American Airlines Sick Uniforms Leave Flight Attendants Sniffling

American Airlines has sick uniforms, say its fight attendants in a union grievance claiming that 10 percent of them have had reactions including skin rashes, sore throats, wheezing, fatigue, and vertigo since being issued the new duds last year.

Not so, say American executives who have taken to wearing the uniforms themselves, and the manufacturer which has already legally beaten back flight attendants from another airline on the same issue.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants charged that about 2,300 of the American Airlines attendants it represents reported adverse reactions after they started wearing the uniforms, reported Bloomberg.

"This continues to be a serious and growing problem, and is not going to go away without some further remedial action by the company," said the union.

The uniforms, made by Twin Hill, a subsidiary of Tailored Brands, were tested three times and have not shown any unhealthy levels of harmful chemicals in them, American Airlines said in December, per the Chicago Tribune.

Twin Hill has already won a similar case. It was the target of health-related complaints from Alaska Airlines employees in 2012 and in October won a court verdict from a lawsuit filed by 164 Alaska Airline flight attendants who charged the company's clothing caused a negative reaction, reported CNN.

The back-and-forth between the union and American Airlines reached a point where some of the company's executives started wearing uniforms to show they are safe, including Hector Alder, vice president for flight services, said the Tribune.

"It's insulting," Taylor Garland, a spokeswoman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, told the Tribune. "Instead of acknowledging legitimate concerns of their employees, American Airlines management is pulling a publicity stunt."

Earlier this month, Twin Hill pushed back on the complaints, calling the flight attendants' charges "inaccurate and damaging," reported CNN.

"… There are no restricted chemicals in the garments and that the chemicals that are present are well within acceptable standards for the clothing industry," Twin Hill said in its letter to the union.

The union said it wants the clothing tested by an independent investigator.

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