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Home » United Airlines » United Airlines Flight Attendants Vote 99.99% To Authorize A Strike That Will Never Happen
NewsUnited Airlines

United Airlines Flight Attendants Vote 99.99% To Authorize A Strike That Will Never Happen

Matthew Klint Posted onAugust 29, 2024 24 Comments

a group of people posing for a picture

It is only a matter of time before flight attendants at United Airlines will secure an industry-leading new contract with back pay and wage increases. There will be no strike. Still, in the meantime, the pageantry has to play out and that includes a strike authorization vote, which flight attendants just overwhelmingly authorized.

United Airlines Flight Attendants Move Closer To New Contract With Strike Authorization Vote

Airline by airline, flight attendants are re-negotiating contracts after years of dormant wages in an inflationary period. United Airlines is one of the last to do so and it comes as the airline industry begins to cool down after two years of post-pandemic “revenge” travel.

Over the past month, 28,000 United flight attendants have been asked to vote on whether to authorize a strike. About 90% of United flight attendants voted and 99.5% of them voted to authorize a strike (surprising no one…the numbers always look like this).

This is all kabuki in a sense. This vote does not actually authorize a strike. If anything, it authorizes the potential for a strike once many other conditions are met. United and the union representing its flight attendants, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, have already been negotiating for over a year. United has already made many concessions.

Those talks will now intensify and be aided by mediators from the National Mediation Board. As long as the two sides are talking and ostensibly ironing out differences, there will be no threat of a strike.

The only thing that can trigger a strike is if the National Mediation Board determines an “impasse” has occurred. Only then will the sides be “released” to take industrial action and even then, only after a 30-day cooling-off period.

After that point flight attendants could strike or engage in widescale “sick outs” and United could, theoretically at least, lock out its flight attendants.

But that won’t happen. It is my understanding that many issues have already been agreed on and that while the two sides remain apart on backpay levels and other pay raises and fringe benefits before the new contract would become amenable, they are talking and there is no impasse.

Of course that does not stop AFA from warning:

AFA has a trademarked strike strategy known as CHAOS™ or Create Havoc Around Our System™. With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how to strike without notice to management or passengers.

That’s piffle. Folks need not worry about a strike…United CEO Scott Kirby would never allow it. Mark my words. He’ll give in if he has to and then declare bankruptcy before flight attendants strike.

CONCLUSION

United flight attendants moved one step closer to a new contract with an overwhelming strike authorization vote. The vote means nothing practically but does suggest that a new contract is closer than ever.


image: @afa_cwa / X (caption: we love our jobs…)

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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24 Comments

  1. NedsKid Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 10:05 am

    That’s right, Sara Nelson actually works for United, right? I wonder if she ever actually works.
    I’d love to be on one of her flights. I can ring the hell out of a call button.

    • Albert Earl Reply
      August 29, 2024 at 6:50 pm

      You would do what?? School must be out.

    • J Dakine Reply
      August 31, 2024 at 2:09 pm

      You’re about as misinformed as the author of this article.

  2. Joshua Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 10:12 am

    United can’t declare bankruptcy again. They’ve already gone through chapter 11 twice. I’m not sure what concessions you think United has given either.

    United isn’t allowed to lock out FA’s either per the RLA. I hate your “articles” with a burning passion

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      August 29, 2024 at 11:34 am

      Not now…but if you take industrial action after the 30-day cooling-off period it can.

      Good luck on the higher wages. Enjoy them while they last.

      And don’t think I am anti-FA. So absurd. I’m thankful for the excellent service I’ve had this year…overall…and recognize that prices have gone way up and wages have not followed. It’s time for a new contract. And there will be one.

    • ForL Reply
      August 30, 2024 at 4:56 am

      not true about UA declaring BK twice… UA went BK once after 9-11, CAL declared BK twice under Lorenzo in 1983 & again in 1991 during the Gulf War. Thats one big reason the United name was used during the “merger of equals”. AFA will get their fa’s pennies more than whatever AA settles for

  3. Justsaying Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 11:02 am

    @Matthew

    “ But that won’t happen. It is my understanding that many issues have already been agreed on and that while the two sides remain apart on backpay levels and other pay raises and fringe benefits before the new contract would become amenable, they are talking and there is no impasse”

    They are talking to us really? So with only 8 sections agreed upon and 26 open sections after THREE YEARS and you think that’s progress?! The reason for the strike vote is to finally move things along because they have been refusing meanwhile a new hire makes 2K post taxes but are placed in bases like SFO, BOS, Washington DC,

    It seems to me you either work for United or United paid you to write this article. Don’t worry if they don’t start actually moving forward they will start to lose revenue and a passenger will select the airline that does not have a possible strike threat looming and one that is paying it’s workers appropriately. If a TA is not agreed upon by Summer 2025 I fully expect the revenue to start to go down and it might even begin sooner than that as passengers book tickets months in advance,

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      August 29, 2024 at 11:32 am

      You’ll get your new contract. And it will be lucrative.

