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Flight Attendants

Strike Threat Wins Boarding And Retro Pay At American Airlines

Flight attendants at American Airlines were celebrating September 12 after approving a new five-year agreement by 87 percent, with 95 percent turnout. They won a big retroactive pay package and an immediate wage increase of 20 percent. They also became the first flight attendants to nail down boarding pay in a union contract. Flight attendants typically are not paid until the aircraft doors close. All that greeting, seating, sorting out problems, and assistance with bags is off the clock. “The coolest thing is I had people from so many different unions across the country texting me congratulations,” said Alyssa Kovacs, a flight attendant in Chicago.

Pilots Got Their Payday; Now Flight Attendants Push For Higher Wages

Airline pilots won pay raises worth billions of dollars in new labor deals last year. Flight attendants are now pushing for similar improvements. Flight attendants from United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and others picketed Tuesday at dozens of airports around the U.S., demanding higher wages and a better quality of life. “We have been in a period of austerity for 20 years, and it’s time the industry paid up,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents cabin crews at United, Spirit, Frontier and others. The demonstrations mark the first mass pickets jointly held by the labor unions, which represent more than 100,000 flight attendants at U.S. airlines between them.

American Airlines Flight Attendants Move Closer To Strike

American Airlines flight attendants will hold a strike vote starting this month, their union announced Tuesday. The vote will begin July 28 and end August 29, with the result announced the next day. More than 26,000 flight attendants are seeking wage increases in a new contract with the airline. “Flight Attendants are ready for an agreement that respects our contributions to the success of this carrier,” Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Julie Hedrick said in a statement. “Our contract became amendable in 2019, and American’s Flight Attendants have not received cost-of-living increases or any other quality-of-life improvements."
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