DENVER — Nearly 100% of participating United Airlines flight attendants voted to strike, according to results released Wednesday by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA).
According to the union, 90.21% of flight attendants participated in the vote and 99.99% of those participants voted to authorize the strike.
As the results were announced on Wednesday, a group of United flight attendants demonstrated at Denver International Airport (DIA).
Association of Flight Attendants – CWA
Among those striking was Chris Bruton. He has worked as a flight attendant for United Airlines for over 30 years and is currently chairman of the local council of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA).
“When I was hired in 1991, it was a fantastic job and you didn’t have to fly 120, 130 hours a month to make ends meet. But things have changed since then. It’s a tougher job,” Bruton said.
According to the union, this is the first time United flight attendants have voted to authorize a strike since 2005.
“Remember, under the Railroad Labor Act, our contracts don’t expire. They can be modified, which means we keep working but negotiate with the company,” Bruton explained. “All we’ve seen from United is delays and proposed concessions. In December, the Association of Flight Attendants, the flight attendants’ union, decided we wanted to use a mediator from the National Mediation Board just to make sure things moved forward. Since then, there have only been more proposed concessions on the table.”
The flight attendants are demanding better pay. Bruton said they are only paid for the work they do outside the gate, on the plane or in the air. The union wants flight attendants to receive ground pay.
Bruton said they also wanted higher boarding salaries and a better system for their reserve flight attendants.
According to the union, “United flight attendants are demanding a significant double-digit increase in their base salary, pay for time on the ground, retroactive pay to the change date, more flexible hours and improvements to work rules, job security, retirement and more.”
“For three years, there were no raises for flight attendants. And now, after the pandemic, we’re all feeling it. The cost of living has gone up, prices have gone up everywhere, and we can’t keep up with it. We actually have flight attendants living in their cars. We have flight attendants on welfare. I mean, it’s that bad,” Bruton said.
Bruton said delays in negotiations led to the decision to hold a vote on whether to authorize a strike. Both Bruton and United Airlines said the vote will have no impact on Labor Day travel.
“It doesn’t take much to cause a complete meltdown at United Airlines. But this strike vote gives us the right to strike, so we can act if we are laid off. But no, this vote is not going to do anything in the short term,” Bruton said. “Before a strike of any kind can take place under the Railroad Labor Act, there is a 30-day cooling-off period. So the mediator would give us that 30-day cooling-off period. That’s normally a period of intense negotiations.”
Association of Flight Attendants – CWA
United Airlines said in a statement that there would be no “work stoppages or disruptions” as a result of the vote.
Full explanation:
We continue to work toward an industry-leading agreement for our flight attendants, including negotiations this week and every month through November. 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 information 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.
United Media Relations
The strike strategy that United flight attendants would use is called CHAOS, which stands for “Create Havoc Around Our System.”
“There is no need for a full strike. In fact, nobody knows when, where or how we will strike. Management doesn’t know, passengers don’t know. It will be a complete surprise if we are cleared to strike,” Bruton said of the CHAOS system.
Association of Flight Attendants – CWA
Despite the difficulties Bruton is currently facing as a flight attendant, he believes that looking for a new job is not the solution.
“It’s a hard job to quit. It’s basically a great lifestyle. It’s a great work style. It gets difficult when you have management that doesn’t recognize the value of the person, the value of the employee and our contribution. So quitting is not an option,” Bruton said. “The best option is to take care of your people and they will then take care of the customer.”
United’s flight attendants had been working under an amendable contract for about three years and had filed a request for arbitration eight months ago.
According to DIA, this will be a record-breaking holiday weekend, with the two busiest days expected to be Friday and Monday.
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