Council 12 - Los Angeles

Voluntary Furlough Bid | CARES Act (Jul 29, 2020)

Voluntary Furlough Bid Closing Deadline Extended to August 10, 2020 at 8:00 AM Central Time

We write to share an important update resulting from our collective efforts to persuade Congress to act to pass a clean extension of the CARES Act. This legislation could include an extension to the Payroll Support Program.   As our communications over the past several weeks have indicated, our collective advocacy has resulted in an increasingly strong campaign for the extension of the Payroll Support Program.  Over the past several weeks, we have reached out to United management to request their support and assistance for these efforts by asking for revisions to the reduction in force timelines.

Because it is likely that Congress will act on this legislation before their summer recess on August 7, 2020, we have strongly advocated for a delay to the award of voluntary furloughs until we have confirmation that Congress will act to support the Payroll Support Program.

We are pleased to report that United management has agreed to delay the closing of the window to submit a bid for voluntary furlough until August 10 at 8:00 AM Central Time.  This is an exciting development that emphasizes the importance of our collective efforts.

And, these efforts must continue.  We are strongly encouraging everyone to call their elected representatives to express your viewpoint and to request their support for a clean extension to the CARES Act and the Payroll Support Program.  Your efforts are vital to this effort and you are making a difference with each telephone.  Thank you for all you are doing and, keep up the good work!

View the updated timeline for the reduction in force activities on the COVID-19 Recovery page (https://unitedafa.org/covid-19-recovery/) on our MEC website (www.unitedafa.org.)

 

Tell the Senate: Extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program 

Keep up the pressure!  Phone calls are extremely important and effective. Call both your Senators daily to make sure they support an extension of the Payroll Support Program through March 31, 2021. Make your calls today and every day!  Voicemails are not enough!  Keep calling until you reach a person in your Senator’s office and urge your family and friends to call. Our jobs and thousands of aviation jobs are at risk!

Senate - 1-888-848-4824

(You will need to call this number twice to be patched through to each of your Senators.)

Sample Script:

"Hello, I am a constituent calling to ask my Senator to help save my job as an essential worker. Take legislative action in July to extend CARES Act Payroll Support Program for aviation workers to avoid massive job loss on October 1, 2020. Keep us connected to our jobs, paychecks, & healthcare".

Guam, Council 65 Members contact your Representative, Michael San Nicolas

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/guam-extend-the-cares-act.

Over the last four months, Flight Attendants and our industry have faced an unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our fast mobilization in March led to passage of the CARES Act, including the aviation Payroll Support Program (PSP) to stave off involuntary furloughs and “for the continuation of employee wages, salaries, and benefits” affecting 2.1 million workers across aviation. This critical legislation has kept our industry intact, Flight Attendants and other workers connected to our healthcare, and continued service to all our communities.

The virus continues to be a threat to our health, jobs, and industry. Domestic demand for air travel is not expected to return until well into 2021. Passenger travel is still only about 20% of what it was last year, while international travel is currently restricted and predicted to take years to recover. Without an extension of the Payroll Support Program there will be hundreds of thousands of aviation workers who lose our jobs on October 1.

We are calling for a six-month aviation Payroll Support Program extension through March 31, 2021, to protect our jobs, extend the restrictions on stock buybacks, dividends, and executive compensation, and maintain service to all our communities. All of aviation labor is standing together to call on Congress to pass a clean extension of the Payroll Support Program before the summer recess at the end of July. Waiting until September for this action is too late because October planning will be done and hundreds of thousands of workers will already be told they are out of work. We need urgent action on this now.

Some in management are attempting to use the threat of job loss to call for concessions from us. But the problem is demand, not labor costs. There is no amount of concessions that will save jobs. The only way to save jobs is to lock in protections against involuntary furloughs with an extension of the CARES Act Payroll Support Program. COVID-19 relief has been extended in other sectors and more relief is necessary to stave off a depression with millions of evictions and other financial devastation. Extending our aviation relief is an important part of the package Congress must get in place before the end of July to avoid massive layoffs and much greater harm to tens of millions of people across the country.

Tell Congress NOW to keep our industry intact to ensure aviation can help fight the virus and contribute to economic recovery as opposed to adding to an economic depression.

 

Read Aviation Unions Letter to Congress.

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