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TTD Statement on Irish Approval of Norwegian’s Flag of Convenience Airline

#DenyNAI Campaign Presses Ahead

WASHINGTON, DC—Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) President Edward Wytkind issues this statement in response to the Irish government’s approval of an Air Operator Certificate to Norwegian Air International:

“We are disappointed that the Government of Ireland has sanctioned Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) launch of a ‘flag of convenience’ airline that threatens airline jobs and bargaining rights in the U.S. and Europe. Without question, this airline operation undermines the clear intent of the governing trade rules between the U.S. and EU—the 2010 Air Transport Agreement—that commit signatories to this pact to promote ‘high labor standards.’ By establishing itself in Ireland, NAI is also evading the social laws of Norway and its bargaining obligation to its own employees.

“NAI is gaming U.S.-EU trade rules to gain an unfair competitive advantage over U.S. and other European air carriers and should not have been rewarded with a license to operate. We will continue to press our case in Europe that its own negotiators agreed to labor protections in the ATA and should live up to them in the enforcement of this agreement. And we will redouble our efforts to make sure this Norwegian operation isn’t granted authority by our government to operate its service into the United States.

“This is the first test case before the U.S. Department of Transportation on whether the Obama Administration will enforce the worker protections it negotiated in the core of the ATA with its European counterparts. DOT should deny NAI’s pending application for a Foreign Carrier Permit. And we will be calling on all airline employees, both here and in Europe, to join our #DenyNAI campaign.”

CONTACT:  Jennifer Michels, jenniferm@ttd.org, 202.628.9262, 703.395.2195

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