Blumenthal on Trump Corporate Bailout Proposal: Workers & Consumers Must Come First

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s corporate bailout proposal, which includes $50 billion for the airline industry without any worker or consumer protections:

“Facing massive needs and numbers of seriously ill patients, our first priority must be a medical surge that provides enough ventilators, hospital beds, protective gear, and other essential equipment. Our economy cannot recover until we have stopped the deadly medical scourge sweeping the country. Our economic priority should be families, workers, and small businesses.”

“Any relief for airlines – or any other industry – should require that they put workers and consumers first. Airlines in particular have been fleecing flyers for years, tacking on high fees, and shortchanging safety. Instead of investing previous stimulus funds into better working conditions for flight attendants, pilots, and their customers, they spent it on stock buybacks and sky-high corporate bonuses. History is replete with airline bailouts that only benefit the corporations and their shareholders.

“No blank check bailout should be permitted. No bonuses or stock buybacks. No continued anti-consumer policies, like excessive fees. This is not the time for sweetheart corporate deals and blank checks – workers and consumers must come first.”

Blumenthal is calling for any corporate bailout to prioritize workers and consumers by including the following conditions:

• A requirement that any direct assistance to affected industries be tied to keeping front-line workers employed and sharing the benefits with employees;
• A prohibition on subsequent stock buybacks, increased executive compensation, and other, non-workforce expenses;
• Preventing any company that accepts financial assistance from rejecting or abrogating collectively bargained agreements during any bankruptcy proceeding for 5 years following the last payment of such assistance;
• Ending anti-consumer business practices, including price gouging, outrageous fees, and involuntary boarding denials;
• Cutting greenhouse gas emissions; and
• Ensuring that any bailout for airlines does not come at the expense of the airports that they serve.

-30-