      And no, I don’t work for United and just call things as I see them.

      • J Dakine Reply
        August 31, 2024 at 2:21 pm

        Can you please tell us all what concessions UA has already given? And are you aware of the absolute absurd list of concessions they’re asking from FAs? And don’t forget to recognize the fact that UA has made record profits for several years and has exercised $BILLIONS in buybacks. Their ask looks like a BK contract with all the concessions they want.

        • Matthew Klint Reply
          September 3, 2024 at 9:35 pm

          I’m going off a recent memo from John Slater. Is he incorrect?

  4. Jan Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 11:18 am

    Something tells me that a group that trademarked “CHAOS” and brags about it tends to not care about good customer service. Maybe not a direct link but there’s a correlation there.

    • J Dakine Reply
      August 31, 2024 at 2:15 pm

      Something tells me you haven’t done your homework, and are commenting on something you know very little about

  5. Dave Edwards Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 11:44 am

    They were “picketing” at TPA this week. What a waste of time, the public is against them and they worked harder at complaining than they do actually working.

    While their union collects their blood money off every one of their paychecks. Who said the Mafia is no longer a thing?

    • J Dakine Reply
      August 31, 2024 at 2:28 pm

      You must get your information from Right Wing propagandist. Faux Noiz and NoizMax?? Unions have the highest approval rating in decades. The public overwhelmingly supports the FAs. The working class is waking up to the fact that they’ve not shared in the growth of GDP that the wealthy have. Guessing you’re a union buster like the other trolls

  6. Mike Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 2:44 pm

    What do you mean the public is against them. Maybe your public. Not mine.

    I wish they would have the guts to really strike. What will the feds do, arrest them? Never.

  7. Exit Row Seat Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 6:13 pm

    The best time to start a strike was in the middle of the month of May with commence exercises at universities. A longer strike would have impacted the Labor Day crush; Mom, Dad & kids on a mad dash to the amusement parks; 4th of July scramble, etc, etc. With cooling off periods and such as per the Railroad Act, the next available window to strike would be Thanksgiving or Xmas.

    If they had coordinated with AA flight attendants, both could have hit the summer crush with a double strike knocking out a third of US airline capacity. Then the CrowdStrike meltdown would have made things truly exciting!! Biden would have had to intervene as Clinton did with the AA strike in 1997.

  8. Christian Reply
    August 29, 2024 at 11:46 pm

    What’s wrong with a little pageantry? You’ve never enjoyed a renaissance fair?

    As to the negotiations, since United is the best airline in the world per Kirby then their flight attendants deserve the best pay package in the world. After all, it’s the FA’s who deal with passengers the most.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      August 30, 2024 at 12:14 am

      You just brought back a very painful memory! 😉

      But actually I agree – if Kirby continues to use the “best of the best” language than better give FAs the best pay in the industry.

      I still think there’s a huge disconnect between wage inflation for positions when the demand for jobs so far exceeds supply.

      • Christian Reply
        August 30, 2024 at 12:44 am

        Sorry if you had a family member injured during a joust or something similar. Those tend to make good stories but rough memories. Growing up in the USA renfairs were a window to a distant time and place for me. Plus they had plumbing.

  9. Joe United Reply
    August 30, 2024 at 12:47 am

    The ramp employees are going to be very angry at their union. They got no retro pay and no increase in their pension. Their contract only passed because there were too many new employees that wanted the signing bonus to pay off their credit cards.

  10. Katie Reply
    September 3, 2024 at 12:27 am

    “Fringe” benefits? You mean asking to get paid during boarding? Or when we have to sit in an airport for over three hours between flights because of the scheduling issues? Or how about from the time we’re held accountable to be there and penalized if we’re a minute late? I’m not sure of too many other jobs that will have you work a 13 hour work day but only pay you for six. I don’t think asking to have better staffed crew and hotel scheduling so we don’t end up stranded sleeping in airports constitutes as a “fringe” benefit. How about accruing sick time but getting penalized when we need to use it? Is asking to have that restructured considered “fringe”? Asking for better scheduling structure so we are not fatigued after working two flights before a red eye in the same day? “Fringe”? Is asking for a wage to match the cost of living in some of the most expensive cities really that insane? Your use of “fringe” is very cringe. But thank goodness we keep getting those record breaking profit reports from Kirby.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      September 3, 2024 at 12:43 am

      There are no record-breaking profits. Profits and revenue are down this year.

      • Katie Reply
        September 3, 2024 at 7:46 pm

        Not according to his company wide emails, but great takeaway.

        • Matthew Klint Reply
          September 3, 2024 at 9:34 pm

          Uh, yes according to your company-wide emails, Katie.

          I would first refer to you to Kirby’s mid-August video update.

          https://liveandletsfly.com/united-ceo-airline-industry/

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