Congressman opposed to air link got €800,000 from US unions

US transport union members have given almost €800,000 to support Peter DeFazio, the congressman opposed to Norwegian Air International’s bid to launch cheap transatlantic flights from the Republic.

Mr DeFazio recently announced his opposition to Irish-based Norwegian’s application to the US department of transportation for a foreign carrier’s permit that would allow it to launch flights connecting Cork and Shannon with Boston and New York.

Mr DeFazio is a senior member of the US House of Representatives transport and infrastructure committee, which oversees the department of transportation – to which Norwegian Air International has applied for the permit – and influences policy and legislation governing aviation in the US.

Figures compiled from Federal Election Commission records show that political action committees linked to US labour organisations that have formally stated their opposition to Norwegian’s permit application have donated a total of $882,000 (€790,000) to Mr DeFazio’s election campaigns over the years.

US unions such as the Air Line Pilots’ Association (ALPA), whose action committee was last week reported to have donated a total of $140,000, the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, and umbrella labour organisation, the AFL-CIO, have all lodged formal objections to Norwegian’s application.

Politics watchdog

According to US politics watchdog Opensecrets, action committees from these unions and a range of organisations affiliated to AFL-CIO all contributed to Mr DeFazio’s campaigns between 1989 and 2016.

Along with the ALPA, the bigger donors included action committees from AFL-CIO affiliates, such as the Machinists/Aerospace Workers’ Union, which contributed $126,000, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which gave $104,000, and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which donated $76,000.

The action groups are not part of the unions themselves, but are comprised of their members. They are a common feature of politics in the US and donate money to candidates’ election campaigns.

Labour protections

Mr DeFazio recently wrote to European Union transport commissioner Violeta Bulc, claiming that the Irish-registered airline actually based transatlantic crews in Bangkok.

His letter also reflects trade union assertions that Norwegian Air Shuttle registered its international subsidiary in the Republic to avoid labour protections and hires cheap crew through Asian companies.

Norwegian’s group chief executive Bjorn Kjos states in a follow-up letter to Ms Bulc that “this is simply false” with regard to cabin crew and would not actually make sense. He also points out that the group is offering UK contracts of employment to pilots recruited for its transatlantic services.

The airline has pledged that only US and EU citizens will crew its transatlantic flights. However, unions say that the issue is the contracts under which staff will be employed, not their citizenship.

Norwegian says it based its subsidiary in the Republic to benefit from aviation treaties that allow EU airlines access to countries not available to those based in Norway. The group intends using it to run a low-cost carrier offering flights between Europe, the US and Asia.