[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2989 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2989

To require procedures that ensure the fair and equitable resolution of 
  labor integration issues in transactions for the combination of air 
                   carriers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2001

   Mrs. Emerson (for herself, Mr. Graves, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Clay, Mr. 
 Hulshof, Mr. Skelton, Mr. Simmons, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, and Mr. 
   Shimkus) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require procedures that ensure the fair and equitable resolution of 
  labor integration issues in transactions for the combination of air 
                   carriers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Airline Workers Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. FAIR AND EQUITABLE RESOLUTION OF LABOR INTEGRATION ISSUES.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to require procedures 
that ensure the fair and equitable resolution of labor integration 
issues, in order to prevent further disruption to transactions for the 
combination of air carriers, which would potentially aggravate the 
disruption caused by the attack on the United States on September 11, 
2001.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Air carrier.--The term ``air carrier'' means an air 
        carrier that holds a certificate issued under chapter 411 of 
        title 49, United States Code.
            (2) Covered air carrier.--The term ``covered air carrier'' 
        means an air carrier that is involved in a covered transaction.
            (3) Covered employee.--The term ``covered employee'' means 
        an employee who--
                    (A) is not a temporary employee; and
                    (B) is a member of a craft or class that is subject 
                to the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).
            (4) Covered transaction.--The term ``covered transaction'' 
        means a transaction that--
                    (A) is a transaction for the combination of 
                multiple air carriers into a single air carrier;
                    (B) involves the transfer of ownership or control 
                of--
                            (i) 50 percent or more of the equity 
                        securities (as defined in section 101 of title 
                        11, United States Code) of an air carrier; or
                            (ii) 50 percent or more (by value) of the 
                        assets of the air carrier;
                    (C) was pending or had been completed during the 
                period beginning on January 1, 2001, and ending on 
                September 11, 2001; and
                    (D) did not result in the creation of a single air 
                carrier by September 11, 2001.
    (c) Seniority Integration.--In any covered transaction involving a 
covered air carrier that leads to the combination of crafts or classes 
that are subject to the Railway Labor Act, sections 3 and 13 of the 
labor protective provisions imposed by the Civil Aeronautics Board in 
the Allegheny-Mohawk merger (as published at 59 CAB 45) shall apply to 
the covered employees of the covered air carrier, except that where a 
collective bargaining agreement provides for application of such 
sections 3 and 13 in the process of seniority integration, the terms of 
collective bargaining agreement shall govern the process and shall not 
be abrogated.
    (d) Enforcement.--Any aggrieved person (including any labor 
organization that represents the person) may bring an action to enforce 
this section, or the terms of any award or agreement resulting from 
arbitration or a settlement relating to the requirements of this 
section. The person may bring the action in an appropriate Federal 
district court, determined in accordance with section 1391 of title 28, 
United States Code, without regard to the amount in controversy.
                                 <all>