Apparently CargoJet scabbed last night with one flight. Amerijet has one airplane that has now been impounded by the Venezuelan government for violation of it's laws.
This was emailed today:
UPDATE
Labor Rallies to Support Amerijet Pilots and Flight Engineers.
U.S. Congressman Hastings Weighs In. Congressman Hastings Deeply Troubled by and Concerned about the Unsafe and Unsanitary Conditions Amerijet Forces on its Pilots and Flight Engineers. Amerijet Now Attempting to Out Source its Cargo Operations to a Foreign Carrier
The pilots and flight engineers of Ft. Lauderdale based Amerijet Air Cargo remain on strike in their demands for a first contract providing for fair wages and benefits and safe and sanitary working conditions. Major passenger and cargo airline pilot groups across the U.S. have joined with the 62 Amerijet flight deck crewmembers and are showing their support for the South Florida-based pilots, flight engineers and their families. In addition to those pilot groups from the U.S. cargo and passenger airlines who have promised not carry Amerijet freight on their aircraft, several major national trucking firms have also joined in support, including UPS, YRC and ABF. At Miami International Airport, Teamster-represented maintenance workers and cleaners are also refusing to cross the picket lines at the cargo facility on the west side of the airport.
In a desperate attempt to begin moving the backlog of hundreds of thousands of pounds of perishable and time critical freight that is growing daily since this past Thursday when the airline walked out of negotiations; Amerijet’s management is now attempting to hire foreign airlines to stem the backlog of undelivered freight. The Teamsters are also fielding reports that Amerijet management has begun a campaign of threatening crewmembers if they don’t cross the picket lines.
The Amerijet pilots and flight engineers have been joined in large numbers by pilots from UPS, Atlas Air, and Kalitta; all of whom are Amerijet competitors. Additionally, the pilot unions at American, USAirways, America West, Southwest and others have joined the Amerijet pilots and flight engineers on the picket lines and are contributing their time and money in support. Other South Florida unions, as well as organized labor in the Caribbean and South America are also supporting the strikers.
U.S. Congressman from Florida Alcee Hastings, (Dem-23rd), has also been advised of the dispute and is deeply troubled and concerned that Amerijet hasexhibited such a cavalier and callous disregard for the safety and sanitary conditions of its pilots and flight engineers. Congressman Hastings is a nationally and internationally acclaimed champion of working people and works tirelessly to protect their fundamental human rights. Congressman Hastings is also deeply concerned that Amerijet walked away from the negotiations with the Teamsters and that it caused the strike. He is dismayed that any air transportation company would insist on a sick leave policy that punishes people for calling off sick by docking their pay. Such a policy, especially when used by Amerijet against its pilots and flight engineers – who are among the lowest paid in the entire industry – forces the crewmembers to fly sick. Such a policy is dangerous and unsafe. It is also eerily similar to the commuter air tragedy in Buffalo, New York earlier this year, where one of the pilots killed in that terrible accident was so sick that she should not even have entered to cockpit but felt that she could not afford to call off sick.
Congressman Hastings is also concerned that Amerijet’s largest stock holder, a Miami-based investment company named HIG Capital, has not taken steps to ensure that Amerijet maintain safe, sanitary and fair working conditions. The Teamsters are also troubled by HIG’s apparent lack of concern over this matter. No company should capitalize on the misery of its or its companies’ workers. We remain hopeful, that HIG Capital will play a constructive role in resolving the dispute caused by Amerijet’s management team.
We hope that Amerjet’s CEO, David Bassett, will come to his senses, but only time will tell whether he will correct the mess that he and his management team have created. Had he spent as much time negotiating in good faith and integrity as has trying to break the spirit of the striking pilots and flight engineers with intimidation, lies and fear, there would never have been a strike. Instead, he and his management team have misled Amerijet’s customers and are now trying desperately to find foreign airlines and employees who will take U.S. jobs and fly a small portion of his customers’ cargo to cover up for his bad management. There is also a concern that Bassett is scrambling to move to market -- on a priority basis over Amerijet’s other customers -- perishable fish from another company in which he holds an ownership interest. Since he has been unsuccessful in having U.S. carriers’ pilots cross the picket lines, earlier today he and his management team turned to Ontario, Canada based Cargojet, Ltd. to enter the U.S. and fly across the picket lines.
Today, Cargojet flew into Miami to pick up Amerijet’s cargo that is set for delivery to Port of Spain, Trinidad. In outsourcing its cargo operations to a foreign airline, they are signaling that they have no interest in being an honest American company and will bring as many foreign nationals as needed into the U.S. to take American jobs and make a profit off American workers.