Customer service employees voting on union

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 | 11:21 a.m.

Customer service representatives of America West Airlines, including about 375 based in Las Vegas, have begun voting on union representation.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters in June assisted in qualifying enough signatures for a representation vote at about 50 stations and three call centers the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline operates.

America West is the second-busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport with 113 flights a day between the mainline carrier and its America West Express affiliate.

The airline has 3,400 customer service representatives employed as reservation, ticket, gate and baggage service agents. The Teamsters on June 17 filed with the National Mediation Board for the representation vote.

The customer service work force is the largest group at the company and the only major group that doesn't have union representation. Efforts by the group to unionize have failed twice, with the union failing to solicit enough qualifying signatures in 2001 and 57 percent of the work force voting against a union in 2002.

But this year, union officials say conditions have worsened.

The Teamsters, which already represent America West's stock clerks and mechanics, say pay and benefits are at issue in the representation vote. The union says starting wages for the group are $7.65 an hour and employees should be paid more because the airline is one of the few major carriers to operate profitably since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"This predominantly female work force wants America West to be a successful airline," said Joseph Rhein, president of Teamsters Local 104 in a release issued when voting began last week. "They have worked hard to build this hometown company into something they, and the whole community, can be proud of. But they deserve the rewards of good pay and benefits and a voice on the job in the issues that affect their work place. The Teamsters want to help them reap those rewards."

Airline analyst Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co., Port Washington, N.Y., said America West has always been one of the lower paying network carriers, a factor that has contributed to the company's low-cost position.

He said higher labor costs resulting from union negotiation won't necessarily result in an impact on profits as long as better productivity is packaged with better pay.

Union officials also said health care costs have risen more rapidly than pay, with insurance premiums offered through the company costing nine times more than they did a year ago.

The Teamsters represent about 35,000 employees in the airline industry and 1.4 million people in other industries in North America.

America West does not comment publicly on employee negotiations and union activity.

Phone-in voting began a week ago and and results are expected to be reported Aug. 17.