United flight attendants still under a pay structure negotiated in 2016
Think of all the improvements we've introduced since then.
After almost four years of very tumultuous negotiations, AFA says it is close to reaching a new tentative agreement (TA) with United that will include major improvements for its flight attendants. This would be their first TA since they ratified their last contract in 2016 – almost a decade since the last time they had the chance to negotiate contract terms.
A lot could happen in nine years. Yet for United flight attendants, the stop-and-go approach of union contracts has kept them stuck.
- Their current pay structure and work rules were agreed to back in 2016, before many current flight attendants had even joined.
- Almost nine years later, some work rules secured in that contract were still not fully implemented.
- They haven’t seen a pay raise since 2020, which makes it difficult to cover day-to-day expenses and grow savings.
- Their contract couldn’t prevent the almost 7,000 United flight attendant furloughs, reduced staffing, and base closures during COVID.
One thing that never stopped: dues. Since 2016, each United flight attendant has paid more than $5,000 in AFA dues.
AFA claims that union contracts offer certainty to flight attendants, yet the last four years of negotiations have shown how uncertain this cyclical contract process can be. Delta’s approach allows us to deliver more for our flight attendants without being stuck in a contract and waiting years for a new one to be negotiated.
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Life with AFA: United Edition
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