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- Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants were authorized to strike for the First Time in 30 Years, as the flight attendants previously went on strike in 1993.
Airlines (Commonwealth Union) _ On 13th February, thousands of flight attendants across three different labor unions picketed while an Alaska Airlines union authorized a major strike.
The thousands of employees seeking more favorable labor agreements from Alaska, among other airlines, gathered outside thirty different airports in the United States and Canada to protest. Flight attendants voted 99.48% yes, with 93.47% participating, on strike authorization, according to the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA which represents the workers.
The approved strike stands out as the first authorized by the airline’s cabin crew union in over 30 years, and the efforts today included flight attendants from 24 different airlines. Alaska Airlines maintains that contract negotiations are ongoing and should come to an end any time soon.
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- Flight attendants from several airlines, led by the Association of Flight Attendants, authorized a strike against Alaska Airlines following a lack of favorable labor agreements.
- The decision to strike indicates the tense state of contract negotiations within the airline industry, since many flight attendants have not seen a raise in nearly five years.
- The strike’s approval has had a ripple effect on the industry, with other airline stocks dropping, but Alaska Airlines is confident in reaching a resolution with its staff.
Today’s news comes as yet another hit to Alaska Airlines since the start of 2024, with the airline’s shares decreasing by 2.1% in afternoon trading. In spite of making a big splash at the end of 2023 with the announcement of its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska had a rocky start to the year, including a memorable incident onboard a 737 MAX 9 aircraft which saw a door plug detach from the aircraft mid-flight.
A popular decision
Labor unions such as the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), which authorized the strike, do not make the decision to do so lightly. Nonetheless, according to the union, of the 93% of the union’s employees who voted on the proposed strike, 99.48% chose to do so, representing an overwhelming majority in favor of the action should Alaska not be able to meet the union’s contract requests.
Industry regulations make it extremely difficult for cabin crew to strike, as doing so often causes significant disruption to operations. Nonetheless, the Alaska Airlines employees’ decision to authorize a strike for the first time since 1993 demonstrates the tense state of contract negotiations within the industry at the current time. Pilots across the commercial aviation industry have recently seen pay increases as a result of new contract negotiations. However, many flight attendants have not seen a raise in nearly five years, as reported by Reuters.’ The entire industry has seen negative performance on the markets today, especially concerning the carriers most involved with today’s pickets. As reported by US News & World Report, Southwest Airlines shares dropped by 0.9%, American Airlines closed down by 2.2%, and United Airlines took the biggest tumble, down nearly 3.9%, in addition to Alaska’s previously mentioned loss.
Alaska Airlines is confident nonetheless, in its ability to come to a resolution with its staff efficiently in order to prevent the approved strike.
A spokesperson indicated that the company recently closed six different labor deals and added that a tentative agreement had been reached in January with the airline’s maintenance technicians. The AFA and Alaska leadership have convened thrice within the last three weeks and intend to continue doing so with a third-party mediator. So far, the carrier reports that four tentative agreements have been reached.
