"OccuFLY" Protest at LAX
Flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, from over 20 different airlines are gathering at Los Angeles International Airport Monday along with concerned citizens from across the country to hold an OccuFLY protest.
The participants are protesting the recent attack on collective bargaining rights detailed in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill.
Veda Shook, the AFA's International President said in the organization's press release:
"The FAA reauthorization should be focused on addressing the pressing safety issues that will ensure that the U.S. aviation system remains the safest in the world. Instead, Congress has used this process to gratuitously attack American workers in order to satisfy corporate executives. This controversial labor provision is nothing less than an attack by the 1% against the 99%.We saw it in Wisconsin and Ohio, now we see it for airline and rail workers who are simply seeking the benefits of collective bargaining or fighting to hang on to collective bargaining rights."
House Republicans and Senate officials have proposed major changes to the Railway Labor Act, one of the nation's first labor laws, through a secret deal. Congress is hoping to require the approval of at least 50 percent of an employee group before a union representation election is held.
The RLA has not been changed without the agreement of both employer and employee representatives in nearly eight decades.
If these proposed changes are instituted, Congress may undermine a worker's choice to have union representation, as employers could have more power to cancel union representation.
I said 3 years ago that when the Republicans got the majority, this country will go to a very dark place very fast. And My fears are coming tru. I also said that people would be demomstating in the streets. I also said that if not stopped one more thing would happen. I have yet to see that and hope I don't. Labor in this country is on the ropes and is going down for the count.