UPDATE: The flight attendants who took part in this protest have been suspended, pending an investigation.
Jon NYC reported, then later confirmed, that the flight attendants who took participated in this action have been “removed from service pending investigations.”
Sara Nelson, president of the AFA-CWA and often called “world’s most powerful flight attendant,” has responded that, “This is union activity. Protected activity. Period.” The AFA-CWA had earlier confirmed to Live And Let’s Fly that this “This was a union activity” and referred me to a statement by Nelson claiming, “Scott Kirby has no business demanding concessions while stuffing his own pockets with gold and beating his chest about United being the best.”
Is United Airlines risking even more pronounced labor strife by puishing the flight attendants who participated in this disruptive protest?
The original story is below.
Flight attendants attempted to upstage a United Airlines media event yesterday that highlighted the carrier’s next-generation Polaris business class seat, in what really demonstrates a failure of both sides to work out a long-overdue deal.
Flight Attendants “Storm Stage” In Contract Protest At United Polaris Event In Brooklyn
I wasn’t going to cover this because I don’t appreciate these sorts of organized labor tricks, but since it has been widely covered by my colleagues, I’ll discuss it, especially because I was at the United event in Brooklyn yesterday and saw the flight attendants in action.
Minutes before the event kick-off, featuring Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby and Andrew Nocella, United’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, flight attendants “stormed” in, took the stage, and loudly called for a new contract.
“If we don’t get it, shut it down! What do we want? A contract. When do we want it? Now!”
The event took place in the Duggal Greenhouse inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which has been convrted into a mixed-use development in what is now very prime real estate near the exclusive DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) area. Security quickly ushered them out and they continued their protest in the parking lot for an hour.
I’m not going to post more pictures and video, but I’m happy to share what JonNYC posted so you have an idea of what happened:
I reached out to the AFA-CWA union, which represents United flight attendants, and it confirmed, “This was a union activity.”
Interestingly, I ran into AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson at Washington Dulles Airport on my way to New York for this event…had I known something was planned, I would have asked her about it!
Nelson and United AFA President Ken Diaz issued the statement below in response to United’s new cabin investments on upcoming 787-9 aircraft:
“Service doesn’t happen without us. United has the money to invest in an industry-leading Flight Attendant contract with ‘premium’ compensation, work rules, and cabin interiors.
“CEO Scott Kirby can roll out all the new product announcements he wants — it means nothing without respect for the people who deliver it. New cabin interiors – if done with our involvement – can be helpful for doing our jobs and we want happy passengers. But a new aircraft cabin doesn’t pay rent, allow us to come to work without stress over paying our bills, attract new applicants, or give us the schedule control we need to have a life. Scott Kirby can’t promise a product without the people who deliver it.
“No other Flight Attendant contract across the industry in this round of bargaining included concessions. Not one. Today’s announcement adds insult to injury. Scott Kirby has no business demanding concessions while stuffing his own pockets with gold and beating his chest about United being the best. Right now, he’s just beating competitors by failing to pay us – the people who make United fly.”
“If Kirby wants to reach true #1 status, it starts with delivering the #1 contract for 28,000 Flight Attendants today.”
There’s a certain disconnect from reality here: there is no valid concern of failing to attract new applicants…United has far more applications for flight attendants than job positions…the ratios are similar to trying to get into Ivy League schools.
The idea that United has any trouble recruiting flight attendants is laughable and many (if not most) sign up knowing that pay starts very poorly, but there is a ladder to climb and a chance to see the world.
That said, there was a certain brilliance in this protest…an event that featured not only United C-Suite members, but all the media. What a perfect time to make a statement.
Can We Please Just Get The Contract Done?
Make no mistake: it’s time to put this contract to bed. United flight attendants have been working without a raise for four years during a time in which prices have steadily risen. The unique supply/demand issues of labor at play here theoretically should put no pressure on labor pricing, but as Delta has shown, emplyees are key to success and as Kirby has been hadnsomely paid for his work at the carrier, so should the front-line staff for thier efforts to come to work each day and do their job well, helping United to emerge (with Delta Air Lines) as a profit leader in the industry.
I hear a lot of mixed messaging about contract negotiations. Some say a deal is near, other says it is still far. I’m not privy to those discussions, but I do know that United is going to have to pay its flight attendants around what American and Delta pay their flight attendants…that’s the way this industry works.
The AFA made a strategic blunder in helping other airlines negotiate contracts first, thinking that it would then be able to get the best and final contract for United flight attendants. With economic headwinds and a new administration in town, that looks less certain. Even the prior administration was unwilling to let flight attendants strike, so there is no realistic mecahnism, beyond these somewhat pathetic protests, to truly tighten the screws on managment.
