August 31, 2005

File:      CO-18

2005-131

Continental Airlines Update

To All Continental Airlines Flight Attendants:

Contract Negotiations

District 142 General Chairpersons continue to meet with the management of Continental Airlines on the remaining issues involved.  Continental’s demand for $72 million from the Flight Attendants remains constant and firm. Mediation is scheduled to resume on September 13, 2005.  Recent and continuing developments in the airline industry have impeded progress in our negotiations. Your patience and understanding of the negotiations is appreciated.

Recent Developments in the Airline Industry:

 The strike by the airline mechanics fraternal association, which could have possibly been avoided had they voted the Company’s last, final and best offer.  Instead they chose in their elitist manner not to allow the members to vote and they put their members on strike. 

There is an old adage in this industry: “never put your membership on the street, unless you know you can bring them back to work.”  The McCormick group and Delle-Femine, in their usual inept and dictatorial way of doing business, decided that the membership didn’t matter and put their own self-interests first.  The Flight Attendants at Northwest Airlines decided in a vote taken by the membership not to honor the picket line, even though they are members of the Professional Flight Attendant Association and were once sponsored by the McCormick Group (a real estate company), but learned for themselves that the McCormick group could not serve their best interests. 

Northwest Airlines has made serious demands on the Flight Attendants and the IAM, which are being dealt with in the process of mediation.  We hope, for the sake of the membership of both groups, that agreements can be reached and ratified in order to avoid a strike and the possibility of replacement. Northwest Airlines has already hired one thousand (1000) replacement Flight Attendants and is continuing to hire more.

Hurricane Katrina has wreaked further havoc on the airline industry because of the damage to oil rigs and refineries and the delivery of fuel.  The immediate response has been to send crude oil to over $70.00 a barrel and jet fuel prices increased by 22%.

We believe broken promises and replacement workers are not the answer: all of the airlines must deal with the realities of fuel costs in the industry and adjust airline fares accordingly.  The legitimate airline unions of today have faced up to the realities.  The aircraft mechanics fraternal association is not a legitimate union and not affiliated with the AFL-CIO, but a fraternal association, nothing more and nothing less.  Delle-Femine and McCormick Group have done a drastic disservice to the Northwest mechanics who will lose their healthcare coverage on August 31, 2005 and are not getting any strike benefits.

Delle-Femine’s continuing attacks on the IAM will not solve his problems.  Remember nobody gives a damn about the IAM and its membership except the IAM and its membership.

We will continue to keep you advised of all future developments as they occur.

Sincerely and fraternally,

                                                                                                                                                  William O'Driscoll                       

                                                                                                   PRESIDENT-DIRECTING GENERAL CHAIRPERSON                                      

                                             Brent Thompson                                                 Art Teolis                                              Julie Frietchen

                                                                Brian Wozniak                   Larry Newcomb

                                                     GENERAL CHAIRPERSONS

                                                                Robert Korzuch II                                             Ed Miller                                              Rosalie Canton

                                                    PRESIDENT LL #2339N                        PRESIDENT LL #2339C                                      PRESIDENT LL #2339H

                                                                                             Ernie Dominguez                                                               Sheila Hammond

                                                                                          BASE CHAIRPERSON                               NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE MEMBER