Flight attendants across the US join pickets on day of action

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Flight attendants went on strike across the US on Tuesday in a protest over pay and for higher working situations in fairer contracts.

The flight attendants, represented by varied unions and across 24 airways, are collaborating in what has been dubbed “World Flight Attendance Day of Action” with airports in the UK and Guam additionally affected.

The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) known as the protest “historic” in a information launch.

The union mentioned 100,000 flight attendants are at present in contract negotiations. The effort took place as a result of their working situations and pay having been “eroded” by operational points and the rising price of residing after the pandemic.

They are arguing that airways can afford truthful offers and are flying greater than ever earlier than, so flight attendants are demanding a “fair share of the profits” for his or her laborious work.

Pilots from main airways have efficiently been capable of obtain new labour offers, together with pay rises, in keeping with Reuters.

The AFA additionally mentioned that the significance of flight attendants’ work has not too long ago been recognised in horrific incidents akin to Japan Airlines Flight 516 or Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, but the attendants do “life-saving work every day”, from medical emergencies, de-escalating battle to fireside flighting, the launch mentioned.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (AFPA), one other union concerned, mentioned on X that “A landmark collective representing the largest number of flight attendants in the history of aviation will unite to demand better pay and working conditions for flight attendants everywhere, with informational pickets in more than 30 cities.”

The protesters are additionally searching for retirement safety, flexibility and the finish of “legacy sexism” that has devalued their jobs for years.

“Like every other worker around the world, we need to go to work to live, not just live to work,” the occasion description mentioned.

They additionally added that greater than two-thirds of flight attendants from main airways in the US are at present in contract negotiations surrounding their calls for.

It has been a long-standing apply that flight attendants are pot paid till these airplane doorways are shut, identified NPR.

“We have a lot of time in our days that we are unpaid,” says Julie Hedrick, a flight attendant for American Airlines and president of the APFA. “It’s our most chaotic and the hardest time in our day, and we can have four to five boardings per day.”

However, some airways argue the opposite, akin to Alaska Airlines, who pays their attendants for boarding time by way of a pay mechanism, or Delta, who provides the attendants half their hourly fee, in keeping with the outlet.

Back in August 2023, American Airlines flight attendants represented by the AFPA voted a overwhelming 99.4 per cent to authorise a strike in the event that they wanted to.

“Our CEOs are taking millions in bonuses while we sit here without wage increases for five years. It’s time for that to change. It’s time for our flight attendants to get the contracts that they deserve,” Ms Hedrick mentioned to NBCDFW.