NATIONAL
Urge White House to reject Norwegian Air scheme
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Mar. 12, 2014) — Multinational corporations are increasingly contracting out what used to be family-wage company jobs to staffing companies to avoid unionization and gain a competitive advantage by paying substandard wages and benefits. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the Air Line Pilots Association and other aviation unions are calling attention to an international airline’s scheme to do this by labor law shopping and registering under another nation’s “flag of convenience” to contract out their pilots and cabin crew jobs, a move that threatens the U.S. airline industry and the jobs it supports.
If NAI succeeds in labor law shopping — choosing where it does business based on an advantageous legal or regulatory environment — the company will wield an enormous unfair economic advantage over U.S. airlines, making it more difficult for U.S. airlines and their employees to compete for long‐haul international passengers’ business. The result threatens the U.S. airline industry and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports, as well as its contribution to U.S. national security and to the U.S. economy.
NAI has applied with the U.S. Department of Transportation for a Foreign Air Carrier Permit, which would allow it to fly to the United States. U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) have circulated a letter to DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx in opposition to NAI’s request for the permit. Both Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) have signed on to the letter. Cantwell, who chairs the Aviation subcommittee, will host a hearing Thursday on airline competitiveness at which Ed Wytkind of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department will be testifying and exposing this NAI scheme.
TAKE A STAND — You can help protect U.S. airline industry jobs from the Norwegian Air scheme by signing a petition and spreading the word on Twitter and Facebook.
1) Tell the Obama Administration to defend U.S. airlines and U.S. airline workers by signing the petition.
2) Post on Twitter: Tell the #Obama Administration #denyNAI‘s dangerous application to fly in the US. http://takeaction.alpa.org Defend US airlines and US #jobs!
3) Facebook: Click here to post a link to the petition on your Facebook page.
Not only is NAI’s application not in the public interest, it conflicts both with the terms of the U.S. aviation statutes and the U.S. air services agreement with the EU. Under the U.S. Code, the U.S. Department of Transportation is charged with encouraging “fair wages and working conditions” and “strengthening the competitive position of [U.S.] air carriers to at least ensure equality with foreign air carriers.” NAI’s business scheme does not allow U.S carriers equal competition, therefore the application should be rejected.
The U.S.‐EU air transport agreement makes clear that the opportunities made available under the agreement are not to be used to reduce labor standards. NAI’s business model is clearly designed to reduce labor standards. It is clear that NAI’s effort to avoid Norwegian labor laws is therefore inconsistent with of the U.S.‐EU air transport agreement.
For more information, download a flier produced by the aviation industries opposing NAI’s scheme.