Claims Company Threatening Workers Amid Contract Negotiations

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Teamsters Airline Division and Teamsters Local 284 has demanded that NetJets halt a campaign the union calls an unwarranted retaliation against their flight dispatchers for choosing union representation.

The Teamsters said in a news release that after years of union-busting tactics and anti-union rhetoric, dispatchers voted in favor of Teamster representation and the Teamsters were certified by the National Mediation Board as the union representing the dispatchers in September 2011. NetJets has now shifted its anti-worker agenda to the bargaining table, the union said. Company negotiators are demanding the right to replace human flight dispatchers with automation and software programs. The union says that human flight dispatchers are essential to the safety of the carrier's operations.

The Teamsters also claim that NetJets waged an aggressive anti-union campaign over social media. "NetJets has treated hardworking, professional flight dispatchers with contempt from the very beginning," said Capt. David Bourne, Director of the Teamsters Airline Division. "The recent threat to eliminate flight dispatcher jobs is just more of the same from this company that refuses to listen to and respect the voices of its workforce. We are supporting these men and women in their effort to protect good jobs and the safety of flight operations."

Contract negotiations between the company and the union resume on March 16. The parties remain far apart on job security, wages, insurance and benefits. The union plans to take a strike authorization vote in April if negotiations are not successfully concluded this month.

"NetJets couldn't break the will of the flight dispatchers in the union election and they won't succeed in doing it at the bargaining table either," said Paul Suffoletto, President of Teamsters Local 284 in Columbus, Ohio. "Our fight to protect flight dispatcher jobs is good for our members' families, pilots, flight attendants and passengers. We believe that NetJets' customers prefer a human dispatcher to a software program when it comes to guaranteeing the safety of their flights."

"Whether it's implementing labor-saving technology to displace dispatchers or using lower cost maintenance subcontractors, NetJets' 'race to the bottom' mentality is a threat to middle class jobs and the viability of the company itself," said Paul Alves, Teamsters Airline Division Representative. "Until the management of the company changes course, the NetJets' brand will continue to be synonymous with labor unrest."

(Source: Teamsters news release)

FMI: www.teamster.org