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By Jim Douglas |
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September 3, 2010
- As Congressional leaders begin to return to work after summer recess,
six unions representing over 90,000 flight attendants at 37
?Passage of the
FAA Reauthorization bill, which contains several flight attendant
specific safety related items, is long overdue and must be a legislative
priority. We call on Congress to finish the work they started, work out
the differences between the two bills, and pass a comprehensive FAA
reauthorization. Short term extensions are no longer a viable option. It
is time that workplace safety and health protections for flight
attendants are finally addressed,? stated leaders from the Flight
Attendant Coalition. |
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Measures
previously included in the recent version of the
FAA Reauthorization are funding for a flight attendant fatigue
study; the inclusion of OSHA workplace safety and health protections; a
ban on smoking onboard charter flights; notification of pesticide
application on flights; a ban on cell phones while in flight; cabin air
quality provisions that would initiate development of air quality
sensors and filtration; further definition of provisions restricting
foreign control of U.S. airlines; a "Return to the Cabin" program that
will allow flight attendants an opportunity for rehabilitation after
testing positive for drug or alcohol abuse; and temperature standards
for aircraft.
The Coalition
consists of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), the
Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the Transport Workers Union
(TWU), and the United Steelworkers (USW).
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) is the world's
largest labor union organized by flight attendants for flight
attendants. AFA represents
over 50,000 flight attendants at 22 airlines, serving as a voice for
flight attendants at their workplace, in the industry, in the media
and on Capitol Hill. (See
History of the Flight Attendant)
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