I’ve been speaking to a lot of United Airlines flight attendants about the new tentative contract and a strong consensus seems to be emerging: they are voting it down. Let’s explore why.
“We’re Voting No!” United Flight Attendants Revolt Against Tentative Contract
View From The Wing notes a change.org petition calling on United flight attendants to dump the AFA-CWA union, alleging it has let workers down and wholly mismanaged the negotiations for a new contract. Here’s why many flight attendants are angry:
- No new contract in nearly five years, yet dues continue to be deducted with no results. Meanwhile, union leadership awarded themselves a 37% pay raise.
- Stagnant wages and alleged “wage theft” from payroll errors, unfair policies, and mismanagement…leaving flight attendants out of pocket without union support.
- Reserve system failure: new hires are financially drained and unstable, struggling under a broken scheduling system.
- Union blocked reinstatement of pensions: leadership allegedly voted down a company-offered pension reinstatement, sacrificing attendants’ financial security.
- Secret side-letter during COVID: the union signed a vaccine-mandate agreement without member input, forcing workers into unpaid leave or termination.
- Executives get bonuses and stock buybacks while flight attendants go unpaid and unprotected…and the union has remained silent.
- Strike authorization ignored: after 99.9% of flight attendants voted to authorize a strike in 2024, the union stalled instead of acting.
The petition says, “This is our chance to reclaim our power, fight for what we deserve, and build a union that actually represents us.” I’m not sure all of these points are fair: for example, what was the AFA supposed to do concerning the strike authorization when even the National Mediation Board during the Biden Administration made clear there would be no strike?
On the other hand, AFA President Sara Nelson, herself a United flight attendant, seems far more interested in advancing her own political career than winning a leading contract for her colleagues. Furthermore, hindsight is always 20/20, but it does seem the union erred in waiting until other airlines negotiated contracts before negotiating a contract for United employees.
CONCLUSION
United flight attendants appear unhappy with the tentative contract and most that I talk to say they will be voting against it. The grievances listed above, whether fair or not, help to explain why.
I feel like when I write stories like this, I’m quickly attacked for being anti-union, but that is simply not the case. As the airline I use most, I know that flight attendants have been waiting patiently for a new contract and I want to see this completed. There’s no reason why United flight attendants should not enjoy a contract that is as competitive as Alaska, American, or Delta.
image: United Airlines
I feel like it’s an insult to all the due-paying members of the AFA that they pour tons of resources into unionizing Delta at a time when their current members most desperately need the union to stand up for them. The AFA also essentially gambled their members’ well-being by waiting for AA to finish its contract negotiations, even providing resources to APFA, before continuing with their own negotiations even though the window for a good contract wasn’t gonna last forever.
When the AFA messes up, it can just blame management for not negotiating in good faith. While that is true, and UA management could and should be doing more, management stubbornness should not be used as an accountability shield for union errors. Union members pay dues to the organization so that they may be able to hire people who are experienced in navigating tense negotiations, and are able to deliver something in spite of the challenges they face, instead of just whining to the news, the government, and their members when things don’t go their way.
Lastly, I agree with your point about Sara Nelson. She definitely seems to care more about using the fact that she’s a union chair to gain clout in the political world with the Democrats, and progressives in particular, and less about focusing on actually delivering for her due-paying members. She exhibits qualities you’d expect from a politician, not a union chair. It’s a politician’s job to call out companies when they’re being greedy. It’s a union chair’s job to be able to navigate that landscape to find a way to improve the well-being of its employees. I don’t think Nelson is focused enough on her job, and perhaps the AFA would be better off with someone else at the helm.
Yet , members vote for her , no ?
No
The local Presidents vote for her, so it is political. If you go against her, it doesn’t bode well for you or your Council. We tried to get a collective vote but AFA never addressed that, even with petitions requesting it. Time for new leaders or a new union, and very soon!
So, let me get this right. Your ‘scientific’ methodology is talking to several flight attendants out of some 28,000? This is a commentary on your ‘reporting’ skills. But, hey. At least you got in your blog for the week, right?
