Aiming to pressurize the management on the Labor Day travel rush, to bargain on better pay and working conditions, United Airlines flight attendants at Los Angeles International Airport and other airports across the country announced a strike authorization vote by the members of their union on 28 August, Wednesday.
Represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the flight attendants voted 99.99%, with over 90% participation, to authorize a strike should management fail to agree to significant improvements, according to the AFA. The statement read as,
United Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), voted 99.99% yes, with 90.21% participating, on strike authorization should management fail to agree to significant improvements. The results of the vote were announced live, simultaneously, on nearly 20 informational picket lines at airports across the country.
As per Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, this is the first time since the 2005 bankruptcy negotiations that Flight Attendants at the major airline voted on strike authorization. Recent strike authorization votes have propelled negotiations forward at American, Alaska, Southwest, and other airlines.
Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the AFA, said in a statement :
“We deserve an industry-leading contract,” “Our strike vote shows we’re ready to do whatever it takes to reach the contract we deserve. We are the face of United Airlines and planes don’t take off without us. As Labor Day travel begins, United management is reminded what’s at stake if we don’t get this done.”
The results of the vote were announced live, simultaneously, on nearly 20 informational picket lines at LAX and other airports across the country.
Flight attendants are calling for raises, work schedule flexibility, working rule improvements, job security, retirement benefits and more. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA press rlease read as,
United Flight Attendants are demanding significant double-digit base pay increase, pay for time at work on the ground, retroactive pay to the amendable date, schedule flexibility and work rule improvements, job security, retirement and more.
United and other airlines staged protest rallies at U.S. airports earlier this year to draw attention to their demands and to pressure management to act.
As per Diaz, the United management team gives themselves massive compensation increases while Flight Attendants struggle to pay basic bills. They are now unified in the fight against corporate greed and ready to fight for a fair share of the profits they create.
United Airlines said in a statement,
“We continue to work toward an industry-leading agreement for our flight attendants, including negotiations this week and every month through November. Both sides have been actively engaged in these negotiations facilitated by the federal mediator requested by the union. We remain eager to reach an agreement.”
The airline added further on the development,
“To be clear, there is no work stoppage or labor disruption. Instead, off-duty flight attendants are exercising their right to conduct an informational picket. Federal law bars a strike until after a lengthy process that includes a release from mediation, which can only be granted by the National Mediation Board.”
As per the press relese, United Flight Attendants filed for federal mediation over eight months ago and have been working under an amendable contract for nearly three years. It is the first time in 20 years that flight attendants at the airline voted on strike authorization.
In July this year, American Airlines flight attendants and company agreed to a tentative contract that contains $4.2 billion in pay and benefits, including an immediate 18% raise and boarding pay, with some veteran workers in line for much higher increases.
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA is going to seek to enter the 30-day "cooling-off" period required by the National Mediation Board (NMB), before the Board takes a call, whether to allow a strike!
Worth mentioning here, unlike the unionized U.S. workers, those governed by the National Labor Relations Board, airline workers fall under the jurisdiction of the NMB, and it's nor always they grant permission for a strike.
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