Cynthia M. Surrisi represents and counsels employers in a range of matters regarding federal, state and local labor and employment laws, with a particular emphasis on airlines, the Railway Labor Act, and the Federal Aviation Administration Regulations. She has assisted airlines and their employees from the early days of airline deregulation through the tumultuous years leading to the consolidation of the airline industry. She is known for reaching labor agreements that accomplish both employers and employee-related objectives.

Ms. Surrisi represents airlines before federal and state courts, bankruptcy courts, the National Mediation Board, System Boards of Adjustment, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Presidential Emergency Boards. She has substantial experience advising airlines in complex labor negotiations, contract administration, and interest and rights arbitrations. She has acted as lead labor counsel in airline acquisitions, mergers, and other forms of airline cooperation.

Ms. Surrisi negotiated the prototype union-cooperation agreement covering pilots under an international airline alliance and flow-through agreements between major carriers and their domestic code-sharing partners. She has been recognized for assisting clients in achieving labor agreements that accomplish both commercial and employee-related objectives, that are compatible with realistic projections for long-term success, and that provide rates of pay, hours of service and working conditions that attract and retain qualified employees.

Ms. Surrisi has served as a member of the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Industrial Advisory Council and as a Commissioner of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission. She co-authored Someone is Buying the Zoo, a book on labor and employment strategies for companies engaged in mergers and acquisitions, and has authored articles on Jet Blast Enforcement Actions and Interest Based Bargaining. She is a regular speaker and trainer at seminars on grievance handling, contract negotiations, and mediation and arbitration.

Ms. Surrisi joined MJW as a partner in June 2004. She is admitted to practice law in the federal and state courts in Hawaii, the State of Minnesota District Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. She clerked for Minnesota State District Court Judges, the Honorable Jerome Plunkett and the Honorable Archie Gingold.