United Flight Attendants Demonstrate at 19 Airports Nationwide to Demand Fair Contract as Holiday Travel Takes Off
Days after the union filed for federal mediation in the heated contract negotiations, United Airlines demonstrated across the nation to demand a fair share of United’s multi-billion dollar profits.
CHICAGO - On Thursday, December 14, United Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), staged a nationwide day of action at 19 airports to demand United Airlines executives get serious about negotiating a fair contract with the airline’s largest, most-passenger facing workgroup.
The latest action from flight attendants comes on the heels of AFA filing for federal mediation under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board in order to bring over two years of negotiations to a close. At Thursday’s pickets, Flight Attendants called out the greed and disrespect of United executives. After decades of austerity and delayed improvements, Flight Attendants are demanding a fair contract. United Pilots recently negotiated a new contract with significant improvements, and Flight Attendants have made it clear they won’t settle for less than a fair deal.
“Flight Attendants kept United in the air during the biggest crisis our industry has ever faced,” said Ken Diaz, President of the AFA United Master Executive Council. “We served our passengers through extreme challenges—the pandemic, a rash of unruly passenger behavior and operational meltdowns. It’s time for United to stop playing games and negotiate a fair contract that recognizes our contribution to this airline’s record success.”
Earlier this month, United CEO Scott Kirby absurdly stated “...the flight attendant negotiations did not really start until after the pilots got their deal done [in September].”
“We’ve been at the table for over two years while United management’s heads were in the clouds,” said Diaz. “We’re done being disrespected. We’re going to negotiate a contract that reflects our contribution to this company, and we’re not going to let management delay any longer.”
Across the country, thousands of Flight Attendants took to the picket lines today to ask United management: “which side of Santa’s list do you want to be on?”
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The Association of Flight Attendants is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for over 78 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 50,000 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.
