With time running out for the labor-friendly Biden Administration, flight attendant contract negotiations at United Airlines remain stalled with the two sides far apart and the union now resorting to petty name-calling.
Report: Contract Negotiations At United Are Not Progressing Toward A Deal, With Flight Attendants Calling CEO Scott Kiby “Greedy” And “Vicious”
A report suggests that federal mediators have made a “curveball decision” to suspend contract negotiations for the remainder of 2024. If true, that leaves flight attendants very little time to agree on a new deal prior to the incoming Trump Administration.
Disagreement remains on ground duty (boarding) pay, retro pay, ratification bonus, and inflation indexing. The AFA wants a 28% immediate raise and a 4% annual raise in perpetuity. United has scoffed at such an open-ended agreement.
Now, the AFA plans a “day of action” on December 19, 2024, telling flight attendants:
We refuse to let Scott the greedy Grinch steal our holiday wishes, do away with the concessions and quit being cheap and vicious.
Greedy grinch? Vicious?
I suppose it plays to the base…
But with a new administration coming in January that may fill the National Mediation Board (NMB) with more business-friendly board members, time is quickly running out for a new contract. In fact, it may already be too late.
In light of the NMB’s decision to suspend contract negotiations for the remainder of the year, it is looking more likley than ever that 1.) a contract is still far off and 2.) flight attendants will find a steeper hill to climb in finalizing a new contract.
While the union warns of CHAOS (“Create Havoc Around Our System”), that represents more targeted interruption as opposed to a widescale strike. Even that is only permitted with the permission of the NMB and this week’s news and the longstanding reluctance to declare an impasse may lead to lower wages for United flight attendants than negotiators have worked for years to secure.
