Axios San Diego reports that on Tuesday, Feb. 13, hundreds of flight attendants, pilots and other airline workers will be picketing outside the San Diego Airport as part of a nationwide demonstration over their pay and working conditions amid ongoing contract negotiations.
They’re asking for raises and challenging their pay structure and will be joining picketers from multiple unions representing 100,000 flight attendants for Alaska, United, American, Southwest and other airlines who are expected outside 30 airports nationwide. The industry norm is they don’t get paid until the plane doors close.
Travelers can expect to see the large group gathered at Terminal 2; however, their flights shouldn’t be disrupted because the picketing employees are off duty.
Local political leaders and other workers unions are expected to attend in support.
Union members say they aren’t fully or directly compensated for their work during boarding, deplaning or for time on the ground between back-to-back flights.
However, Alaska Air, for example, said in a statement that flight attendants are paid for boarding time “through a pay mechanism that was negotiated with the union in previous contract cycles.” Delta Air Lines in 2022 became the first U.S. airline to pay flight attendants during boarding — at half the rate.
Flight attendants are “forced to work long days, with little rest, increased responsibility and fuller planes with no increase to compensation,” particularly following the pandemic, union leader Brice McGee told Axios.
Union leaders are frustrated that Alaska Air called union proposals not “economically feasible” and then agreed to spend $1.9 billion to buy Hawaiian Airlines in December.
The other side: Airlines say they’re working with unions on agreements after Alaska Air said it made an offer that would put their flight attendants at or near the top of the industry.
Alaska Air’s proposals include an immediate 15% increase to the wage scale, annual raises and market rate adjustments in line with new contracts at other airlines. The airline is continuing to bargain with the union through a mediator and “discussions have been productive,” it said in an emailed statement.
United Airlines has mediated negotiations with the Association of Flight Attendants scheduled for March, where they plan to “narrow the issues” to work toward an “industry-leading agreement,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Workers at major airlines have been picketing in San Diego for months and nationwide for more than a year as part of an effort to organize during contract negotiations.
These demonstrations are not strikes, though that’s the next step. American and Southwest flight attendants have already voted to authorize strikes, and Alaska is anticipating the same today. Union leaders want to avoid a strike, and one likely won’t happen soon.
Under federal law, it’s illegal for airline workers to strike unless they get permission from the federal government, NPR reported. Federal mediators rejected the request for a strike by American flight attendants.
