American Airways flight attendants ratify new contract with instant raises topping 20%
Julie Hedrick, president of the Affiliation of Skilled Flight Attendants (APFA), proper, broadcasts a strike authorization exterior Dallas-Fort Value Worldwide Airport (DFW) close to Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
Shelby Tauber | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
American Airways flight attendants accepted a five-year labor deal, ending one of many trade’s most contentious contract negotiations and giving cabin crews raises of as much as 20.5% at first of October.
Eighty-seven % of the American Airways flight attendants who voted accepted the contract, the union stated Thursday, shortly after polls closed.
“This contract marks a major milestone for our Flight Attendants, offering instant wage will increase of as much as 20.5%, together with important retroactive pay to deal with time spent negotiating,” stated Julie Hedrick, president of the Affiliation of Skilled Flight Attendants, which represents the service’s roughly 28,000 cabin crew members.
Flight attendants are the largest unionized work group on the Fort Value-based airline.
The contract deal is a aid for American’s leaders, which had confronted a strike risk from flight attendants if the 2 sides could not get to a deal. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Julie Su had attended negotiations in June, overseen by the Nationwide Mediation Board. Greater than 160 lawmakers have additionally pushed the NMB to get to offers throughout the airline trade.
“Reaching an settlement for our flight attendants has been a prime precedence, and at the moment, we rejoice reaching this vital milestone,” American CEO Robert Isom stated in a press release.
Flight attendants, like different airline staff, have pushed for increased pay and different work-rule enhancements after the Covid-19 pandemic derailed negotiations and the price of dwelling has skyrocketed in recent times.
United Airways and its flight attendants’ union are nonetheless negotiating for a brand new contract, whereas Alaska Airways cabin crew members not too long ago rejected a tentative labor deal.
Different industries have additionally received increased pay in new contracts, a few of them after strikes, comparable to within the auto trade and in Hollywood.
Some 33,000 Boeing staff are voting on Thursday on a brand new contract with 25% raises, which some staff have stated they’ll reject. Boeing faces a possible strike if the deal is rejected.
