Flight attendants, ground workers and mechanics with American Airlines and American Eagle were picketing outside Terminal D at DFW International Airport Tuesday afternoon.
There was also support for flight attendants from Southwest Airlines.
About 200 protesters were walking up and down the sidewalk, carrying signs and chanting "Hey hey, ho, ho, corporate greed has got to go."
Many are longtime employees of American Airlines who said they have devoted their lives to a corporation that does not play fair.
Flight attendant Leslie Mayo said she has worked for the airline for 25 years. She has gone without a raise since 2001 and made other concessions to help keep the airline afloat. But she calls AMR's restructuring plan "outrageous." Mayo said the proposal for flight attendants will cut her contract across the board--in terms of pay, health care and pensions.
AMR's restructuring plan calls for laying off 13,000 workers, terminating pension plans and closing its Alliance Fort Worth maintenance base. Fort Worth based AMR presented the plan to union representatives February 1.
Retired crew chief Dave Walter said he spent 36 years of his life working for American Airlines only to be faced now with losing his pension and his health care. He said social security alone is not enough to pay the bills. He said he is in the picket line "fighting for his life."
The ground transport workers and mechanics told WFAA they believe American Airlines is ready to cut their jobs in order to outsource them, instead of saving money.
As Mayo told WFAA, it is time for management to make the same sacrifices labor has for the last ten years.
American Airlines spokesperson Bruce Hicks issued this statement when asked for a response to the protest:
"Restructuring the company is a difficult but necessary process. Every employee group-unionized, independent, support staff and management will be affected. We are meeting with reps from each union to negotiate the changes needed to make us successful, and are focused on reaching consensual agreement over the next few weeks with the goal of exiting bankruptcy as a growing, profitable company that preserves tens of thousands of jobs."
The protest continued until 2 p.m.
E-mail cvega@wfaa.com
