Judge's Order Affirms SkyWest Airlines Pilots' Right to Organize
SAN FRANCISCO, May 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On May 22, 2007, inthe U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, theSkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee filed suit against SkyWestAirlines, Inc. to prevent the carrier from interfering with SkyWest pilots'right to organize under the Railway Labor Act. The Organizing Committee isworking with the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) to gainunion representation for SkyWest pilots. "I applaud the members of the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committeefor their courage in demanding their federal rights to freely discuss andlearn more about ALPA and the benefits of union representation," said ALPAPresident Captain John Prater. "Under the rules governing union organizing,SkyWest pilots are entitled to distribute and receive information from ALPAand its supporters on exactly the same terms and conditions that they havereceived information from management and their in-house pilot committee.ALPA stands behind the Organizing Committee's desire to discuss with theircolleagues ALPA's possible role in their professional futures," he added. The same day the lawsuit was filed, the Court issued a temporaryrestraining order requiring SkyWest to allow Organizing Committee membersand their supporters to express their support for ALPA and the organizingcampaign by wearing ALPA insignia on lanyards or pins and to distributeALPA materials in non-work areas such as crew lounges and bulletin boards.The temporary restraining order also required SkyWest to provide members ofthe Organizing Committee with access to the same channels of internalcommunication to the pilot group that are now and have been available tothe internal pilots committee funded completely by management. Yesterday, May 24, 2007, the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committeefought back a challenge from SkyWest Airlines on the right of SkyWestpilots to communicate freely about the organizing campaign withoutinterference from or discrimination by the company. Despite a fullopportunity to present its case to the judge, SkyWest Airlines was unableto persuade the Court that the temporary restraining order should notremain in effect. Following the hearing, the Court issued a revised order continuing theprotections which enable SkyWest pilots to freely express their views aboutthe organizing campaign. This order will remain in effect until the hearingon the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee's request for a preliminaryinjunction. That hearing has been set for Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 9:00a.m. (PDT). More than 2,600 pilots fly for the St. George, Utah-based SkyWestAirlines, Inc., serving 19.5 million passengers in 140 cities in the U.S.and Canada. Formed in 1931, ALPA is the world's largest pilots union. As of June 1,2007, ALPA will represent more than 60,000 pilots and crewmembers at 41airlines in the U.S. and Canada.s.server=server()s.channel="News Release"s.pageName="Judge's Order Affirms SkyWest Airlines Pilots' Right to Organize"s.prop2="104"s.prop3="05-25-2007"s.prop4=""s.prop5=""/************* DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ! **************/var s_code=s.t();if(s_code)document.write(s_code);//-->SOURCE Air Line Pilots Association, International