IMO, the members are foolishly using the contract vote to vent frustration with union itself. Yes, it took 5 years to negotiate, yes the executives got bonuses and so on…but at the end of the day, you need to skip that BS in the past and focus on the contact in front of you. Does the contact get what you want now? While the revenge “no” vote may make you feel good at the time, in reality all the revenge “no” vote will get you is more time at the substandard wages and benefits.
By the way, I do question Sara Nelson’s loyalties. Throughout the process with all the airlines, she seemed more interested in the spotlight than getting contracts resolved.
The union needs new leadership. How on earth is she still in charge?
Because members vote for her , maybe ?
But why keep voting for her when she isn’t doing what is best for the union members? Is there honestly nobody else who can step up?
Because it is their decision , maybe ? An outsider cannot kibbitz a voter .
See the vote in the last race for Mayor of Chicago. See the latest vote in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York.
See the reelection rates for members of Congress.
Not sure what those cases you mentioned have to do with this, or why nobody from within UA isn’t challenging her.
What do those examples have to do with it?? That people accept shit or even shittier. Don’t ask me why as I really cannot explain it…..
Nah, NYC seems to getting it right.
But hey, keep diverting the topic away just so you can express your own personal views that have nothing to do with the topic.
Yea, NY is “getting it right”.
Only a## fuc#ers would say that.
Again, slip and fall in a puddle of AIDS F######
You first, you insecure closeted kween.
the real issue is that UA waited for so long to settle because they know they cannot generate the profits they are reporting now and also pay their employees industry comparable rates.
the AFA was played by UA mgmt that is willing to throw out all of the employee goodwill that Oscar Munoz put into the company.
and remember that UA has 5 OTHER labor contracts that need to be resolved including their mechanics; UA pilots are the only large employee group that has a current contract.
The chances of UA customer service deteriorating as all of this plays out is very high. The chances of UA profits falling is equally high.
UA employees are no longer interested in singing Scott Kirby’s rah-rah tunes at the expense of their own well-being.
I mostly agreed, but it’s really hard to blame management for this…the AFA screwed thier own members. UA once claimed increased labor costs were factored into profit estimates, but I’m not so sure…I guess we’ll see.
the AFA clearly mismanaged the entire process. But UA has SIX outstanding labor contracts out. no other US airline is in anywhere close to the same position.
and UA very likely has factored in what THEY EXPECT TO PAY in their profit estimates – but that is the problem. They aren’t willing to pay what the FAs expect and, one way or another, there will be alot of dissatisfied FAs.
This will be very interesting to watch but what AA went through w/ its FAs could look like child’s play if UA FAs reject this contract proposal.
the mechanics have the potential to be far more effective in getting what they want and making their point if they don’t get it.
some of us knew that the trajectory that UA was on – and loved to brag about – was unsustainable. I am happy to give them credit if they really close the gap or surpass DL – but they can’t do that w/o shelling out some serious cash. If they don’t, they have a very unhappy workforce that will ruin the progress that Oscar handed Scott in employee relations which were bad for decades at UA
Management is FULLY to blame for over 90% of the delay of this contract. Covid is to blame for 8% of the delay. You also have some completely incorrect information from uninformed sources.
*no new contract in five years yet dues still deducted. And a raise to the union leaders.
The contract became amendable in 08/21. That would be LESS than 4 years. As for increases to pay…that is attributed to the international officers whose pay is based on a percentage of the highest fa pay at one of the AFA carriers. Some of the AFA carriers increased FA hourly rates.
*the union turned down a reinstatement of pensions.
First, the pension was turned over to the PBGC. There is NO reinstatement of a pension once the company was successful in taking it from the members. What the union did turn down is an offer from another union on the property to give us a pension through the IAMNPP, which is a multi-employee pension that the IAM manages. For history, the IAM, who was the union for Continental FAs , wanted the CO FAs to move their pension from the company CARP pension to the IAM and the CO FA members turned that down twice. The IAMNPP is a volatile pension which is not even secure for those members currently invested. AFA was not ready to expose their members to a non secure pension as well, many of the FAs would not adequately benefit from a NEW pension at their years and age. MANY believe that getting a pension is an automatic amount provided which is completely untrue. Pensions take years to accrue and you do not have the advantage of increasing that personal amount like a 401k would do.
