Feldman Strategies
United Airlines flight attendants received horns in support as they demonstrated on the road to Bush Intercontinental Airport on Wednesday.
The Association of Flight Attendants union has approved a strike with almost 100% support. For the AFA, this is an important step in its three-year effort to reach a contract with United Airlines.
Feldman Strategies
Flight attendants want a new contract with United that includes, among other things, a new salary structure that would pay flight attendants during boarding time, as well as retroactive payments and a living wage for new flight attendants.
Elizabeth Hibbard is president of AFA Local 42 in Houston, which represents union members working in Houston and Austin.
“We have received 99.9% approval for the strike. Our flight attendants are angry. We will not accept any concessions.”
Hibbard believes United have already delayed long enough in signing a new contract.
“United Airlines makes billions of dollars. In fact, our CEO made 229 times the average United employee's salary last year,” Hibbard said. “If that's not corporate greed, I don't know what is.”
Flight attendants from AFA Local 42 often conduct these demonstrations on John F. Kennedy Boulevard, which leads to Bush Airport.
United says negotiations are continuing and a strike will only be permitted after a process that includes release from mediation and a 30-day cooling-off period.
