United Airlines flight attendants have voted to strike. Of the 90.2 percent of United flight attendants who voted, 99.1 percent said they would strike if the airline’s management does not agree to a new collective bargaining agreement to improve wages and working conditions.
“We deserve an industry-leading contract,” Ken Diaz, president of the United Chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a statement. “Our strike vote shows we are willing to do whatever it takes to win the contract we deserve.”
United flight attendants are demanding double-digit pay increases, ground pay and back pay, as well as flexible schedules, job security and better retirement benefits.
“United’s management team is giving themselves massive raises while flight attendants are struggling to pay basic bills,” Diaz said.
The association said some of its members had not seen a wage increase for five years and were therefore struggling with higher prices.
“We continue to work toward an industry-leading agreement for our flight attendants, including negotiations this week and every month through November,” United said in a statement to Spectrum News. “Both sides have actively participated in these negotiations, which have been facilitated by the federal mediator requested by the union. We remain committed to reaching an agreement.”
“To be clear, this is not a work stoppage or a work stoppage. Instead, the off-duty flight attendants are exercising their right to conduct an informational strike. Federal law prohibits a strike only after a lengthy process that includes a release from mediation, which can only be granted by the National Mediation Board.”
In the event of a strike, the flight attendants’ association has trademarked a strategy called CHAOS (Create Havoc Around Our System), which neither informs management nor passengers and can affect the entire United system or a single flight.
The vote to authorize the strike came days before what is expected to be a record-breaking Labor Day weekend for travel. The Transportation Security Administration said it was preparing to screen at least 17 million people between Thursday and Wednesday – an 8.5% increase from last year.
The vote also came nearly three months after flight attendants demonstrated at 30 U.S. airports to demand new contracts, as more than 100,000 flight attendants are working on expired contracts or contracts that are still being negotiated. Flight attendants at Alaska, American, Southwest and United are all negotiating new contracts.