*the union signed a vaccine mandate agreement without member input, forcing workers into unpaid leave or termination.
COMPLETELY UNTRUE. A vaccine mandate was put into place by the company. The union had nothing to do with that. Also, no one was ever terminated. In fact, as soon as the airlines stopped flying at the start of covid, the union was able to secure through a side letter that those FAs under 6 months would not be terminated per the current contract.
Our contract also forces a VOLUNTARY leave to mitigate ANY INVOLUNTARY furloughs should the company need to furlough due to a massive change in flights operating. We were the first airline to have this language thankfully before 9/11 and a foresight that the AFA saw as an advantage in future similar situations. Out of 25,000 current FAs on payroll, the company wanted 15,000 on furlough during this time. The union was only able to secure a few thousand FAs to volunteer for furlough. This would have placed almost 15,000 out on involuntary furlough , which cuts off healthcare benefits after 3 months. As a last minute deal, (days), the union was able to mitigate that number saving almost 10,000 FAs from this fate. The company was UNWILLING to allow all 15,000 this option and basically said that 5,000 had to go on INvoluntary furlough (this furlough gives those six years with the possibility to come back to work before anyone else is hired). The decision was to help the majority of those members over having NONE of them with that protection. Save most or save none.
The end result was that these 5,000 FAs did get their job back within 3 months due to the PPA getting the approval of the WH. They were paid the entire time (furlough pay) and had their healthcare for those 3 months. A trying time but the end result was more positive than not.
AFA was not silent during all of these times of executive stock buybacks. In fact, the PPA had a stipulation (fought for by AFA international and Sara Nelson) that no management could have stock buybacks during this government agreement.
Lastly, the union can’t just implement a strike. Theres a process under the RLA and the union worked tirelessly to get us to that point by implementing the vote and being able to move forward our negotiations by obtaining the mediator early. The union worked tirelessly during this entire time.
PLEASE ….do your homework BEFORE printing these inflammatory articles which only help to push workers further away from union representation and workers protections.
Robin, who is behind this Change.org petition?
Also, why I am hearing the same things from the FAs I’m speaking to?
I’m not trying to quibble with your specific points, but what/who is the source of misinformation?
“… what/who is the source of misinformation?”
Could it possibly be from whence came the misinformation ?
First, thank you to Robin for explaining the real story. I agree with her comments. Second, the change.org petition, which is completely meaningless, does nothing to affect change. A Flight Attendant getting involved with their union affects change from the ground up. Secondly, that petition is a well know union busting tactic from those who wish to not be unionized. Sorry, that’s not going to work for the majority of Flight Attendants.
@Robin … +1 . Thank you for explaining details to the uninformed .
Any company or business can ‘do right’ for it’s employees . If it does not ‘do right’ , then it is ‘bad’ . Simple .
Very true Robin!! The main reason why it’s dragged on for so long is that management KNOWS there will be no work actions. The government will not allow and that’s true for the previous administration as well-don’t kid yourselves!!
If the customer service hasn’t cratered without a raise in over four years and the fact that about half the flight attendants got screwed out of their pensions, I doubt it’s going to head to the toilet anytime soon.
And yet, UAL CEO got a raise to 32million a year, almost double his salary. Do you think he took the first offer that is so insulting and takes away so many of our work rules and benefits.. it’s not just money, it’s our career in jeopardy
If every dollar of Scott Kirby’s $32M compensation was paid evenly to flight attendants, they’d each get another $1200. It’s not nothing, but once you realize how little it actually is this whole talking point becomes a bit silly.
All of the complaints listed are the fault of Kirby . He and the Board could institute decent working conditions and pay anytime they wish .
UA cannot increase pay to industry-leading levels and earn profits comparable to DL
UA employees are increasingly realizing that Scott Kirby has played them with the song and dance about how great UA is doing and growing. All of that stuff doesn’t matter if it comes at the expense of UA employees.
