Flight attendants at United Airlines have voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike unless the Chicago-based carrier agrees to double-digit pay rises and a slew of other demands, including retroactive pay, and pay for any time flight attendants spend on the ground.
With a turnout of 90% of eligible crew members, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) said on Wednesday that 99.99% voted in favor of authorizing strike action following the nearly month-long ballot.
Wednesday’s ballot result is the first time since 2005, when United was in bankruptcy protection, that flight attendants at the airline have authorized strike action should protracted negotiations fail to deliver the concessions they are demanding.
“We deserve an industry-leading contract. Our strike vote shows we’re ready to do whatever it takes to reach the contract we deserve,” commented Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of AFA, after the ballot results were published.
Diaz added: “The United management team gives themselves massive compensation increases while Flight Attendants struggle to pay basic bills.”
“The 99.99% yes vote is a clear reminder that we are unified in the fight against corporate greed and ready to fight for our fair share of the profits we create.”
Strike authorization votes have almost become part and parcel of airline contract negotiations, and recent deals at American Airlines and Southwest were only landed after flight attendants threatened crippling walkouts.
A strike authorization vote also proceeded a tentative agreement for Alaska Airlines flight attendants, although crew members at the Seattle-based carrier recently voted down the proposed contract. AFA-CWA must now go back to the airline in an attempt to renegotiate elements of the agreement.
Flight attendants at Alaska and American Airlines fought for the concept of ‘Boarding Pay’ to be included in their updated contracts, which, as the name suggests, sees them paid for time spent boarding and deplaning.
United’s flight attendants want to take that concept one step further with ‘Ground Time Pay’ in which crew members would be paid half their hourly rate whenever they are on the clock but not physically flying.
Traditionally, United’s flight attendants have only been paid from the time the aircraft pushes back from the gate to the point at which the plane arrives at its destination.
Ground Time Pay would massively benefit newer flight attendants who spend a lot more of their time working multiple short flights a day and going from plane to plane.
Contract negotiations at United have been dragging on for three years, although any potential strike is still a very long way off. For a strike to proceed, the union would have to request that the National Mediation Board (NMB) declare an impasse and release the two sides into a 30-day cooling-off period.
During bargaining between the flight attendant union and American Airlines, the NMB proved incredibly reluctant to declare an impasse and continued pushing the two sides to negotiate until an amicable deal was eventually reached.
