Government Affairs Report: September 2004
Author: Debbie Golombek, UAL MEC Government Affairs Committee Chair
Inside this Report |
PENSION PROTECTION INITIATIVE
The pension crisis facing United Airlines is a very serious concern for all active and retired United Airlines employees, as well as several prominent Members of Congress. Our good friends, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) are coordinating a Congressional campaign asking their Senate and House colleagues to join them in urging United Airlines to maintain their pension plans. On September 10, they began circulating a letter addressed to United CEO, Glenn Tilton and asking for their colleagues to sign on to these letters.
The United AFA Government Affairs Committee immediately went into action and has been aggressively calling, e-mailing and faxing Members of Congress asking for support on these letters. This campaign is in addition to the E-Activist campaign we initiated in early September, asking United AFA-CWA members to e-mail their Members of Congress about the pension issue. AFA is working with IAM, ALPA and the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO to gather signatures on the Kennedy and Miller/Schakowsky letters.
The deadline for signatures on these letters was extended when it was reported that United would take another 90 days before they decide whether to terminate the pension plans. The Senate and House letters are now scheduled to be sent on Friday, September 24, 2004. In my opinion, they may be waiting to see who wins the presidential election to see if they would be dealing with a pro-worker or pro-business administration.
The pension situation at United could impose a significant burden on the Pension Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). According to the PBGC, the federal corporation which was created under the employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), United’s pension plans are currently underfunded by about $8.3 billion. The PBGC issued a press statement saying that it will ask Congress for reforms to help ensure that corporations meet their pension obligations.
The Center on Federal Financial Institutions (COFFI) recently released a study on the PBGC which reported that the PBGC could exhaust its cash and investments by 2020, according to their projections. COFFI is a non-partisan, non-ideological, non-profit public policy institution focused on the federal government’s direct and guaranteed lending and insurance activities.
AFA continues to work closely with the IAM and ALPA, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and Senator Kennedy’s staff on developing a concise plan to help address the pension termination crisis in the airline industry.
THE 9-11 COMMISSION
In November 2002 the US Congress established by law the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission. This independent, bipartisan panel was directed to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks, including those relating to commercial aviation, identify lessons learned and provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism. The Commission was made up of five Republicans and five Democrats chosen by our elected leaders in Congress. The families of 9/11 should be thanked, for their persistence and dedication in urging the Administration and Congress to create the Commission. The Commission’s final report was released in August.
In addition to the full report, the staff of the Commission also prepared a number of detailed side reports on specific areas of concern. The side report on aviation security was completed just days before the commission disbanded and submitted to the White House. For some unknown reason the White House held up the release of this report.
When AFA learned that this report was being held up, we immediately activated an E-Activist Campaign to the White House requesting the report to be released.
The full report is available on-line or in most bookstores.
9/11 Commission Aviation Security Recommendations
The staff report was finally released the week of Labor Day and AFA was pleased to have our suggested inclusion of Flight Attendant security training in the report. The report specifically calls on the need for updated, meaningful Flight Attendant security training and suggests that if the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not take action on providing such training that jurisdiction for the training be transferred over to the FBI under the U.S. Department of Justice.
** Remember, that TSA has developed a voluntary, advanced Flight Attendant security training program.
The 9/11 Commission report has provoked a good deal of attention on Capitol Hill and a number of Congressional Committees are examining the Commission’s recommendations.
On September 15, the House Aviation Subcommittee introduced legislation to further protect the U.S. aviation system, and included a number of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Language was included in this bill which directs the TSA and FAA to study the viability of providing methods, including wireless, hands-free communication devices to enable Flight Attendants to discreetly notify the cockpit of a security breech or safety issue in the cabin.
AFA has also been having discussions with an informal group of pilots and federal air marshals to try to address, through legislation, many of the security loopholes which still remain. This informal coalition has been working with the staffs of Senators Jim Bunning (R-KY) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA). The goal is to introduce language as an amendment to any 9/11 Commission recommendation legislation that may come before the U.S. Senate.
VOTER REGISTRATION
The rules for registering are different for every state so please have Flight Attendants check with their local elections board if they have any questions which you cannot answer. We want to make sure that all flight attendants are properly registered. Please advise Flight attendants to read and follow the registration instructions carefully and to provide the necessary identification information.
Flight Attendants who are registering by mail should be reminded to look for their voter registration card in the mail. If it does not arrive within 2-3 weeks after mailing in their registration they should check with their local elections board.
A letter to all AFA-CWA members is scheduled to be mailed the week of September 20, 2004, reminding Flight Attendants to register to vote.
Absentee Ballots
With voter registration deadlines coming to a close in many states our emphasis now has been on encouraging flight attendants to vote by absentee ballot. I have assembled and distributed a comprehensive packet of materials to the Local Council Government Affairs Committee for their absentee ballot drives. This packet includes additional voter registration materials, absentee ballot applications from those states where they were available on-line, a generic request form for an application for an absentee ballot and address lists where the applications/request forms must be mailed.
Unlike voter registration, where a national mail-in form is available, absentee ballots are distributed by the local elections board and vary by state and county. For example, New Jersey has an application form which is accepted by all counties with-in New Jersey, whereas in Illinois , there I no one application for the state but the City of Chicago and Cook County have their own individual applications. This also holds true for Florida. Miami-Dade County has an application form available on-line.
Portable Absentee Ballot Information Folder
I have assembled personal absentee ballot information folder for most of the Government Affairs Committee members to carry with them while they are flying. The folder contains generic request forms for an application for an absentee ballot and he addresses (by state) where these requests should be sent. The “generic” request for an application for an absentee ballot can only be used by Flight attendants with an address within the United States.
If you would like a folder (or additional folders) , please let me know.
Voting 2004
The Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress in 2002, requires that:
- states offer provisional ballots – voters have the right to a provisional ballot at the polling place if they believe they are registered but their names do not appear on voter registration rolls
- verify the identity of first time voters who register by mail
- post voting information at the polling places
- have an administrative complaint procedure in place to address problems at the polls
