The largest flight attendant union in the United States has waded into the pro-choice/pro-life abortion debate following Politico’s now authenticated leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion to overturn longheld abortion rights.
Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) called the decision to overturn legally enshrined abortion rights in the landmark 1973 case of Roe v. Wade a “radical assault on our rights”.
The Association of Flight Attendants represents more than 50,000 flight attendants across the U.S. including United Airlines, Alaska, Spirit and Frontier. AFA is also forging ahead with a renewed bid to unionize flight attendants at Delta Air Lines.
“The Justices who wrote this draft opinion —will not stop here,” Nelson warned on Tuesday. “They will work to strip Americans of other freedoms we have fought for.”
“They will strip the freedom to marry from our LGBTQ colleagues and neighbors. They will strip away our rights to birth control. They have already gutted the right to vote, and our right to fair elections free of corporate influence. Our union will continue fighting for equality and freedom for all,” she continued.
The firebrand union leader has been a fierce advocate for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights and her opinions are firmly on the left of the political spectrum. She does, however, acknowledge that flight attendants represented by AFA might not agree with the union’s stance on this issue.
But Nelson likens the right to choose as enshrined in Roe v. Wade to the work that AFA did to grant women rights and equality within the aviation industry.
“Cabin crew fought executives who exploited our sexuality and pushed gender inequality to undermine the dignity of our work and push the value of our labor into their own pockets,” Nelson said.
“Choice and self-determination are at the foundation of why we formed our union 75 years ago… Airlines only hired white, single, childless women under age 32 who met specific height, weight, and male-defined appearance standards”.
She is now calling on airline executives to speak out against the Supreme Court’s draft opinion. Even normally political airlines like Delta are yet to comment, however, on the abortion debate.
To whom it may concern: You need to find something better to write about than this for a travel blog. Desperate for a story huh?
Thank you for your feedback. I strongly believe this is a story of public interest which is relevant to the niche of my blog.
If thats the case you need help in the travel space. This is a stretch to make it a travel related story.
Like clockwork, Sara Nelson chimes in on a social issue as she continues to burnish her progressive chops for a political career… but how about focusing on her membership (would require her to actually do her job) and negotiate a good contract for UAL FAs? AFA is on the defensive now as Delta unionization probably off the table for another couple of years. Time to get back to basics and do right by those paying dues!