AFA’s Grievance Process: Fly now, grieve later, and wait
AFA often talks up its grievance process as an efficient way to resolve flight attendants’ issues. In reality, flight attendants are expected to fly now, grieve later, and then could wait – months, sometimes even years – for their issue to get resolved.
At Hawaiian, the AFA MEC President said that there were hundreds of open grievances in 2023, with some cases dating back more than a decade.
At United, after flight attendants waited seven years to resolve a grievance about profit sharing, AFA’s claim was dismissed by an arbitrator. According to AFA, flight attendants lost out on millions of dollars in profit sharing.
Some Delta flight attendants who previously worked at union-represented carriers have experienced this process first-hand.
At her previous airline, Amel had a problem and approached her union. “We filed [a grievance], and we had to go through mediation, and we had to sit through the whole process… it took so long… when I did leave and went on with Delta Air Lines the grievance was still open."
Bryce put it this way:
“One thing that we hear a lot of with the union talks is the grievance process. And I think a lot of our flight attendants feel that it’s just an instant process. It’ll be resolved quickly. Unfortunately in my experience, that’s not a guarantee. You’re gonna be told to fly now, grieve later… you’ll still have to work that assignment, you’ll still get rerouted or flown into your off day, and then you’re expected to just file a grievance with the union. So, at the end of the day you’re still working that reroute, you’re still being flown.”
AFA organizers may claim that their grievance process is a quick and easy way to resolve an issue. The fact is, even if you “fly now, grieve later,” the waiting part can be long and frustrating, and results are never guaranteed.
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Related Articles
DEC 6, 2024
Hawaiian AFA’s hundreds of open grievances
Hawaiian flight attendants’ concerns became another page in the pile.
AUG 22 2022
United flight attendants missed out on millions in profit sharing
After seven years, the AFA grievance process did not yield the result it promised.
SEPT 7, 2022
File a grievance, become another page in the pile
In the union grievance process, there’s no guarantee for resolution.
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