Tue. May 24, 2016
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| IAM members came out in droves to rally against Norwegian Air International’s job-killing scheme in front of the White House on May 12, 2016. |
U.S. airline workers have another friend in their fight to prevent a low-cost foreign carrier from unleashing a wave of a downward pressure on industry wages.
IAM-endorsed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is urging the Obama administration and the Department of Transportation to reject Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) request to fly routes to and from the United States.
“Workers in the U.S. airline industry deserve rules of the road that support a strong workforce with high labor standards — not attempts by airlines to flout labor standards and outsource good-paying jobs,” said Clinton labor director Nikki Budzinksi. “That’s why our Open Skies Agreement with Europe explicitly calls for the maintenance of high labor standards to guide the parties in its implementation. Hillary Clinton urges the Obama Administration against moving forward with final approval of Norwegian Air International’s application. Too many questions have been raised about NAI’s practices and plans.”
NAI, which is based in Ireland to avoid stricter Norwegian labor laws, wants to use Bangkok-based flight crews employed through a Singaporean hiring agency to fly U.S. routes.
READ: How a Norwegian Airline Could Steal Your Job
The IAM supports a bipartisan bill in Congress that would prevent NAI from gaining an unfair competitive advantage by beating down U.S. workers’ rights, wages and benefits. U.S. Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Rick Larsen (D-WA) have sponsored H.R. 5090, which will reverse the DOT’s ill-conceived decision to potentially grant NAI access to U.S. skies.