Some fas were indeed terminated. So much fir “facts”. I wasbt protected by my union against the vaccine mandate and afa should have pushed back as its ILLEGAL! Im voting FOR the TA because mgt tested us by seeing if we would cower to their vaccine mandate so knows we are weak.
Absolutely!!!!
thank you for your facts above.
And, as I have said before, DL knew what it was doing when it led the industry in raising the pay/of its pilot and non-pilot employees post covid because DL mgmt knew that other airlines couldn’t sustain those labor costs.
UA and Scott Kirby was so convinced they could challenge DL’s profitability and take out a bunch of low cost carriers in the process – and the only reason why UA has posted the profits it has is because UA has paid its people so much less than the competition.
UA is the only credible threat to DL’s industry leadership in at least 20 years. and DL knew that the fastest way to derail UA’s growth is to either force them to pay higher labor rates – just like everyone else – or endure labor discontent that has been the norm at AA and UA for decades.
the next few years will be very interesting but some of the people that were so convinced of UA’s ascent might be surprised at how far they fall instead of rise.
When was the last time Nelson actually worked a flight?
When did Kirby Ever work a flight ? Maybe Never ?
I’d vote down this contract and then do my best to oust union leadership. With “friends” like that, who needs enemies?
That’s dead easy for you to say. I bet you have had a raise in the last four years. It easy for you to say no to more than $ 10,000 ( after tax) retro pay.
No guarantee it will be much more in the future and there is a cost in waiting for it.
Not RETRO pay. It’s a Signing Bonus. Same same, but very different.
They literally don’t care about their flight attendants and it shows. Every major airline with a union has gotten sit time pay but AFA for United refused to get it for their flight attendants. They refused to change the flying allowing long 3 hour sits before a transcon red eye. All these articles you’ve done about UA flight attendants being upset about the sick policy and the profit sharing. Guess what? The union did zero to change these and included worse language for the hotels and scheduling procedures.
Didn’t improve reserve but somehow made it worse. The people they have representing them in negotiating need to go. They do not have their best interests in mind they have United’s and Scott Kirby’s
They told them to wait until August 2026 for water to be implemented!
Are those the same flight attendants you used as sources for your wildly off base, inaccurate entry on June 10th??
I know you added an “ update/retraction” but posting those items was indeed reckless.
this is why federal laws need to be changed to allow right to work at the airlines.
Let those who want to be in the union join, but allows those who do not, remain out of the union. Being non union is not hurting DL FAs
Another tidbit of shadiness we learned today is that although, if ratified, the contract takes effect on 7-30-2025, boarding pay will not start until at least December 2025. Managements excuse? Technology. I mean we all know the technology is outdated and some of it not fit for purpose. Lets give management huge bonuses and lets concentrate on stock options instead.
OK, how about paying the boarding pay retroactively? Thats only fair, isnt it? Theres NO WAY they would NOT be able to do this unless they just want to stiff the flight attendants more and enjoy their level of shadiness!!
A flight attendant who work narrow bodys only and does 18 legs a month would be due about 360 minutes of boarding pay. Thats 6 hours of pay they are getting screwed out of for four months. Do the math. Like I said-shady!!
Perhaps instead of flying to Greenland and Mongolia, UA should focus on labor relations… it doesn’t matter where you fly if the folks who have to keep the planes in the air and the passengers happy aren’t happy themselves as employees. Frustrated and unhappy AA employees have made AA a shell of its former self, ruining a once-great company; United may find itself on the same path.
amen, brother.
Let’s not forget that Kirby wants desperately to prove he has done better while at UA but his anti-labor stance is no different than how he rolled at AA.
as I have said before, this year is a major reset moment in the industry and AA and UA just might swap trajectories.
Time to remove the airlines from the Railway Labor Act.
Three to five years just to negotiate a labor contract is insane.
We have a winner. This is the management is able to jerk around and delay with impunity!!
Time to split up the mega-airlines into smaller competitive airlines . Back to square one .
