Spirit Flight Attendants Protest Event During Baldanza Speech
Flight Attendants and Supporters Hold Massive Demonstration at Event Featuring Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza
Washington, DC, December 7, 2012 – Spirit Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), and supporters from the Broward County labor community protested today outside a conference where Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza was a guest speaker. With hundreds in attendance, demonstrators called attention to the inequities Flight Attendants experience at Spirit Airlines.
“Spirit management’s failure to recognize the significant role Flight Attendants play in the success of the airline cannot be tolerated. The dedication and professionalism of Flight Attendants and our colleagues is what makes Spirit a thriving and vibrant airline. Yet management refuses to honor our contributions. At this point, management is choosing a path that leads to a strike and they have to be held accountable for their actions, Todd St. Pierre, AFA President at Spirit.
Spirit Flight Attendants indicated repeatedly they are willing to go to great lengths to reach an agreement. Last year, an overwhelming 98.4 percent voted to authorize a strike should negotiations reach an impasse. Earlier this year, AFA asked the National Mediation Board for a proffer of arbitration, which could result in a release to a 30-day cooling-off period and strike deadline. That decision may come at any time.
When the NMB legally permits both parties to seek self-help and ultimately strike, Spirit Flight Attendants will utilize AFA’s trademarked strike strategy, CHAOS™. With CHAOS, or Create Havoc Around Our System™, 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.
The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 67 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org .
