American Airlines Workers in Tulsa Receiving Layoff Notices

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

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Only a fraction of the 2,911 Transport Workers Union members in Tulsa are expected to lose their jobs, but the bankrupt airline is legally required to give employees 60 days advance notice.

The Tulsa World‘s D.R. Stewart reports on the impact there:

… layoffs are expected of an estimated 770 of 5,000 mechanics and related work groups and 90 of 512 stock clerks, American executives said.

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining and Notification Act requires companies to notify workers in advance about plant closures and involuntary layoffs.

In a letter to the TWU, American Airlines’ vice president of employee relations said the carrier hoped to reduce the number of layoffs with “early out” incentive programs.

As of Sunday, about 950 TWU members had taken the early retirement option, “under which a 45-year-old mechanic with 15 years’ service may receive nearly $40,000 in severance pay,” officials tell the World.