FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JOINT STATEMENT OF COMAIR AND ALPA
Comair officials and ALPA pilots reach tentative
contract accord; Pilots’ ratification vote to determine
outcome of strike
Washington, D.C., June 14, 2001 – Comair
officials and leaders of the Comair pilots’ union, the
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), today announced a
tentative contract agreement that, pending an expedited
ratification vote among the Comair pilots, could bring
an end to their labor strike, now in its 81st day. The
agreement came in the last of a three-day negotiating
session overseen by the National Mediation Board and
prompted by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y.
Mineta, who had brought the parties together and
consulted with them in his Washington, D.C. office June
8.
“Our negotiating committee and elected leaders
endorse this agreement, recommending that our members
adopt it because we believe it satisfies the pilots’
fundamental requirements,” said Captain J.C. Lawson,
chairman of the ALPA unit at Comair.
“This is good news for our customers, the communities
we serve and our employees,” said Comair president Randy
Rademacher. “We saw this latest negotiating session as
an opportunity to bridge the remaining gap between the
company and its pilots, and we’re very pleased to have
arrived at terms that the union representatives could
embrace.”
The Comair pilots’ ratification process will involve
an expedited schedule of informational meetings followed
by a telephone ballot. “Appropriately, from the
beginning of this bargaining process, our pilots have
had the final say regarding their contract requirements.
As their representatives, we’re relying on their
judgment to make the right decision on this tentative
agreement,” Lawson said.
“We encourage every Comair pilot to attend one of
these road shows, as this tentative agreement differs
substantially from the other settlement proposals on
which they’ve voted previously,” Lawson continued. “The
union representatives’ endorsement of this tentative
agreement is indicative of these differences.”
Looking ahead to a possible resolution of the strike,
Rademacher stated, “We’re eager to redirect all of our
energies toward our customers, and rebuilding our
relationship with them.” Details of plans for
reinstatement of operations will be announced by the
company following the pilots’ ratification vote.
The company and union representatives jointly thanked
Secretary Mineta, National Mediation Board Member Maggie
Jacobsen and Senior Mediator Patricia Sims, and local
community, business and political leaders for their
roles in facilitating this tentative agreement.
The parties have already begun putting together joint
teams working on ways to facilitate the return to
operations and the healing process among the employees.
For Current Comair Information Click on the following
Links:
Comair has temporarily suspended its operations due
to a work stoppage called by the Air Line Pilots
Association (ALPA). We sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience to our customers and the communities we so
proudly serve.
Until a contract is ratified by its pilots, Comair
has implemented a 60-day cancellation policy. All Comair
flights through
are canceled.
We are working diligently to re-accommodate our
valued customers and give customers more time to make
informed choices about their travel plans.
Additional information is available by calling
1-800-354-9822 or by visiting any one of the sites
listed on this site.
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