In this Oct. 15, 2020, file photo, a United Airlines plane takes off over a plane on the runway at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. | Jeff Chiu/AP
CHICAGO — With a 99.99 percent majority and a 90.21 percent turnout, United Airlines’ 28,000 unionized flight attendants have authorized their bosses to call a strike. The main reason: the company’s refusal to even consider a decent collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expired three years ago.
The vote on strike authorization sends a signal to management at Chicago-based United Airlines that the flight attendants, who are members of the Association of Flight Attendants (CWA), are serious about their demands.
Now that United is flying full planes and making a profit again, flight attendants should get a bigger share of the money they earn from their work. The union is demanding a double-digit pay increase over the life of the new contract, higher pay for actual time worked – including pre- and post-flight preparation work – pay increases retroactive to the last three years and better work rules.
“With travel beginning on Labor Day, United management is reminded of what is at stake if we don’t get this done,” Ken Diaz, president of the AFA’s United Master Executive Council, said in the AFA statement.
“United’s management team is giving themselves massive raises while flight attendants are struggling to pay basic bills. The 99.99 percent yes vote is clear evidence that we are united in the fight against corporate greed and ready to fight for our fair share of the profits we generate.”
Based on federal data, Executive Paywatch of the AFL-CIO reported that United CEO Scott Kirby earned $18,573,299 last year, about 60 percent of which came from his stock options. His annual salary was 299 times higher than that of the average United airline employee – a group that includes highly paid pilots. The median is the point at which half of the employees earn more and half earn less.
A strike authorization vote does not automatically mean a strike. Legally, railroads and airlines have even less opportunity for strikes than most other industries.
The pre-New Deal Railway Labor Act covered both groups and provided for federal cooling-off periods, mediation orders from the National Mediation Board, which has jurisdiction over those workers and industries, and settlements, often proposed by presidential committees and ratified by Congress, prohibiting strikes.
Until the NMB “releases” both the workers and the management to “help themselves” – strikes by the workers and lockouts by the bosses – everyone has to keep on toiling.
But the AFA’s trademarked strike strategy, CHAOS™ (Create Havoc Around Our System), could affect all United flights or individual flights if NMB clears the two. The AFA-CWA board would decide when, where and how to strike without notice to management.
The announcement of the strike authorization on August 28 coincided with a national day of action called by the AFA-CWA against United. Information strikes were set up at Washington Dulles Airport, United’s main hub at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, and at San Diego and San Francisco airports in California, among others.
Protesters marching and chanting at the airports informed customers about the situation. Since their collective agreement expired three years ago, the flight attendants’ salaries have been frozen. And employee protection measures such as complaints cannot be processed.
“We deserve an industry-leading contract. Our strike vote shows we are willing to do whatever it takes to get the contract we deserve. As travel begins on Labor Day, United management will be reminded of what is at stake if we don’t get this done,” the union tweeted.
“We know our power. We know our worth. No concessions. #WhateverItTakes #DealNow @afa_cwa,” read another tweet.
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