CWA: Piedmont Agents Win First Contract

Washington, D.C. -- The Communications Workers of America has reached a tentative first contract with Piedmont Airlines covering 3,500 fleet and passenger service agents.

CWA and the bargaining advisory council will hold conference calls and informational meetings for members who will vote on the tentative settlement.

Long and tough negotiations, with the involvement of the National Mediation Board, finally produced a tentative agreement that provides improvements in pay, job security and health care benefits. For the first time, agents will have an effective grievance and arbitration process. And the bargaining team successfully fought back against management’s demand to increase workers’ health care costs by 33 percent.

Among the new contract provisions:

• A lump sum signing bonus of 6-8 percent of salary in 2012.
• A new pay system with guaranteed 4 percent raises and additional increases.
• A first-ever grievance and arbitration process.
• Longevity bonuses each year for good attendance.
• Equity for part-time workers for holiday pay.
• Job security improvements.

“This tentative settlement was a long time coming, and Piedmont workers stood together and mobilized for more than a year to win real improvements in pay and working conditions. These agents were determined to gain economic justice, and they did,” said Jimmy Tarlau, assistant to CWA’s District 2-13 vice president.

Piedmont agents overwhelmingly voted for CWA representation in November 2010 despite a tough anti-union campaign by management. They hung on for more than a year of bargaining and mobilized across the airline’s 79 stations to keep solidarity strong.

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Contact: Candice Johnson or Chuck Porcari, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org and cporcari@cwa-union.org. More information at www.PiedmontAgent.org.