United Flight Attendants Prepare to Picket Amid Stalled Contract Negotiations
They are fighting to be paid for every hour they work
By Lina Fisher, Fri., Jan. 19, 2024
On Dec. 14, unionized United Airlines flight attendants picketed in 20 cities across the country, protesting protracted contract negotiations with United that have dragged on for two years. More than two-thirds of U.S. flight attendants are in contract negotiations right now, including those working for Alaska, Air Wisconsin, Omni, American, Southwest, Frontier, Mesa, and more. Delta is the only major airline that isn't unionized, though Teamsters began that process in November. In a show of solidarity, flight attendants from these and other airlines will picket at more than 30 airports on Feb. 13.
Elizabeth Hibbard, United AFA Council 42 president, said all of the attendants have similar demands and are facing similar opposition. One of the biggest issues is ground pay: "We're only paid while we're in the air. When I show up to work for a 12-hour day, I should be paid for all 12 hours, not just the six that I was working in the air. The boarding process is one of the most challenging times of the flight. We don't get paid until the aircraft door closes, and then we cease being paid when that aircraft door opens."
Other than ground pay, United flight attendants are fighting for respect at the bargaining table. Hibbard said, "We've been union as long as I've been a flight attendant; I've been here almost 30 years. But this negotiation has gone on much longer [than usual] – over two years. The proposals they're offering are not improvements. Everything is just what we already have or something worse." The United flight attendants filed for federal mediation at the beginning of December and were accepted by the National Mediation Board. This means the feds now set the timeline for negotiations and, crucially, flight attendants are released to strike under the Railway Labor Act.
Hibbard said when flight attendants are required to do something that is a contract violation, "they can't just say, 'Oh, I'm not doing that, that's a contract violation' – that flight attendant will be terminated. We have a very harsh disciplinary environment at United. And that's company-wide. You can have a perfect record and have one bad thing happen, and they will fire you." Hibbard said due process to appeal a layoff can take over a year "to get a job back that should never have been terminated in the first place."
Unionized Southwest Airlines flight attendants voted down their tentative agreement with the company in December, which Hibbard said is "a good thing for United because that's going to give us an opportunity to get even more out of these negotiations. Airlines tend to follow one another." Ahead of the Feb. 13 picket, a Jan. 3 press release from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents 50,000 flight attendants, said, "Our time on the job must be compensated. Legacy sexism that traditionally devalued our jobs must be stamped out and replaced with the true value of our work."
As flight attendants across other airlines experience similar stonewalling as those at United, pilots' unions are a different story. In September, United's pilots ratified what the union calls an industry-leading contract with improvements in work rules, sick leave, vacation time, and benefits, as well as a 40% raise over the next four years. Southwest pilots reached a deal in December. Hibbard said the United flight attendants picketed with pilots last summer before the deal was reached and pointed to their success as a sign that "United can afford it. We want to see all the work groups and all the airlines getting what they deserve."
Got something to say on the subject? Send a letter to the editor.
