ALPA Files Suit Against Skywest

[mrivc211]

Fellow SkyWest Pilots,



Today, May 22, 2007, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee filed suit against SkyWest Airlines, Inc. to compel the carrier to obey the principles of the Railway Labor Act with respect to employee free choice and union solicitation.



Under the rules governing union organizing, SkyWest pilots are entitled to distribute and receive information from ALPA and its supporters on exactly the same terms and conditions that they have received information from management and SAPA. To that end, the Organizing Committee, in a letter to Brad Holt in March, requested what it is entitled to under federal law: that it be given the same privileges and opportunities granted to SAPA. The company refused to grant these requests, prompting the Organizing Committee to take this latest measure.



In conjunction with the filing of the litigation, the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee asked the Court to move quickly to prevent SkyWest from interfering with pilots’ right to organize. On the same day the lawsuit was filed, the Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order, requiring SkyWest immediately to cease and desist from preventing members of the Organizing Committee and its supporters from wearing ALPA insignia on lanyards or pins and distributing ALPA materials in non-work areas such as crew lounges and bulletin boards. The Temporary Restraining Order also requires SkyWest immediately to provide the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee with access to the same channels of internal communication to the pilot group that are now available to SAPA.



For your reference we have attached a letter, mailed to SkyWest pilots today, which outlines the rationale for filing this lawsuit. We have also attached the judge’s order, and posted all of the key filings in the case on the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee webpage – SkyWestALPA.



With this Temporary Restraining Order, the Organizing Committee and its supporters are free to exercise their federal rights to discuss and to learn more about ALPA and the benefits of union representation. We look forward to talking with you soon.



In solidarity,



The SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee

1-888-SKY-ALPA

SkyWestALPA

[Doug Taylor]

Yowza. Looks like things are heating up there.

[mtsu_av8er]

This is good news!

[surreal1221]

Is it wrong to say that I'm aroused by this?