Suit Stemmed From Republic Airlines' Purchase Of Midwest
Routes
The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a case
involving the integration of seniority lists of former Midwest
Airlines flight attendants and those of the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). The IBT represents flight
attendants of regional carriers Chautauqua Airlines, Republic
Airlines and Shuttle America, all wholly owned subsidiaries of
Republic Airways Holdings.
The appeals court overturned a decision by a federal district
court, which had agreed that the IBT was not required to integrate
the Midwest flight attendants into their seniority list, which
contains flight attendants of Republic’s regional carriers,
when Midwest routes were acquired by Republic Airways Holdings in
2009. Federal law requires airlines to integrate employee seniority
lists when two carriers merge. The issue at dispute centered on the
fact that Republic did not merge with Midwest and shortly after the
transaction Midwest was shut down.
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) called the ruling
a major legal victory affirming AFA's position that the
McCaskill-Bond guarantee of fair and equitable seniority protection
applies for all those affected by airline mergers.
"This is an enormous victory for flight attendants everywhere,"
said AFA International President Veda Shook. "We successfully
defended flight attendant seniority across the industry. In cases
where flight attendants are not represented by AFA, we have ...
successfully lobbied for seniority protection under the law. The
court has confirmed that this law will protect a Flight Attendants'
right to a fair and equitable process for seniority
integration."
In 2007, Congress passed, the McCaskill-Bond Amendment, which
protects an FA's seniority in the event of a merger at their
airline. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that
McCaskill-Bond should have applied when Republic Airlines purchased
Midwest Airlines. AFA held that Midwest flight attendants are
entitled to fair and equitable seniority integration at
Republic.
"This is a victory for the hundreds of former Midwest flight
attendants whose years of dedicated service will now be honored,"
Shook said. "flight attendants at merged carriers now have some
career protections regardless of union representation."
For its part, Republic Vice President of Labor Relations Ron
Henson said that the airline was "a party to this action only
because we are the employer.”
Because there was no merger or consolidation, the IBT took the
position that it was not obligated to negotiate on seniority
integration. Former Midwest flight attendants filed suit in
district court to force integration. The district court ruled in
favor of the IBT, after which the case was appealed. The appellate
court has reversed that decision. It remains unclear whether the
IBT will seek to appeal that decision.
“We have always been willing to participate in integration
of Midwest and Republic flight attendant seniority," Henson said.
"In fact, Republic actively supported and participated in seniority
integration with other former Midwest and Republic employee groups
– including pilots, customer service agents and mechanics.
This was and is a dispute between the two unions as to whether
seniority integration, using the statutory standard of 'fair and
equitable' integration, was required by law."
Henson also pointed out that since Republic was willing to
accept the court’s decision deciding the issue, whether it
was in favor of IBT or the former Midwest flight attendants, the
Company made no arguments to the court supporting either
position.