Teamsters chief to rally Vegas airline, school workers

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2002 | 10:58 a.m.

The national head of the Teamsters union is coming to Las Vegas Wednesday to rally America West Airlines customer service workers and Las Vegas-area school district employees who want Teamsters' representation.

James P. Hoffa, general president of the Teamsters, is scheduled to speak at the rally for employees of both America West and the Clark County School District, said Gary Mauger, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 14 in Las Vegas.

Union officials said Hoffa's address would serve as a rallying point for the two groups of employees.

"It's two separate campaigns with the Clark County School District support staff and a national campaign for America West," Mauger said.

Several hundred America West employees in Las Vegas are among an estimated 4,100 who will cast votes by telephone in a campaign that will end Nov. 8.

Voting instructions were mailed Friday to customer service representatives who work at ticket and gate counters as well as to reservation agents. America West has a reservations center in Reno.

The Teamsters bid to represent the customer service and reservation agents -- the last major groups at America West not represented by unions -- took on a higher profile Monday following the publication of advertisements in newspapers in Las Vegas and Phoenix, two of the airline's hubs.

Headlined "An appeal for fairness at America West Airlines," the advertisement was published as an open letter fo Doug Parker, chief executive officer of America West. The letter was signed by nearly 100 people, mostly social activists, Screen Actors Guild performers, politicians from Arizona and other western states, representatives of the clergy and members of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The lone Nevadan signing the letter was Bob Fulkerson, director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada in Reno.

The letter noted that America West received $110 million in government compensation after the nation's airspace was closed following the Sept. 11 attacks as well as a government-backed loan guarantee of $380 million from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board.

The ad encouraged America West to use "bailout money responsibly and not to thwart workers' rights to vote for union representation."

A spokeswoman for America West said the company would respect the results of the union vote, but that "we want our employees to be informed and armed with the facts."

America West's Patty Nowack said the ad represents "standard tactics from the union playbook."

In a letter to employees, Parker said unions cannot guarantee job security and that employees and management have worked together well since the terrorist attacks.

"While you were improving our customer service, we were successful in obtaining loan guarantees from the U.S. government that literally saved this company from bankruptcy," Parker's letter said. "Please consider what has been accomplished on behalf of our employees in this challenging economic environment before you make your final decision about unionization."

A vote by the school district's 7,500 support employees -- including custodians, bus drivers, food service workers and office personnel -- on Teamsters' representation has been delayed by a judge. The current union representing the district workers, the Education Support Employees Association, is challenging the state labor board's September ruling that the election be held.

The Nevada Local Government Employee Management Relations Board called for the vote after three days of hearings. The ESEA is seeking to reverse the order in Las Vegas District Court.

Joe Furtado, executive director of the association, said Hoffa's impending visit "means absolutely nothing."

"We are the organization representing the majority of the support employees, and we intend to continue in that role," Furtado said.

While the legal challenge makes its way through the courts, the labor board has gone ahead and set the parameters for the election. Furtado said while the ESEA has accepted the board's terms, Teamsters representatives are contesting the requirement that they show majority support from the total number of support employees.

"They want to win the right to represent the workers just by getting the majority of the people who turn out to vote," Furtado said. "That's not the same thing as having majority support, and it goes against 30 years of labor law."

A Teamsters representative could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sun reporter Emily Richmond

contributed to this story.