Editorial photo credit: Wirestock Creators / Shutterstock.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Flight Attendants at American wholly-owned PSA Airlines, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), voted 99.2% to authorize a strike. The results come after months of insulting proposals from PSA management during contract negotiations.
“Our 99.2% vote shows PSA and American management that we will do whatever it takes to get the contract we have earned,” said Lee Wilkes, president of the PSA chapter of AFA-CWA representing over 1,300 PSA Airlines Flight Attendants. “We can’t afford to wait any longer. We’ll be back at the table next week with a message for management: it’s time to Pay Us or CHAOS™. PSA Flight Attendants need improvements now!”
PSA Flight Attendants are fighting for double-digit base pay increases, increased pay for time at work including boarding, sick leave, work rule improvements, and more. PSA Flight Attendants filed for federal mediation in January. Management finally returned an economic proposal—after stalling for seven months—with insulting base wage increases that fall far short of the cost of living and increases at mainline carriers.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume next week with oversight from the National Mediation Board. Strike vote ballots were sent to over 1,300 Flight Attendants, with the vote opening August 21, 2024 and closing on September 17, 2024. Significantly, 86.5% cast a strike ballot.
“Flight Attendants at PSA and other regional airlines across the industry fly the same routes and provide the same service as mainline Flight Attendants. It’s time they get paid like it,” said Sara Nelson, international president of AFA-CWA representing 55,000 Flight Attendants at 20 airlines. “Regional Flight Attendants deserve pay and benefits that reflect the value of their hard work.”
AFA has a trademarked strike strategy known as CHAOS™ or Create Havoc Around Our System™. With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how to strike without notice to management or passengers. The right to strike is triggered when the National Mediation Board (NMB) declares that negotiations are deadlocked and releases both parties into a 30-day “cooling off” period leading to a strike deadline.
PSA Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group operating 500 daily flights to nearly 100 destinations.
