FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2020
Contact: Denise Romano at dromano@twu.org
TWU Reaches Historic Tentative Agreement with JetBlue Airways
The Transport Workers Union of America is proud to announce another historic milestone: The all-important first contract for our InFlight Crew Members (IFCs) at JetBlue Airways. This epic contract was no easy feat, as the airline industry and the United States are in the midst of a global pandemic and economic meltdown.
“Our negotiating team recognized the importance of bargaining this inaugural agreement, prioritizing our members’ long-term job security, codification of work rules, and quality of life issues into this agreement. Bringing 5,000+ Crewmembers under the protection of a trade union contract, right smack in the middle of Covid-19 is a Herculean achievement,” said TWU International President John Samuelsen.
At this time of great uncertainty in the airline industry, it is even more essential that the front-line, essential JetBlue IFCs have the work rule, job security, furlough, grievance procedures, and merger/acquisition protection that only a legally binding contract can provide.
To achieve a tentative agreement during this pandemic shows that our negotiating team was well prepared to pivot from face-to-face bargaining to online negotiations. The negotiating team recognized the importance of having a union contract for their TWU JetBlue IFCs, rather than continuing as “at-will employees” with no rights or protections in the workplace.
The IFC Negotiating Team and JetBlue management are currently reviewing the final document to prepare before being sent to IFCs for a ratification vote in the near future.
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The Transport Workers Union of America represents more than 150,000 members across the airline, railroad, transit, universities, utilities and service sectors