Flight Attendants Picket at Major Airports Around the Country
Flight attendants at United Airlines and Southwest Airlines staged protests at several major airports across the U.S. on Tuesday to bring attention to chaotic scheduling and other workplace issues.
Picketing took place at 15 airports in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Newark, Phoenix and Guam. At Dallas Love Field Airport, flight attendants not scheduled to work held an informational picket calling for improved compensation and other improvements for themselves and passengers.
@afa_cwa Fired up!! Union strong. #AFACWA #FedUpShowUp #ThankYouMesa pic.twitter.com/VCt1J1YSlY
— David Bannister (@MDBannis) September 27, 2022
“Flight attendants are on the frontlines when an operational meltdown occurs, and they are expected to address passenger concerns,” flight attendants union AFA-CWA told Fox about United’s management. “But recently flight attendants have been left empty-handed or stranded themselves without support from management who are running the airline.”
The union is asking the airlines to hire more staff in order to be prepared to properly serve the flying public, and to improve conditions for workers.
For Southwest flight attendants on the other hand, the main issue is money. They have been locked in a contract dispute with Southwest for years and have been without a new agreement since 2018.
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In recent months, there has been mention of attempts to unionize Delta’s flight attendants. Given this report (and others), I don’t see how compensation and working conditions are any better for flight attendants at airlines that are unionized. (I have family members who are Teamsters. Please don’t paint me as anti-union. I’m just making an observation.)