Dear Representative:
As the representatives of millions of essential workers who have put their lives on the line to work through the pandemic, we urge you to immediately pass H.R. 8504, introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio, which extends the airline worker Payroll Support Program (PSP).
There has never been any doubt or ambiguity about the jobs that would be lost if Congress failed to meet yesterday’s deadline to extend the PSP. Now that the legal authority of the PSP to prevent furloughs has expired and a broader relief package has not been approved, hundreds of thousands of aviation workers are losing their jobs and their benefits in the middle of a pandemic. This legislation addresses this urgent problem, prevents a further spike in unemployment, and ensures that we don’t lose an experienced, safety certified, and credentialed workforce that will be difficult and expensive to replace.
Since early summer, we have remained steadfast in our call to lawmakers to pass a comprehensive COVID relief package that addresses the dire economic needs facing our nation’s aviation and broader transportation workforce. Sadly, due to stalled economic relief negotiations, those needs remain unmet. But airline workers simply cannot wait another minute. The deadline has passed. Congress must pass, and the President must sign H.R. 8504 into law.
We again call on Congress and the White House to do the right thing and stand up for frontline workers and their families who have sacrificed so much in our time of need.
Sincerely,
Joe DePete, President, Air Line Pilots Association
Sara Nelson, International President, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
Sito Pantoja, General Vice President for Transportation, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
Mike Perrone, National President, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists
John Samuelsen, International President, Transport Workers Union of America
Paul Rinaldi, President, National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Christopher M. Shelton, President, Communications Workers of America
D. Taylor, International President, UNITE HERE
Larry I. Willis, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO