Amerijet pilots approve first contract

By on Sep 15, 2009

Flight crew members have approved a Teamsters contract with Amerijet International - the pilots' first collective bargaining agreement after five years of negotiations and a strike that began on August 27th

The pilots - who fly Amerijet's five Boeing 727s and two leased Boeing 767s to and from Miami International Airport, the Caribbean Islands and South America - went on strike at the end of a thirty-day cooling off period imposed by a federal mediator The National Mediation Board called both the pilots and the company back to the table on Tuesday, September 8th

Amerijet pilots received support during the strike from Teamster pilots at Atlas Air, Polar Air Cargo and Kalitta, and members of the Teamsters Building & Construction Trades Department Widespread industry support came from pilot unions of APA (American Airlines), USAPA (US Air), SWAPA (Southwest Airlines), JetBlue, IPA (UPS Pilots), CAPA (Coalition of Airline Pilots Association), PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organisation), NATCA (National Air Traffic Controllers Association) and ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association)

Teamster-represented maintenance workers and cleaners at Miami International Airport refused to cross the picket lines Other unions in South Florida, the Caribbean and South America supported the strikers including the United Petroleum Workers

According to Teamsters general president Jim Hoffa, the Amerijet contract is a major step forward for the pilots, who have worked for poor wages in "toxic" conditions for the past five years