Flight attendants at United Airlines are said to be livid after federal mediators made a curveball decision to suspend contentious contract decisions until the New Year following the latest bargaining session in San Antonio, Texas, on November 11.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) and United have been in prolonged contract negotiations for some time amidst accusations that the Chicago-based carrier has been deliberately stalling over the course of more than 171 days of face-to-face talks.
The surprise decision to further delay bargaining sessions until the start of 2025 at the earliest will raise fears that very little can be achieved in negotiations before the Trump administration takes over the White House on January 20.
At that point, Sara Nelson, the national president of the flight attendant union, has already warned that achieving their demands will become a lot harder.
During the last bargaining session, the two sides failed to reach any further tentative agreements, and a slew of outstanding sections within the contract will require a lot more discussion before compromises can be reached.
Most important, perhaps, is the economics section, with the union and the airline still very far apart and no agreement remains in sight.
The union is calling for an inflation-busting 28% pay raise in the contract’s first year, followed by 4% every year after that as part of an open-ended agreement, along with a ratification bonus, retro pay, and a new pay concept known as ‘ground duty pay.’
Meanwhile, United is only willing to match the same pay rates that were recently approved at American Airlines and are refusing demands for a ratification bonus, retro pay, and ground duty pay.
Following 14 federally mediated bargaining sessions, the two sides have so far only managed to agree on 13 sections out of a total of 34 sections, leading the union to conclude that United is seeking major concessions from its crew members.
Earlier this month, the union told its members that it was preparing the groundwork for a possible strike by setting up a list of volunteers who would be first to be called upon in the event of a walkout.
The Association of Flight Attendants uses a strike strategy known as ‘Create Havoc Around Our System’ or CHAOS, which doesn’t necessarily involve an all-out strike but could potentially mean flight attendants target certain flights with very little notice.
The strategy is designed to prevent airlines from training office workers to take over as flight attendants in the event of an all-out strike.
Any strike would, however, need to be approved by the National Mediation Board (NMB), which has proved incredibly reluctant to declare an impasse even under the guidance of the Biden administration.
