By a wide margin, flight attendants at United Airlines rejected a tentative agreement that would have provided substantial pay raises and backpay, but failed to address other workplace concerns in a satisfactory way.

United Airlines Flight Attendants Reject New Contract By Lopsided Margin

Over the last few weeks, flight attendants have been voting on a new contract. The voting closed earlier today and the results are overwhelming, with 92% of flight attendants casting a ballot. 71% voted not to ratify the agreement.

Ken Diaz, President of the United Airlines chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) said:

“United Flight Attendants today voted to send a strong message to United Airlines management by rejecting a tentative agreement that didn’t go far enough to address the years of sacrifice and hard work to make the airline the success it is today. This is democracy in action.

“Flight Attendants need substantial improvements as soon as possible. Our union will survey members as quickly as possible to identify the key issues Flight Attendants are ready to fight to achieve in an agreement they want to ratify. We always said no matter the outcome of the vote, we will fight forward and that is what we will do with the power of 28,000 Flight Attendants and our whole union standing together.”

Meanwhile, United told Live And Let’s Fly:

“Our flight attendants are the best in the industry and this tentative agreement included numerous improvements and industry leading pay. While this vote will result in a delay and the AFA has outlined several steps to return to negotiations, including coordination with the National Mediation Board, we remain focused on getting our flight attendants the contract they deserve.”

The union will begin surveying flight attendants “as quickly as possible” to “identify the key issues” that led to the lopsided vote against the contract (wouldn’t you think this was done already?).

This Vote Was Expected…

Folks, this is all part of the pageantry. Checking in with my flight attendant contacts at United over the last couple of weeks, I knew this would happen…flight attendants were not happy with the “first round” of the agreement.

There was misinformation out there to be sure (the union objected to both stories I wrote on contractual disagreements), but there was the sense that the union left ambiguous what should not have been ambiguous, which would always be used by United for its own benefit.

While I don’t think United flight attendants can realistically expect more pay, they will seek more work-related concessions in round two.

But as long as backpay is on the table, flight attendants will drag this out as long as necessary…not that they will find a sympathetic advocate in the current administration (even the Biden-era National Mediation Board did not release them to strike).

What are they going to do? Coordinated sick-outs? Service slow-downs so that dinner service on a transatlantic flight takes five hours? I certainly hope not (and to be clear, I don’t expect that either).

I think it’s reasonable that flight attendants want black-and-white language in the new contract…they are correct that ambiguity is most often used against them. But I’m not sure what more they can get here and I strongly doubt they will get much more pay…what leverage do they realistically have? More press event interruptions?

CONCLUSION

Flight attendants at United Airlines have overwhelmingly rejected a new contract, with 71% voting it down. Yet I am not surprised.

My prediction is the union will secure a handful of verbiage concessions from United, the flight attendants will vote again, and this time they will begrudgingly accept the new contract, largely the same as it is now.

The elephant in the room is still that flight attendants are replaceable. That doesn’t mean that I am against inflation-adjusted wages after five years and treating these workers, many of whom I count as friends, with dignity and fairness…but it does make any analogies to the pilots’ contract (or even mechanics’) suspect.

United will get through this. So will the flight attendants. This first-round rejection is simply part of the game.

> Read More: 6 Clauses That Could Derail United’s New Flight Attendant Contract
> Read More: United Flight Attendants Turn Against Tentative Contract, Cite Failed Union Leadership

image: AFA-CWA