Union Leader Looks To ‘Humanize’ American Airlines And To ‘Class Struggle’

American Airlines flight attendants resoundingly approved their new contract on the first vote, a one-off that came during a summer when two flight attendant groups rejected initial deals and on the same day that Boeing mechanics went out on strike.

On Thursday, the 28,000 members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants approved a five-year deal that brings raises up to 20.5% starting in October, boarding pay and significant retroactive pay that will reach low to mid five figures (up to $50,000) for many. APFA said 95% of members voted and 87% approved.

Now, APFA President Julie Hedrick has two goals for the union. One is to “humanize” the carrier and the other is to become more involved in labor issues. Hedrick recalled Friday, in an interview, that when Robert Isom was designated CEO in 2021, she said that he needed “to have a human factor.

“The human factor is still missing from our management team,” she said. “We will continue to work on that. We will show that flight attendants, and all employees, are not just numbers. We will keep pushing for change. Flight attendants love their jobs, but the level of discipline added over two years has been excessive. It truly deteriorates morale.”

Secondly, Hedrick said, she wants APFA to become more involved in the labor movement. In its prepared statement following approval, APFA negotiators said, “this agreement would not have been possible without the support of our union siblings across industries and occupations” and noted that more than 50 unions had supported its contract fight.

“We have mobilized so many flight attendants, brought in so many people, working in this union, who have a passion for making things better,” Hedrick said. “They inspire me every day. I look forward to working more with them and making changes here. What we have been trying to do is to change from a single-business union to a class struggle union. We will do everything we possibly can, not just for our profession but for all workers.”

Hedrick has a good relationship with Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United and Alaska flight attendants and is seeking to organize Delta flight attendants. “We want to help with United and we want to help Delta become more unionized,” Hedrick said. Alaska flight attendants rejected their first tentative agreement and await a second. Southwest flight attendants, members of the Transport Workers Union, rejected their first TA and approved a second.

Hedrick, a 42-year flight attendant, was elected to a second four-year terms as APFA president in March. Before her first election in 2020, she was lead negotiator. A 2014 tentative agreement was initially rejected. The contract became amendable in 2019, but the pandemic delayed negotiations until August 2021. So flight attendants were working under a ten-year-old agreement.

From the start of the talks, she said, she sought to ensure transparency and membership inclusion. APFA continually updated its website with explainers and specific details, and it trained a contract action team at every base. Additionally, the union organized 14 days of picketing and a half dozen “march on the boss” events where members confronted Isom or other executives.

“In the age we are living in, people want information,” Hedrick said. “If you’re not transparent, then no one thinks you have their best interest at heart. They’re not going to believe you.” APFA laid out every detail on its website. If negotiators had to trade off wage demands for better working conditions, it laid out the pros and cons of the trade-off. “This was the first time APFA had everything transparent,” she said. “We kept people updated.”

Besides updates, the website had calculators for four contract items – boarding pay, retro pay, 401K contributions and pay per trip – so that members could compare what they had made in a month to what they would make under the new contract.

Hedrick said the turning point came in June, when negotiators spent a week at the table in Washington, D.C. at the end of which American moved significantly on pay. Then came a key phone call between Hedrick and Isom, a pause for July 4^th and a meeting in Phoenix where a tentative agreement was reached. “The company had a framework where they would match Delta wages, and they held onto that position until the last weekend,” Hedrick said.

Throughout, the possibility loomed that the National Mediation Board would release the parties into a 30-day cooling off period, after which APFA could strike.

Facilitators including Julie Su, acting secretary of labor, and Linda Puchala, a member of the National Mediation Board. “Julie Su got very involved,” Hedrick said. “She was the key person in getting the agreement done. There were many late-night phone calls with us to help us plan our next move, and also she was pushing the company. She was there on a phone call, which she helped to set up, between Robert Isom on myself, where I told him what we needed – more money and more flexibility.

“Without her, we would still be negotiating,” Hedrick said.