Teamsters sue Cape, Republic over pilot non-competes
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The Teamsters union has filed a lawsuit against Republic Airways in Indianapolis and Massachusetts-based Cape Air after it says the airlines required pilots to sign employment contracts with “numerous oppressive and unlawful terms,” including high-penalty non-compete clauses.
The penalties range from $100,000 to $250,000 and disallow pilots from flying professionally for a up to a year, according to the Teamsters lawsuit, and is an attempt to change worker conditions unilaterally. The clauses force pilots to work there for at least two years, a Teamster news release said.
The Teamsters said that piece of those contracts violate the federal Railway Labor Act and will be fought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The union group represents the pilots with each airline.
“The contracts that pilots at these two companies are forced to sign as condition of employment are unlawful and we fully expect to win in court, said Josh LeBlanc, president of Teamsters Local 357 and a Republic Airways pilot, in the release. “These punishing non-competing agreements are not a solution for the labor supply problem these employers created on their own accord.”
LeBlanc said companies should raise wages and benefits if they have trouble filling employment gaps instead of “handcuffing them with bogus contract.”
In the complaint, the union is asking for an injunction voiding the contracts and rendering the airlines unable to enforce the agreements, among other collective bargaining and job posting demands.
Cape Air and Republic Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment.