Forced into marathon negotiations by the resolve of 10,000 flight attendants at US Airways, a tentative agreement was announced at 3:30 a.m. on March 25, averting job actions promised by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) or a total airline shutdown threatened by the company.

While few details are yet available on the proposed contract—and flight attendants stress they will have to read and evaluate the agreement before voting to ratify—US Airways Chairman Stephen Wolf and CEO Rakesh Gangwal were forced to back off from their insistence that nothing short of complete acceptance of "parity plus 1 percent" with the company's four main competitors would fly. The flight attendants argued that the pay parity formula would lead to pay cuts, with estimates beginning at 4.9 percent.

The proposed contract terms reportedly include an 11 percent pay increase over five years of the pact, a 5 percent signing bonus, pension improvements, three paid holidays, and a commitment to apply federally-mandated family leave to flight attendants, which the company currently avoids by counting only flight hours in determining whether workers are full-time.

In 30 cities across the country, the AFA organized actions on March 24 leading up to the expiration of the 30-day "cooling-off" period mandated by the Railway Labor Act. The AFA said if no agreement had been struck, they would begin job actions named CHAOS, Create Havoc Around Our System. In response the bosses threatened to shut the entire airline down.

The company's propaganda and threats against the flight attendants polarized the debate among other union groups. But as the flight attendants stepped up their activities, and information on their real issues and concerns were made known to other workers at US Airways, more were won to support their contract fight.

The large green buttons saying, "I Support US Airways Flight Attendants"—at first worn by only a few other unionists—were seen on the uniforms of more US Airways cleaners, mechanics, and ramp workers in the days before the March 25 deadline.

Several hundred flight attendants and supporters mobilized outside the Philadelphia airport the night of March 24. They cheered speakers from their union, and gave an especially enthusiastic reception to a recorded message from the Airline Pilots Association, pledging support to their fight. "Stop Corporate Greed," they chanted, and as the midnight deadline neared, they added, "In 15 minutes we will know, where this airline's going to go!" A group of about 10 fuelers in uniform, who work for ASI, the company contracted to fuel US Airways planes, led a popular chant, "No flight attendants, no fuel!"

"Our fight is the same as theirs," said Ken Brooks, secretary-treasurer of fuelers Local 10 of the United Independent Union.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, one of US Airways' three hubs along with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, nearly 500 flight attendants and their supporters joined the March 24 action. Several members of the United Auto Workers from the Freightliner truck plant in Mt. Holly, North Carolina, also participated, along with other unionists. Bonnie McQuillen, a flight attendant for 16 years, said her biggest concern was retirement benefits.  
 

'Women who work for a living'

In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, more than 50 people gathered for a vigil, including flight attendants from United, American, and an AFA organizer for Delta Airlines from Miami. Pat Hinchcliffe, coordinator for the AFA volunteers and a flight attendant for 22 years, said in an interview, "Divide and conquer is a management tool. It will not work if the members in all the union groups stay united in solidarity. This fight is for all of us." She noted that this experience had changed her. "It'll be a totally different me after this is over. I lost my respect for Wolf when I heard him call us 'his girls.' We're not girls. We are women who work for a living!"

More than 200 flight attendants and supporters joined the vigil and rally at Washington National Airport where unions represented included Painters, Teamsters, Hotel and Restaurant Workers, and the Newspaper Guild.

George Cherry, who has worked as a flight attendant for 13 years, said, "It was time to take a stand. Wolf says he will shut down the airline if we don't back down. Who is he, a czar? We are fighting for our families and for others. Who will be there for them? Some of them don't have unions. We do; we should use it."

Airline workers across the country were buoyed by the AFA's success in forcing the US Airways bosses to flinch. At the Northwest Airlines maintenance base in Atlanta, many mechanics and cleaners were upbeat that fellow airline workers had proven stronger than Stephen Wolf.

"What they did was show that they couldn't be pushed around, and that's a good thing," said one inspector, who had worked as a mechanic at Republic Airlines when Wolf had demanded concessions from workers there in the 1980s. "And in my opinion it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

"It's American history," US Airways flight attendant Tom Lopez said at the Philadelphia vigil March 24. "When you get pushed around long enough, you have to take a stand."

Rebecca Arenson and Nancy Cole are members of the International Association of Machinists and work for US Airways in Philadelphia. Rachele Fruit in Miami, Arlene Rubinstein in Atlanta, and Mary Martin from Washington contributed to this article.  
 
 
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