American Airlines on the brink of a strike ahead of the busy summer season | The Gateway expert

American Airlines is tends towards a strike by flight attendants ahead of the busy summer travel season.

The current contract expired in 2019 and cost-of-living adjustments have remained stable at rates negotiated in 2014.

Whatever you think about unions, workers are suffering in the Biden economy.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) issued a statement to members advising them to prepare for a strike.

Update on association negotiations #56
Intensive mediation ends without an agreement;
Flight attendants must prepare for an attack

Two weeks of intensive mediation at the National Mediation Board (NMB) office in Washington DC did not lead to an agreement with American Airlines. These sessions followed three weeks of mediation at DFW. At the request of the NMB, we cannot release certain details. We remain divided on the key economics of the deal, plus the company’s completely unacceptable demand to schedule concessions.

More information on the status of the negotiations and the next steps will follow soon. We think that the board will call on the parties in the next two weeks for a last desperate attempt, but that has not yet been determined. We expect to have more information from the NMB on Monday and will send an update. If we are unable to reach an agreement, the matter will be referred to the NMB to determine whether we will be released. While these delays are frustrating, we also know that the company’s ability to delay these negotiations is quickly coming to an end.

All flight attendants must prepare for a strike. Strike manuals will be sent to the address on file with APFA.

Our right to strike under the Railway Labor Act has not changed. However, we cannot strike until the NMB releases and after a cooling-off period of thirty days. No unauthorized or illegal work actions may take place, including but not limited to delays/stoppages of work or concerted action of refusing to pick up outstanding fares. Do not endanger yourself or our collective efforts by advocating or participating in unauthorized or illegal activities.

However, the company remains tone deaf. For Flight Attendant Appreciation Day, the airline provided cold sandwiches with a side of low wages.

The comments on Instagram were brutal:

“Appreciate your FAs with that industry leading contract you promised!!!”

“Why don’t you post anything about the surgery over the last four to five days? About the FAs who are literally stranded across the country with no hotel, waiting on hold for hours tracking/scheduling, while not getting paid???”

“I have been on holiday since 3am for the past few days dealing with texts and calls from FAs as you have deliberately left them stranded, lost in the system, abandoned and unsupported. We don’t need an IG shoutout, we need reliable infrastructure and consistency from the company we work for. Go the extra mile and for God’s sake, next time, leave the stale cookies and cured ham sandwiches in the drafts folder. Pay us what you owe us.”

Some directly called out American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, who received new compensation rising to more than $31 million in 2023.

“@robert_isom Honest question; Do you think you work 2,100 times smarter or harder than a flight attendant? I don’t think that is physically possible as we are being pushed to the limit. Days of 17 hours with 6 hours of rest are not even unusual. So why are you paying yourself more than 2,100 times a flight attendant’s salary? Your flight attendants want to move on with their lives, buy a car, buy a house, start a family, not be afraid of the supermarket because we can’t afford food.

‘YOU FAILED US. @robert_isom@americanair Signed, more than 27,000 flight attendants who respectfully do not need your humiliating ham sandwiches today, but would rather have a contract. Thank you.”

Below the Railroad Labor Actthe National Mediation Council often does not allow this strikes, but a A bipartisan group of 168 lawmakers urged the administration to do so “to use all instruments at its disposal to promote the resolution of these negotiations.”

We are writing to express our concern about the number of ongoing, lengthy contract negotiations between parties before the National Mediation Board. As you know, there are thousands of employees across the country who are currently subject to lengthy contract negotiations, and we urge you to use the tools at your disposal to ensure the timely resolution of these matters.

Firstly, we would like to acknowledge the work of the National Mediation Board (NMB) in dealing with the unprecedented level of negotiations in recent years due to pent-up demand due to delayed negotiations during COVID. With the help of the NMB, most of these negotiations have been completed, which demonstrates the professionalism and hard work of the Board of Directors and your employees. We do everything we can to provide you with the tools to do your work in the future.

However, we are concerned about the increasing number of NMB contract negotiations that are unfairly conducted to the detriment of workers. We understand that there are some ongoing negotiations that have been dragging on for five years, and we have heard from employees who are rightly concerned that they are experiencing unfair delays in the negotiation process. For example, we know that there are currently more than 100,000 flight attendants in contract negotiations, many of whom are working under the terms of contracts that are now several years out from the contract date. Additionally, many of these workers have been on the front lines during the Covid pandemic and have made countless sacrifices to keep their companies afloat financially. It is important that they can reap the benefits of the collective bargaining process in a timely manner.

We are also concerned that the reason for these increasingly protracted negotiations is in part due to the recent inability of employees to take advantage of self-help options to ease labor disputes. It has long been known that the best way to achieve labor peace is through collective bargaining, backed by the threat of “self-help” for both sides, including the right to strike for workers. Workers from a range of professions have won groundbreaking new contracts in recent years, many of which have been won thanks to workers’ credible ability to exercise self-help options.

But in recent decades, employees’ ability to take advantage of self-help options has eroded. In fact, there have only been two airline worker strikes since 2006, the last of which was Spirit Airlines pilots in 2010, compared to dozens in the 1980s and 1990s. Management thus has little incentive to reach timely agreements with their employees, and many companies have used this development to their advantage: improvements in the lives of tens of thousands of frontline workers.

Accordingly, we urge the Board of Directors to use all instruments at its disposal to encourage the long overdue resolution of disputes with ratified agreements.

Thank you for your dedicated work to resolve disputes and please continue that work knowing that we support your efforts and use of the statute to encourage the resolution of contract disputes.