If flight attendants feel that management is acting very unfairly in dragging out negotiations, I wish they would pull back the curtain on what major points of disagreement still stand. That way, more public pressure could be added to get this deal done.
CONCLUSION
The United flight attendant protest yesterday worked as planned: I’m talking about it today, and I’m hardly alone. It’s time to sign a fair deal that will end these charades once and for all. If one side is truly being unreasonable, it’s time to go public with it…it is in everyone’s interest, including customers, that a new deal be concluded.
Isn’t what they did trespassing and grounds for termination?
Kirby cannot take a little ribbing , and cannot respond with good humour .
Suspending them is a punishment from a humourless pomposity .
Were they actual FAs or hired actors in YA uniforms?
Let’s see what the mechanics do to top this
Not sure, but they looked like FAs to me.
What does a F/A ‘look like’ ? Unless you’re referring to what look like company ID’s/airport access ID’s on lanyards ?
That’s what I meant.
Fire. Them. All.
Those who are so willing to break laws, company rules and engage in sabotage simply cannot be trusted in the air.
Right up to & including their tone deaf/boot licking CEO !
It was insulting when the pilots turned their backs to Kirby during the 2022 negotiations. This FA chicanery is something far more ugly. The tactics do not promote confidence in future good will. Yes they need a contract but this approach doesn’t seem to be working for them. Better to spin the event outside of the venue so the media can cover without anger and screaming.
Patience wears thin after 4 years, especially during this recent economic climate …
They can’t get another job. That’s what most people with something to offer do.
And, this is because management is unreasonable? Or, maybe, the union is at fault. In the vast majority of cases, it is the latter.
Well, United and Scott Kirby had a choice they chose to ignore United flight attendants for years and write things like “Entering our caviar era” while not offering pay increases to flight attendants when they have been waiting for years. It was only a matter of time until something embarrassing like this happened.
The way Scott Kirby has handled EWR and labor disputes could land him in hot water. Flight attendants don’t need to strike they can do things like this or talk amongst themselves and create alternatives during a high peak traveling season…
Can you shed any light on what happens during these day-long bargaining sessions? What is there to work out? Why is this taking so long?
From what I’ve read United was demanding major concessions they knew the union would not agree to like concessions to healthcare insurance, reducing call out times for reserves to get to the airport from 3 hours to 2, demanding less rest on international/domestic layovers, Reducing reserve guarantee from 78 to 75 hours, forcing a PBS scheduling system, eliminating PTO, they even wanted to lengthen dutys to 18 hours and track reserves at one point with their work devices while on Ready Reserve.
United has since pulled a lot of those concessions the major ones I still see them refusing to remove are Reducing call outs times for reserves to get to the airport from 3 hours to 2, Still attempting to cut PTO’s, only matching AA and DL pay rates but refusing to pay above them. United is also trying to create side letters to incorporate grey language into the contract like incorporating a PBS system later. The union has been requesting ground time pay which would be pay from check in time until sign out time to be paid at half the hourly rate of the flight attendant. United has refused this
Why don’t the senior FA’s negotiating the contract want PBS?
They will get EXACTLY what they want every month and then be able to give away their trips to less senior FA’s.
Is it because they will be forced to bid up to their guarantee instead of bidding for a line that clashes off the most work?
Can you elaborate on this a bit more? I’m not fully following you.
@Matthew…
The difference between Bidlines and PBS is that in PBS you bid for things that you want or want to avoid (LAX layovers, single day trips, red-eyes, etc.).
In Bidlines, the “line” is already constructed so you bid for a line that conflicts with pre-assignments on your schedule (like vacation and/or training) so that those trips “clash off” and go into open time and you don’t have to work them.
PBS is clearly a better system for senior FA’s because they can bid for exactly what they want and then, if they have good trips, can give them away easily so that they don’t have to work them.
And senior FA’s are usually the ones on the negotiating committees so I would expect them to be pushing for it.
By contrast…the pilots at almost all airlines in the US (including most regionals) have PBS now or are moving to PBS.
Also I forgot to mention the United flight attendants want “Downtown Like” wording for long hotel stays removed from the new contract and for the flight attendants to only stay near city centers for long layovers. For Rome, London, Geneva, and Amsterdam United has been putting them in hotels that are far away from the city centers and not providing transportation reimbursement when they do this like they do at Delta.
For someone who claims to run the best airline in history Kirby sure acts the weasel when it comes to paying the people passengers see the most a competitive wage.
Matthew, Thanks for the coverage. Fairly, to boot!