How “liberal” of you
Based on the private sector jobs report from ADP out this morning, the US economy lost 33,000 jobs last month. The FAs might have missed the boat. They should have gotten this taken care of before trump destroyed the economy. UA has much less incentive to play ball in a failing economy. Maybe in 5 more years they’ll get another shot
that is a drop in the bucket compared w/ the size of the US jobs market and almost directly is the inverse of last month’s job report.
the biggest factor affecting employers is lack of strategic clarity about where the US is going. Whether you like it or not, the massive budget bill that is headed for approval sets the economic direction of the country for the near term and will lead to employer stability
the biggest factor is that the AFA believed it could do better “down the road” and UA has played not just the AFA but all of its non-pilot labor groups. remember that UA was the first of the big 3 to settle w/ its pilots post covid but the pilots voted down the contract proposal which ended up being half of what DL offered to its pilots a year and a half later. The AFA was counting on someone else to lift FA salaries and yet DL had already done the heavy lifting for FA compensation which became the standard for AA and WN FA contracts.
and the bottom line is that UA faces a huge number of unhappy workers as they realize their company is more interested in touting its success than paying them industry-comparable salaries and benefits as AA, DL and WN employees enjoy
First job loss not related to covid since 2010. Maybe its a drop in the bucket… or maybe its the first leak before the dam bursts. When we are in a full blown recession FAs will be losing their jobs, and there will be no deal
maybe it is or maybe it is not significant. There are several job and employment reports and ADP is just one of them; another is expected to be released tomorrow and show growth.
Your original post shows your bias = select the data source, amplify the size of what the data shows and extrapolate it beyond what is anywhere near reality.
The reality is that UA, like DL, are in the bracket of best finances in the industry. UA is accomplishing its profits via below-industry pay but there is little to no risk of job losses at UA. Other smaller and weaker carriers will fall first.
We’ll see tomorrow what the BLS report says… the ADP report was expected to show a gain of 100,000
Billy Bob,
I am sure you read the news but just want to make sure
“U.S. hiring unexpectedly picked up in June as employers added 147,000 jobs.”
Unemployment rate is down
There is no evidence of a weakening job market
Where is the petition to replace the AFA? Can you post a link to it please? This is the first I have heard of this.
Link is in the story above (change.org petition).
First and Monday Friday foremost Sarah Nelson will never have to worry about her position as president being lost because of flight attendant votes. We have absolutely no voice in it (unless we oust AFA all together). The master committee does, though, and they’re all self serving and self protecting loyalists to each other and her. The biggest circle jerk popular kid government. If you’re not downing their Kool aid like water scarcity in Africa, then you’ll never see a career in the union as one of “them.”
I’m not interested in boarding pay or sit time pay like most FAs seem to care about. I want the company to do their job as we are expected to do ours, and be held accountable for contract violations. Pre COVID and pre common metal merger were the last of the glory days of things going well (at least for continental). AFA has legacy United loyalists who historically eat every TA with a smile.
To their own detriment.
Whole lot of messes to resolve with the “new UA” flight group and pay/work rule agreements.
We’ve still got loads of boomer minded folks calling this THEIR company and feel they deserve the world for putting in 40+ years to royally screw the rest of the work group after they take their money and run for triple dipping retirement.
FAA needs to step in with continued qualifications for all airlines. Make everyone maintain a medical certificate as part of fit to fly standards like the pilots.
Lord knows how badly other carriers outside the US mock the US carriers for the aging and unfit FAs serving cokes on long hauls to them and laboriously dragging their bespoke RV bags through the terminals in their mismatched uniform pieces.
There is a lot to fix. This TA and union are just the beginning of needing to be fixed.
These ungrateful flight attendants should knock off their nonsense and accept this generous offer from United.
The IBT represented aircraft technicians at EWR are about to bring the pain and force airline management to their knees at the negotiating table.
These stewardesses risk getting caught in the crossfire!
I don’t see an anti union persuasion. Some unions are good. Some are not. It’s simple. Treat your employees well. The service will definitely improve. Why don’t unions/companies get that?
So simple, isn’t it….
How is it that the SAME blowhards comment as know-it-all’s over and over and over again on EVERY single column?
It’s embarrassing that they show up in every one of your articles.