American Airlines and flight attendants are down to the wire in negotiations. They’re meeting with federal mediators next week in Washington, D.C. in what the union calls a “last ditch” effort.
The National Mediation Board doesn’t want to authorize a strike, which is bad for the economy and will be unpopular with travelers before the election. There would be pressure on the President to halt the strike, as Bill Clinton did with American Airlines pilots (and pressured both American and flight attendants to agree to arbitration), but he’d be in an impossible position because interfering with a strike would be seen by his labor supporters as betrayal.
The airline has increased its financial offer, the union has moderated theirs, but they’re still far apart it seems not just on wages but also on retro pay and work rules.
On Wednesday the airline went directly to employees and told them that – with the union’s permission, which is required – they would immediately raise pay 17% and implement Delta’s profit sharing formula. This would be outside of contract negotiations, and would not require giving up anything, it would just mean bigger checks while negotiations continue. Naturally it’s aimed at avoiding a strike while negotiations continue.
As I wrote to expect, this angered the union. The union board unanimously rejected it.
Aside from the fact that the union has been emphasizing how much flight attendants need the money – that they haven’t seen a pay increase since January 1, 2019, that their wages have been eroded by inflation, and that starting pay is quite low – and this would have delivered more pay to struggling flight attendants immediately without committing the union to anything at all – turning down the immediate raise is bad strategy.
The smart thing would have been to take the money since nothing was required in exchange – it was literally just allowing the airline to increase paychecks without a new contract or accepting any company terms whatsoever. You don’t leave free money on the table especially when you… need the money. This would have set a new baseline to negotiate upwards from.
There are still four days mediated bargaining next week to see what’s next. Flight attendants are being told to prepare to skip credit card payments. A strike is not clearly better than taking higher pay and continuing to negotiate.
viewfromthewing.com
Why do employees want unions again? If I was a flight attendant I'd be completely outraged at "my" union for turning down this raise.
The National Mediation Board doesn’t want to authorize a strike, which is bad for the economy and will be unpopular with travelers before the election. There would be pressure on the President to halt the strike, as Bill Clinton did with American Airlines pilots (and pressured both American and flight attendants to agree to arbitration), but he’d be in an impossible position because interfering with a strike would be seen by his labor supporters as betrayal.
The airline has increased its financial offer, the union has moderated theirs, but they’re still far apart it seems not just on wages but also on retro pay and work rules.
On Wednesday the airline went directly to employees and told them that – with the union’s permission, which is required – they would immediately raise pay 17% and implement Delta’s profit sharing formula. This would be outside of contract negotiations, and would not require giving up anything, it would just mean bigger checks while negotiations continue. Naturally it’s aimed at avoiding a strike while negotiations continue.
As I wrote to expect, this angered the union. The union board unanimously rejected it.
Aside from the fact that the union has been emphasizing how much flight attendants need the money – that they haven’t seen a pay increase since January 1, 2019, that their wages have been eroded by inflation, and that starting pay is quite low – and this would have delivered more pay to struggling flight attendants immediately without committing the union to anything at all – turning down the immediate raise is bad strategy.
- Gives up moral outrage. Flight attendants can no longer complain about qualifying for food stamps. That was imposed on them by the union.
- Blunder in negotiating the best deal. They could have taken the 17%, and are still bargaining over the 11% additional wage gap in their positions. And American will no longer be able to say they are giving ‘most of’ what flight attendants are asking for.
American’s current offer is ‘no additional wage increases’ beyond the 17% (just boarding pay, greater retirement contributions) but at that point why would flight attendants agree to a new contract that includes changes the airline wants? The airline is starting from zero but still faces the possibility of a strike. American’s deal forces the airline to up its offer. Mid-contract raises ultimately led to mechanics getting more in their deal not less.
- Doesn’t actually increase flight attendant leverage. The union didn’t take it because they think it means the National Mediation Board would wait longer to release them negotiations if they accepted. The unaccepted offer could have that same effect. The board wants any excuse not to have a major airline strike especially right before a presidential election.
- American’s offer would have made a strike more costly. If/when flight attendants execute CHAOS strike (skipping specific flights each day, not doing a full walkout – which is what they’ve talked about), the airline would be paying most flight attendants even as customers booked away. This would have raised the cost to the airline imposed by the strike. The strike would have been 17% more costly in terms of flight attendant wages American is still paying.
The smart thing would have been to take the money since nothing was required in exchange – it was literally just allowing the airline to increase paychecks without a new contract or accepting any company terms whatsoever. You don’t leave free money on the table especially when you… need the money. This would have set a new baseline to negotiate upwards from.
There are still four days mediated bargaining next week to see what’s next. Flight attendants are being told to prepare to skip credit card payments. A strike is not clearly better than taking higher pay and continuing to negotiate.
Union's Critical Blunder: Turning Down 17% Pay Raise Leaves American Airlines Crew Struggling - View from the Wing
The smart thing would have been to take the money since nothing was required in exchange - it was literally just allowing the airline to increase paychecks without a new contract or accepting any company terms whatsoever. You don't leave free money on the table especially when you... need the...
Why do employees want unions again? If I was a flight attendant I'd be completely outraged at "my" union for turning down this raise.
