As travelers prepare for a busy Labor Day weekend, flight attendants announced Wednesday morning at O’Hare Airport that they are preparing for a strike.
Speaking to more than 100 flight attendants representing more than 29,000 who work for Chicago-based United, Ken Diaz of the Association of Flight Attendants said more than 91% voted for strike authorization and more than 99% of them said “yes.”
“This has been a long time coming,” Diaz said, noting that members of the group have gone more than three years without a raise.
Amanda Tomaszewski is one of those flight attendants.
She said she worked for United for almost eight years, but she and her husband still can’t afford to buy a house.
“I haven’t had a raise in almost three years, so unfortunately we have no chance of saving to do that,” she said.
Even though United flight attendants have voted to authorize a strike, that doesn’t mean it will happen anytime soon.
Sara Nelson, AFA/CWA International President, said travelers and airline executives should be on the lookout.
“If they don’t get serious at the table, there will be disruption,” she said.
If a strike is called, the union does not expect its members to walk out en masse. Instead, AFA plans to call “CHAOS” strikes designed to “create chaos around our system.” It would be a series of selective strikes, much like those carried out by the United Auto Workers last year.
“We continue to work toward an industry-leading agreement for our flight attendants, including negotiations this week and each month through November,” United said in a statement Wednesday.
A federal mediator has been called in.
It’s been more than 20 years since flight attendants went on strike here at O’Hare, but they want passengers to know they’re willing to walk out to get what they want from the airline.
“All they want is concessions from the flight attendants at a time when we have record revenues and record profits,” said Scott Pejas of the AFA. “The flight attendants are sick and tired.”