Airline CEOs and their lobbyists are attempting an end run around California law, seeking to deny meal and break protections to California-based flight crews. A recent 9th Circuit Court ruling extended meal and break protections to California based flight attendants and pilots. Airlines now want to exclude them from these protections altogether. Act today! Tell the California legislature to stand up to airline CEOs and preserve meal and break protections for flight crews.
Click here to send a letter to your member of the California Assembly and Senate.
Under California law, employers are required to provide employees with ten-minute rest breaks for every four hours worked; and, thirty-minute meal periods for every five hours worked. These meal and rest requirements have been in place for over a decade and help to ensure the health and safety of workers while preventing harms associated through overwork. Every airline worker in California is entitled to meal and break periods. But airline CEOs are working to deny flight crews from these workplace requirements through a complicated budget trailer bill. The budget process is not the appropriate place to address issues relating to flight crew meal and break protections. Any legislative action that would change meal and break periods should go through the normal legislative procedure that allows for testimony from flight attendants, public comment, and open debate.
Furthermore, this exemption would strip flight crew of a fundamental right to potentially bargain over meal and break periods. The Transport Workers Union has a long history of working with airline management to jointly address concerns that could affect the industry. If airline management believes that a matter of public policy threatens the health of airlines in California or elsewhere, we expect our employers to come to us to negotiate a mutually agreeable solution.
Act today! Send a letter to your member of the California legislature telling them to stand up to airline CEOs and preserve meal and break protections for California based flight crews.