Posts tagged flight attendants
Southwest Airlines strikes new deals with flight attendants, mechanics unions
June 6, 2023 // The Dallas-based airline announced this weekend that it has reached agreements in principle with unions representing its flight attendants and its mechanics. They are the seventh and eighth agreements Southwest has reached with its union partners since October 2022.
Smart: SkyWest Will Pay Flight Attendants During Boarding
May 2, 2023 // Now we’re seeing the two airlines without flight attendant unions be the first to introduce boarding pay, while all the airlines with unionized flight attendants haven’t been able to do this yet. Admittedly I’m sure boarding pay will come for unionized flight attendants, but it will come as part of a larger contract negotiation, and presumably there will be an opportunity cost to it. Delta and SkyWest management are playing a smart game here, and are putting those trying to push for unionization at Delta and SkyWest in a tough position.
JetBlue ground operations workers seek union representation
September 29, 2022 // A vote in favor could create the third-largest unionized work group at the New York-based airline. JetBlue’s pilots and flight attendants are already unionized. It would come during a wave of union votes across companies from Amazon to Starbucks . A vote could also take place while JetBlue is in the process of trying to acquire budget airline Spirit Airlines , where more than 80% of employees are represented by unions, compared with JetBlue’s 46%, according to annual company filings.
Worker protests at airports spread nationwide over staffing and pay
September 27, 2022 // Cashiers, baristas, bartenders, cooks and lounge attendants at San Francisco International Airport launched an open-ended strike Monday over staffing levels and wages, shutting down most of one of the nation’s busiest airport’s food concessions. Flight attendants at United and Southwest airlines on Tuesday are expected to demonstrate at 21 airports around the United States, including Guam, as well as in London, to draw attention to workplace problems made worse by understaffing.
Delta flights attendants race to unionize: ‘We’re the people behind the profits’
August 4, 2022 // Workers are racing to gather union authorization cards signed by a supermajority at Delta to trigger a union election over the next few months, as signatures are only valid for one year. The aim is to allow the airline’s 23,000 flight attendants to vote on whether to unionize with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) and will face fierce opposition from an airline that has fought previous efforts. “Delta is a company that has long union-busted, has deep roots in union-busting, and it is integrated into everything the company does,” said Sara Nelson, president of the AFA-CWA. Only about 20% of the workforce at Delta is represented by a labor union, consisting of pilots and dispatchers, compared with 86% of the workforce at American Airlines, 85% at United, 82% at Southwest, 86% at Alaska and 48% at JetBlue.
Flight Attendant Triumphs Over TWU Union and Southwest in Suit About Illegal Firing; Jury Awards $5.1 Million in Damages
July 18, 2022 // Southwest Airlines flight attendant Charlene Carter has just prevailed in her federal lawsuit in which she charged the Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 556 union and Southwest for illegally firing her for her religious opposition to abortion. She received free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Audrey Stone, the union president,
Federal Judge Rejects Attempt by TWU Union and Southwest to Thwart Flight Attendant’s Religious Discrimination Suit
May 11, 2022 // Carter resigned from union membership but was still forced to pay fees to TWU Local 556 as a condition of her employment. State Right to Work laws do not protect her from forced union fees because airline and railway employees are covered by the federal Railway Labor Act (RLA). The RLA allows union officials to have a worker fired for refusing to pay union dues or fees. But it does protect the rights of employees to remain nonmembers of the union, to criticize the union and its leadership, and advocate for changing the union’s current leadership.
Airport Workers Rally For Better Pay, Working Conditions Nationwide
March 30, 2022 // The contracted workers are demanding that American Airlines, United and other major U.S. airlines sign a pledge to ensure that the companies they contract with pay fair wages to airport workers and provide affordable health insurance and benefits like paid sick days.