Two labor rivals have US Airways marriage

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Full story: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/15214455.htm



Posted on Mon, Aug. 07, 2006
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Two labor rivals have US Airways marriage
One union left the AFL-CIO; one stayed. But they worked together easily when two airlines became one.
By Jane M. Von Bergen
Inquirer Staff Writer

There's nothing like a drive to survive to push solidarity between unions - even two unions on opposite sides of last year's split in the labor movement.

That's what happened with the Communications Workers of America, led by Larry Cohen, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, led by James Hoffa.

Hoffa was among the leaders who pulled their unions out of the AFL-CIO, denouncing what they called its focus on politics at the expense of organizing and criticizing its leadership. Cohen counted himself among the staunchest defenders of a group that remains the nation's largest labor federation.

Six weeks later, despite Hoffa and the Teamsters' dramatic exodus from the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago, the men were shaking hands on a deal to jointly represent thousands of customer-service agents at the then just-about-merged US Airways and America West airlines.

On Sept. 12, they agreed to take turns being president of the new