Spirited picket lines by flight attendants and their supporters at some 30 airports worldwide Feb. 13 gave voice to their demands for new contracts, higher wages and respect for the nearly 100,000 workers who have toiled for years under expired contracts.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and Transport Workers Union Local 556 joined forces in a bid to push back against the bosses and their use of the infamous anti-union Railway Labor Act that hogties their unions’ efforts to win better contracts.
Over 500 flight attendants from American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines and their supporters rallied outside Chicago O’Hare International Airport. “I absolutely know that this is the first time they have seen a showing like this,” Transport Workers Union Local 556 member Corliss King told the press.
Katrina Fraley, an American Airlines flight attendant, told Militant reporter Dan Fein, “We need a cost-of-living adjustment, more vacation time and a wage increase. I haven’t had a raise in five years.”
“Corporate greed doesn’t fly” read signs carried by 40 pickets at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. “We don’t get paid when passengers board,” Satin Fye, a member of TWU Local 556, told Militant reporter Steve Warshell. “All that time is free for the company. We want that pay! We also want higher wages in general because our rates don’t come close to matching inflation.”
Some 250 flight attendants rallied at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington. Jeffrey Peterson, Association of Flight Attendants Alaska president, told the Militant that flight attendants from Alaska, United, Southwest, American, Frontier, Air Wisconsin and Horizon airlines turned out. “We’re out here supporting each other. Tens of thousands of flight attendants have been in negotiations for one to three years.”
A broad range of unions turned out at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The airport limited how many people could participate, but people lined up to join the picket line and the boisterous pickets drew a crowd. Members from UNITE HERE, United Auto Workers, SMART-TD rail workers, Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Teamsters union all came to show their support.
Tony Totty, president of United Auto Workers Local 14, came from Toledo, Ohio, to represent his union at the action. “I think the prevailing message that workers took from the UAW strike is,” he told the Militant, “you can win.”
“This fight is about more than just money,” Chip Lowe, a union official from the Association of Flight Attendants, told the Militant. Another issue is staffing. “They used to have at least one more flight attendant per flight, but airlines now run with the Federal Aviation Administration minimum,” he said. “It has nothing to do with meeting the needs of the customers on the flight.”
Some 350 picketed at San Francisco International Airport. Members from all three unions were fired up, buoyed by protesting together. A cheer went up when it was announced flight attendants at Alaska Airlines just voted to authorize a strike by 99.48%. It was the first strike mandate in three decades, reflecting labor’s increased willingness to fight.
Thousands more joined actions elsewhere, from Guam to London.