No deal. Contract
negotiations between American Airlines and its flight attendants ended Thursday
without an agreement. The union representing the flight attendants said
there could be a strike.
The Association of
Professional Flight Attendants said American’s flight attendants have not
received a pay increase in five years. The union represents about 28,000 flight
attendants at American.
Union
president Julie Hedrick said American did not provide a meaningful compensation
package despite almost a year of mediated talks with the National Mediation
Board. American previously countered with a one-time, take-it-or-leave-it offer
of a 17 percent increase as some flight attendants struggle with low pay and a
high cost of living in
some major metro areas.
"Flight
Attendants will move the process forward to secure overdue economic
improvements," Hedrick said.
Ironically,
as the union talked about being one step closer to a strike, airline management
said it thought it had made good progress.
"We
made good progress in negotiations this week, adding even more to the industry leading proposal we’ve had on the table for months. We
look forward to continuing negotiations so our flight attendants can benefit
from the contract they deserve," American Airlines said in a statement.
"This agreement is within reach and we look forward to additional dates
being scheduled."
"New-hire
Flight Attendants at American Airlines start at just $27,000/year. (CEO) Robert
Isom’s compensation package is now 1,162 times that of a new-hire Flight
Attendant, in a demonstration of corporate greed at its finest," the union
said in a June 12 news release.
A
strike is not imminent, however.
The
flight attendants have to go through a mandatory 30-day cooling-off period as
per rules from the National Mediation Board, which they have not been granted
yet.
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