Flight attendants at United Airlines have cast their votes and overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if they can’t come to an agreement with United management. The flight attendant’s, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America (AFA-CWA), voted 99.99% yes with 90.21% participation according to an announcement by the union.
The vote comes as negotiations between the airline and the AFA appear to have stalled. This is the first time since the 2005 bankruptcy negotiations that flight attendants at United have voted on strike authorization. Recently, we’ve seen strike authorization votes propel negotiations forward at American, Alaska, Southwest, and other airlines.
Ken Diaz, President of the United chapter of the AFA, had this to say regarding today’s vote:
“We deserve an industry-leading contract. Our strike vote shows we’re ready to do whatever it takes to reach the contract we deserve. 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.”
United’s flight attendants are asking for a long list of items including a significant double-digit base pay increase, pay for time at work on the ground (boarding pay), retroactive pay to the amendable date, schedule flexibility and work rule improvements, job security, retirement and more.
It’s worth noting that United flight attendants filed for federal mediation over eight months ago and have been working under an amendable contract for almost three years leading up to today’s vote.
What Happens Next?
While the strike authorization vote passed, it doesn’t mean that a strike is imminent. According to the AFA, the union could request a release from the National Mediation Board (NMB) leading to a 30-day “cooling off” period and strike deadline.
The AFA also has a trademarked strike strategy known as CHAOS™ or Create Havoc Around Our System™ that they may deploy. With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how to strike without notice to management or passengers.
Hopefully, for all parties involved, we don’t have to experience CHAOS anytime soon.
Summary
Flight attendants at United Airlines have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike. 99.99% of the votes cast were in favor, illustrating that there is very little disagreement over the directions these negotiations will take. Hopefully United management and AFA leadership can come to an agreement soon and get a new contract passed that is acceptable to all parties involved.
For now, as passengers, we just have to avoid the CHAOS (and United’s breakfast frittata).