It is hard to understate how detrimental unions are to the modern economy. There is little evidence that unions actually produce better pay and benefits for members, but they do cost them money. Much worse, their entire business model is built on an unhappy workforce, so nearly every action the union does is meant to spread anger and discontent. This is bad for workers and passengers, who must deal with perpetually unhappy employees. Customers also lose in the form of higher prices, driven not necessarily by pay and benefits, but by the massive inefficiencies these contracts bake into the company’s operations. Look no further than the CRJ-550, an aircraft variant that only exists because of contract restrictions. While I appreciate the nearly guaranteed upgrades that this aircraft provides, I feel bad for the people who live in markets primarily served by that aircraft and who must consistently pay higher fares because of the artificial reduction in capacity that it produces. In the end, it is hard to see how anybody wins but the highly paid union executives and the politicians whose pockets they line.
Unions are greatly imperfect. I don’t think you’ll find a lot of people who disagree with that premise. The one critical purpose unions serve is to try to counterbalance corporate greed by forcing large companies to pay better and treat employees better. The lower and middle classes have lost ground economically this century while the rich have done splendidly. If you’re against unions, how exactly would you suggest we try to avoid the rich getting much richer while everybody else gets more poor?
As to your well-intentioned but way off base in accuracy assertion that unions don’t help their members, ask UAW workers or UPS drivers how they feel about their unions that recently secured large pay increases.
So, if unions can convince there members they did good, even if they didn’t, that is evidence of unions being good? You have no economic training do you?
ok you dissenters why don’t you all go to see your boss and demand your pay be reduced to what it was 4 years ago
Jon NYC spreading union propaganda…sigh
Nothing brilliant about this sabotage of an event and trespassing
Who let them into the event? They didn’t break and enter they were allowed into the event by someone that isn’t trespassing. Of course United didn’t like their message on a day that was supposed to be all about the Polaris improvements and instead we are talking about FA’s protesting.
If they were allowed into the event then suspension seems like a bit much this heavy handed approach by United management might come back to haunt them especially if negotiations drag on much longer. Polaris is an excellent product that will be made even better with the launch of Polaris 2.0 but without FA’s to truly elevate the service onboard all United has are seats. Oscar Munoz brought United a lot of goodwill between management and employees. Kirby is brilliant and has turned United around but he is burnin cup a lot of that goodwill with employees by continuing to drag out these negotiations especially with the FA’s. Polaris 2.0 doesn’t work without FA’s providing great service to customers.
You understand not being stopped doesn’t negate a trespassing charge?
I did not see them come in, but there was a front desk staffed by UA employees. Would be interesting to see if they were welcomed and became invitees based on being in uniform (maybe they hid their signs?)
SUSPENDED
I must say the AFA did an amazing job organizing this and keeping it a secret
And turning every rational onlooker against them.
KIrby could’ve avoided the clown show years ago …. but he’s too occupied with his own obscene salary/bennies AND
paying homage to the Orange King ….
in other words, you have been on welfare the last 1 0 years and are whining that others are far more successful than you
Actions have consequences. Fire the clowns involved in this charade of a protest.
Sara Nelson needs to be sent on a 10 day Carnival Cruise!
My guess? This is Nelson’s last Hoorah. Oh they’ll sign but everyone is sick of it. Confidence has been lost.
To that, I can only say inshallah…
Nelson stopped being anything but annoying years ago.
My problem with Nelson is that she lives the charmed life of a lobbyist in DC and while she harps endlessly about equity, she perpetuates a system that severely underpays junior FAs for the benefit of senior FAs. It’s a broken system. Efforts on pay raises should be toward juniors. Senior FAs still make enough to deal with the inflation and not have to make critical tradeoffs that no full-time worker should have to make.
I have no more respect for FAs anymore. we paid our taxes to keep their jobs during covid and now it’s nonstop strikes and protests for more
The union should have got a deal done back before the election. This administration doesn’t care about workers rights or unions, and Kirby probably wants to treat his staff poorly so he looks tough to Dear Leader.
“My problem with Nelson is that she lives the charmed life of a lobbyist in DC and while she harps endlessly about equity, she perpetuates a system that severely underpays junior FAs for the benefit of senior FAs. It’s a broken system. Efforts on pay raises should be toward juniors. Senior FAs still make enough to deal with the inflation and not have to make critical tradeoffs that no full-time worker should have to make.”
I couldn’t agree more. I will add that these sorts of protests are the equivalent of the just stop oil losers who block traffic or those morons who throw soup or paint in museums. They cast your cause in a very negative light and do nothing but aggravate the public.