AMFA Files Suit Against Northwest Airlines.Business Editors/Legal Writers LACONIA, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2002 The law firm of Seham, Seham, Meltz & Petersen, on behalf of AMFA AMFA Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association AMFA Alternative Motor Fuels Act (PL 100-494) AMFA Asociación Movimiento Fe y AlegrÃa (Association for Activities of Faith and Joy; Guatemala) (Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) is an independent union that represents aircraft maintenance employees of commercial airlines in the United States. AMFA is committed to the principles of craft unionism, in that it seeks to represent only airline mechanics and ) has filed a lawsuit against Northwest Airlines, Inc. (NWA) to stop them from implementing Criminal History Records Checks (CHRCs) of AMFA bargaining unit employees when those checks exceed current federal regulations. The suit was filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Minnesota. It was established by an act of Congress on March 17, 1849. under the Railway Labor Act The Railway Labor Act is a United States federal law that governs labor relations in the railway and airline industries.. The Act, passed in 1926 and amended in 1936 to apply to the airline industry, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration and mediation for strikes as a means . In the aftermath of September 11th, the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control (FAA) enacted new regulations that require aircraft operators to conduct fingerprint-based Criminal History Records Checks on any individual with unescorted access to Security Identification Display Areas (SIDA). Under this law, an individual will be deemed to have a "disqualifying criminal offense" if the individual has been convicted of any one of 28 criminal offenses within the past 10 years. The offenses include theft, dishonesty, and illegal position of a controlled substance. "The FBI and the FAA have been providing background checks on employees that go back as far as 20 years, including misdemeanors, and Northwest Airlines has been acting on that information, despite the fact it exceeds the scope of the law," said Lee Seham, attorney for AMFA. "This is a complete violation of the rights of these employees who may now have their careers ruined for a minor offense that may have occurred over a decade ago." In the lawsuit, AMFA requests the court to issue a permanent injunction to prevent NWA from using or retaining any CHRC information from AMFA-represented employees which exceeds the 10-year/28 offense requirement or applies to personnel who do not require SIDA access. This would prevent NWA from using the CHRC information for disciplinary purposes beyond the scope of the law. AMFA is an independent craft union not affiliated with the AFL-CIO AFL-CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. AFL-CIO in full American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations U.S. . AMFA currently represents more than 11,000 aircraft technicians and related personnel employed at Alaska Airlines, American Trans Air, Atlantic Coast Airlines Atlantic Coast Airlines (IATA: DH, ICAO: BLR, and Callsign: Blue Ridge) was an airline based in the United States owned by Atlantic Coast Holdings, Inc.. It operated as United Express for United Airlines and Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. , Mesaba Airlines and Northwest Airlines. AMFA's credo is "Safety in the air begins with quality maintenance on the ground." To learn more about AMFA, visit their website at www.amfanatl.org. |
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