Sen. Josh Hawley railed against United Airlines on Friday after employees supposedly told him the company is cutting back their wages and benefits after receiving stimulus money amid economic lockdowns.
“Employees have told me the company is cutting their hours, pay & benefits immediately,” he wrote on Twitter after recalling an interaction with United Airlines employees at an airport on his way to Washington, D.C. UA, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Delta Airlines were among a handful of airline companies that accepted stimulus money, reports show.
Hawley added: “This is AFTER United took billions in bailout money that was earmarked for workers. This has better not be true.” (RELATED: Sen Hawley Targets The Meat-Packing Industry, Says It’s Dominated By A Handful Of Massive Firms)
I’m at the airport, flying back to DC, and multiple @United employees have told me the company is cutting their hours, pay & benefits immediately. This is AFTER United took billions in bailout money that was earmarked for workers. This has better not be true
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 1, 2020
“And let me take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to the good men and women, United employees, who have helped me and my family today and who are serving travelers each & every day,” the Missouri Republican added after asking the airline to respond in the Twitter thread to the workers’ claims.
President Donald Trump signed the $2 trillion stimulus bill in March, which, among other things, includes more than $58 billion to bolster the aviation industry, with a sizable portion of it sectioned off to fund employee payroll costs through September, CNN reported April 14. The airline industry saw enormous losses after governors and mayors instituted lockdowns to slow the pandemic spread.
Passenger counts have dropped nearly 100%, forcing airlines to cancel more than 70% of their flights as the international airline association estimates worldwide industry losses of $314 billion. Hawley, for his part, has been on a tear against corporate entities recently.
He targeted the meat-processing industry in a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday for giving the bulk of the food supply chain to a handful of conglomerates. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin co-wrote the letter with Hawley, who also asked the Department of Justice to probe Amazon over data issues.
UA has not responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment nor has the airline replied on Hawley’s thread as of the publication of this article.
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