Union says policy hurting women
The flight attendants’ union accuses American Airlines of discriminating against its mostly female group by imposing a stricter attendance policy that can result in employees being fired quickly.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants asked the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Friday to investigate its charge. About 75 percent of American’s flight attendants are women.
Union President Lori Bassani says in an interview that American is discriminating against women because the airline’s mostly male pilot workforce does not have a similar attendance policy.
“They would never think of treating (the pilots) in this manner,” she said.
American spokeswoman Susannah Wesley-Ahlschwede said the policy is designed to make sure that American’s operation is staffed while giving flight attendants flexibility to manage time off.
“We categorically reject any allegation of gender discrimination in our policies,” she said.
Flight attendants are given points for things such as calling in sick during the holidays or after being asked to replace another absent flight attendant. Bassani says 10 points gets a flight attendant fired, and “a few” have been terminated.
VW sees “headwinds” after “decent” 2018
Volkswagen says it increased operating earnings and sales last year despite troubles getting vehicles certified under new European emissions tests.
The company said Friday that operating earnings before one-time factors rose to 17.1 billion euros in 2018 from 17.0 billion in 2017. Sales revenue rose by 6.3 billion euros to reach 235.8 billion for the year.
The company sold a record 10.8 million cars, a 0.9 percent increase, despite bottlenecks getting vehicles ready for the Sept. 1 start of the new emissions testing regime, which Volkswagen said caused “significant upheaval in our sales performance.
CEO Herbert Diess said the company had a “decent showing” in 2018 but cautioned that “headwinds in key markets are expected to strengthen further in 2019.”
Volkswagen is to release detailed full-year results on March 12.
Trump says Amazon “big loss” for NYC
President Donald Trump is calling Amazon’s decision to drop its plans for new headquarters in New York “a big loss” for the city.
Trump tells reporters the city could have hashed out “a much better deal,” but is still bemoaning the decision.
He’s also blaming what he’s calling “radical left” thinking, which he says isn’t good for jobs or the economy.
Amazon abruptly dropped plans last week to build one of its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, which could have delivered 25,000 jobs.
Some politicians and activists had objected to the nearly $3 billion in incentives promised to one of the world’s richest, most powerful companies.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday called the reversal the “greatest tragedy” he’s seen since he’s been in government.
EU will hit back on U.S. car tariffs
A European Union official says “there is full support” from member states to hit back if U.S. President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on cars and car parts.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said EU trade ministers had discussed the bloc’s trading relationship with Washington during an informal meeting Friday in Bucharest. She said there were concerns about “certain aspects of the trade policy being pursued by the current U.S. administration.”
Trump says the U.S. is mulling tariffs on imported vehicles from Europe, suggesting a final decision will hinge on the two sides reaching a trade deal in the coming months
Malmstrom said the EU was preparing a list of “rebalancing measures,” if tariffs were levied.
“There is full support to do this,” she said.