Three separate unions representing flight attendants at major U.S. airlines are picketing and holding rallies at 30 airports on Tuesday as they push for new contracts and higher wages. The flight attendants are increasingly frustrated that pilots won huge pay raises last year while they continue to work for wages that, in some cases, have not increased in several years.
Quick Read
- Flight attendants from three different unions at major U.S. airlines are demonstrating at 30 airports for new contracts and higher wages.
- Their frustration stems from pilots receiving significant pay increases last year, while flight attendants’ wages have remained stagnant in some cases.
- The attendants highlight their essential role during the pandemic and their responsibility for passenger safety as reasons for deserving better compensation.
- The day of action is not a strike, due to the stringent federal laws that make legal strikes by airline unions challenging to execute.
- The protests involve the Association of Flight Attendants (representing United Airlines and others), the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (American Airlines), and the Transport Workers Union (Southwest Airlines and others).
The Associated Press has the story:
Flight attendants hold airport rallies to protest lack of new contracts, pay raises
Newslooks- (AP)
Three separate unions representing flight attendants at major U.S. airlines are picketing and holding rallies at 30 airports on Tuesday as they push for new contracts and higher wages.
The flight attendants are increasingly frustrated that pilots won huge pay raises last year while they continue to work for wages that, in some cases, have not increased in several years.
They argue that they have not been rewarded for working through the pandemic and being responsible for the safety of passengers.
The unions are calling Tuesday’s protests a national day of action. It is not a strike.
Federal law makes it difficult for airline unions to conduct legal strikes, which can be delayed or blocked by federal mediators, the president and Congress. Mediators have already turned down one request by flight attendants at American Airlines to begin a countdown to a strike; the union plans to ask again next month.
Tuesday’s protests were organized by the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents crews at United Airlines and several other carriers; the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the union of crews at American, and the Transport Workers Union, which represents crews at Southwest and other airlines.
