirements imposed immediately following 9/11, shines a spotlight on a troubling trend within our government that is threatening the livelihoods of aviation workers while ignoring standards of fairness and due process enjoyed by all Americans,” the transportation labor leaders declared.
The rule provides no objective standards that must be used in determining which workers pose security threats and at the same time denies employees in question an “impartial review” of a decision. Moreover, it does not require that the worker be informed of the specific reasons – or even be shown the evidence – behind a security threat finding.
“What the TSA is trying to do violates the basic principles on which this country was founded,” said TTD President Sonny Hall. “Taking away someone’s job and economic security without even telling them why or giving them an honest chance to explain themselves is inexcusable.”
For a copy of the resolutions, visit www.ttd.org
TTD represents 35 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org