United Airlines flight attendants are to stage a ‘historic’ day of action outside the carrier’s headquarters in Chicago on October 17 in protest at stalled contract negotiations, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) has announced.
The informational picketing event will take place outside the iconic Willis Tower in downtown Chicago, where United Airlines has its management office, as well as other key departments, including its command and control center.
Frustrated flight attendants say they want to show the airline that “they are ready to take decisive action to secure the industry-leading Contract we have earned.”
“This Day of Action will be historic!” the union told its members in a recent memo. “We are taking our fight directly to the front steps of United Airlines Headquarters, standing firm against their concessions and delays on our future. United Flight Attendants are ready for a Contract NOW!”
Last month, United Airlines flight attendants voted overwhelmingly in favor of strike action unless the carrier agrees to double-digit pay rises and a slew of other demands, which include retro-pay and numerous lifestyle improvements.
With a turnout of 90% of eligible crew members, the union announced that 99.99% of United’s flight attendants had voted in favor of authorizing strike action unless a deadlock in contract negotiations can’t be broken.
Flight attendants haven’t voted to back a strike since 2005, when United Airlines was in bankruptcy protection.
One of the sticking points in negotiations is a new concept tabled by the union called ‘ground pay’ which, as the name suggests, would see flight attendants paid for any time they are on the ground.
At present, United’s flight attendants only get paid for the time they spend from pushback to arrival, which disadvantages new-hire crew who spend a lot of time on reserve or working multiple shorter flights per day.
Some airlines, including American Airlines and Delta, have introduced ‘boarding pay’ to ensure that flight attendants are at least paid for all the time they spend on a plane, but United’s flight attendants think this concept doesn’t go far enough to adequately compensate crew members for all the time they spend on the ground.
The Association of Flight Attendants often talks about its trademarked strike strategy known as CHAOS, which stands for ‘Create Havoc Around Our System’.
The truth, however, is that a potential strike is a long way off and the National Mediation Board (NMB) would have to first declare an impasse before any walkout could take place.
As we saw with contract negotiations at American Airlines, the NMB is incredibly reluctant to declare an impasse and will pressure the two sides to continue bargaining until a compromise can be reached.
