Hoping to leverage the looming Labor Day travel rush to secure better pay and working conditions, unionized United Airlines flight attendants on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike if management fails to meet their demands.
The United flight attendants—who are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA)—voted 99.99%, with 90.21% of members participating, to greenlight a work stoppage unless they win concessions including a double-digit raise, more schedule flexibility, improved work rules, job security, and retirement benefits.
"We deserve an industry-leading contract. Our strike vote shows we're ready to do whatever it takes to reach the contract we deserve," said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of AFA."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 United management team gives themselves massive compensation increases while flight attendants struggle to pay basic bills," Diaz added."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."
Kim Montgomery, who has been a flight attendant for 38 years and is president of the Council 6 chapter at AFA-CWA that represents workers based out of Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, toldThe Bergen Record that United "continues to make money hand over fist."
"Our leaders get pay raises regularly while some of us have not gotten a raise in years," she added. "We have flight attendants who are struggling to make ends meet while our CEOs are on private jets. We want some respect shown in the contract."
AFA said it can now seek to enter the 30-day "cooling-off" period required by the National Mediation Board (NMB) before the federal agency decides whether to allow a strike. Unlike unionized U.S. workers governed by the National Labor Relations Board, airline and rail workers fall under the jurisdiction of the NMB, which rarely grants permission to strike.
United AFA members staged picket marches at 20 U.S. airports on Tuesday after the union vote result was announced. Flight attendants chanted slogans including, "United Airlines, you're no good, pay your workers like you should," and, "Delay, delay, delay is not okay."
United Flight attendants—who have been working under an amendable contract for nearly three years—applied for federal mediation over eight months ago. AFA flight attendants from 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. Unionized United pilots also picketed for a better contract last year.
"We have not had a new contract since 2019, which means that we haven't had any raises since 2019," said one American Airlines AFA member in a More Perfect Unionvideo published last year. "We kept this airline running during a pandemic, and all we're asking for is fair wages. All we're asking for is quality of life improvements."
Last month, American Airlines flight attendants and company management 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.
