A union representing flight attendants for American Airlines told workers they needed to prepare for a strike as weeks of negotiations have failed to produce an agreement.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) said Friday it had spent three weeks of contract mediation at the airline's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, followed by two weeks of negotiations at the National Mediation Board offices in Washington, with no success.
The union said it believed the board would call both parties in for a “last ditch effort” within the next two weeks but that has not been confirmed.
“We remain apart on the key economics of the deal plus the company’s completely unacceptable demand for scheduling concessions,” said the APFA.
If an agreement is not reached, the National Mediation Board will then decide if the union can be released to strike.
“While these delays are frustrating, we also know that the company’s ability to stall these negotiations is rapidly reaching an end,” the APFA said in a statement.
The APFA encouraged workers to continue wearing their red “war pins,” red lanyards and bag tags until a deal is reached as a show of solidarity.
The group said it is mailing out strike handbooks to members but also reminded workers not to jeopardize its efforts by doing anything illegal.
Last month, over 170 U.S. lawmakers signed a letter to the National Mediation Board urging them to help aviation workers secure contracts. The board’s responsibility is to “maintain the flow of interstate commerce in the airline and railway industries,” according to its website.
The letter stated over 100,000 flight attendants are currently under contract negotiations. According to Reuters, that number includes workers from United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Frontier in addition to American Airlines.
This stalemate comes as the International Air Transport Association said Monday during a meeting in Dubai that flight tickets are likely to keep going up in price as a result of global inflation, The Associated Press reported.
Race in America
