Three cheers to Flight Attendants and Pilots in their successful grassroots' lobbying efforts to finally secure the same job protections afforded other working families under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
Earlier this year, the U.S. House passed H.R. 912 and on Tuesday, November 10th the U.S. Senate passed S.1422 The Airline Flight Crew Family and Medical Leave Act. The two chambers of Congress will now meet to resolve some minor differences in the bills and then send it on for President Obama to officially sign it into law.
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For over a decade airline flight crews had been left out of what was once legislation intended to cover them and forced by necessity to collectively bargain for FMLA-like benefits with their employers. With the signing of this bill Flight Attendants and Pilots can take FMLA off the bargaining table once and for all!
No longer will hardworking people like Jennifer Hunt, a flight attendant for U.S. Airways, have to fight to care for their family or risk losing their job. Jennifer's poignant testimony before a House committee hearing last year pointed out the disparate treatment in meeting the hourly requirements needed to qualify for FMLA. Jennifer was denied FMLA benefits when she applied to take time off to care for her ill husband, an Iraq War vet.
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