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The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (commonly known as AFA) is a union representing flight attendants in the United States. As of January 2018, AFA represents 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines. Since 2004, AFA has been part of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), an affiliate of AFL–CIO. AFA is also an affiliate of the International Transport Workers' Federation.

History

There had been several previous attempts at unionizing over the years, however, many of the would-be union leaders faced intimidation, threats, and termination for their efforts.[1] It was not until 1944 when Ada Brown, along with four other flight attendants began forming the Airline Stewardess Association or ALSA (the precursor of the AFA). Despite the previous difficulties in organizing a union, United Airlines offered no push back against this newer group, recognizing that dealing with an organized entity is the favorable option.[2] The ALSA was officially established on August 22nd, 1945.[3]

The relationship between the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) and ALSA was crucial for the flight attendants. The ALPA offered “essential information and necessary material” to the fledgling union.[4] This was, however, the beginning of what would become years of disagreements between the two. The ALPA had been allowed by the leadership to begin recruiting and unionizing other airline employees, including the flight attendants.[5] The quick and efficient unionization efforts of ALSA founders threatened the ALPA’s plans for companywide unionization. Negotiations between ALSA founders and airline officials began in December 1945, “Ada Brown, Frances Hall, and Sally Thometz met with company negotiators Charles McErlean and E.H Johnson.”[6] The negotiations dragged on through the new year. As finances got tighter during the negotiation process, sporadic donations of $5-$10 became a saving grace.[7] Negotiations ended and ALSA leadership signed its first contract with United on April 25th, 1946.[8]

One of the first changes negotiated by the newly established union was capping the flight hours an attendant could be assigned. Flight attendants were now allowed to only fly eighty-five hours per month and no more than 255 over the course of three months.[9] This was a major change since previously there were no maximum hours an attendant could fly, often leading to the woman overworking. Additionally, the starting salary for flight attendants rose from $125 to $155.[10] Talks of merging with other unions began shortly after its foundation and reached a head on December 2, 1949, ALSA merged with the Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association (ALSSA), an affiliate of the ALPA.[11] By 1951, ALSSA had 3,300 members.

ALPA created two separate divisions in 1960, one for pilots, and one for stewards and stewardesses. Nearly half of the USA's 8,700 flight attendants were members of ALPA's S&S division at that time. Discussions about autonomy for the S & S division of the ALPA kicked up during the 1970s. A vote for autonomy was conducted in June of 1973 however the necessary favorable votes (2/3rds) were not reached.[12] A second vote was conducted in October 1973 and a similar outcome was reached.[13] Later that year S & S Division flight attendants chose self-determination and formed the independent Association of Flight Attendants, leaving ALPA.

In 1973, ALSSA flight attendants chose self-determination and formed the independent Association of Flight Attendants, leaving ALPA.[14]

In 1982, AFA had 22,000 members at 18 American airlines. In 1984, the AFL–CIO granted AFA a charter.[15]

In 2004, after the September 11th attacks, the AFA merged with the Communication Workers of America.[14][16]

Organizing

In July 2006, Northwest Airlines flight attendants voted to replace their independent union with AFA. AFA's membership rose to 55,000 flight attendants. On November 4, 2010, AFA was decertified by the National Mediation Board as the bargaining representative for the pre-merger Northwest Airlines flight attendants of Delta Air Lines, after narrowly losing a representational election of the combined group the day before.[17] AFA filed objections to the election with the National Mediation Board alleging interference.[18]

On June 29, 2011, AFA won one of the largest private sector union elections in decades, winning representation rights for the combined workforce of approximately 24,000 flight attendants at United Airlines, Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia.[19] That election was triggered by a National Mediation Board ruling that those airlines had formed a single transportation system as a result of a corporate merger.

CHAOS

AFA-CWA members threaten CHAOS at Northwest Airlines August 15, 2006 at San Francisco International Airport

CHAOS is AFA's trademarked strategy of intermittent strikes designed to maximize the impact of an industrial action while minimizing the risk for striking flight attendants.[citation needed]

In May 1993, AFA members at Seattle-based Alaska Airlines were facing a 30-day cooling-off period after more than three years of negotiations.[20] In June, 1993, the cooling-off period mandated by the Railway Labor Act had expired. The first CHAOS strike took place in Seattle when three flight attendants walked off an Alaska Airlines flight just before passenger boarding.[21] A month later, another crew of flight attendants struck the last flight out of Las Vegas.[22] A few weeks later, AFA struck five flights simultaneously in the San Francisco area.[23]

America West,[24] AirTran and US Airways[25] all settled with AFA on the eve of, or a few minutes after, the end of a 30-day cooling-off period in the 1990s. AFA flight attendants at Midwest Express (now Midwest Airlines), completed a cooling-off period without reaching agreement on a first contract in 2002. After three weeks of a CHAOS campaign, and on the eve of CHAOS strikes,[26] management agreed to terms that were ratified by the flight attendants. United Airlines flight attendants used the threat of CHAOS to leverage their negotiations during the airline's bankruptcy,[27] succeeding in doubling the value of the replacement retirement plan management had proposed.[citation needed]

Flight attendants at Northwest Airlines, locked in a round of bankruptcy negotiations, deployed a CHAOS campaign days after joining AFA in July, 2006.[28] Union negotiators concluded a new tentative agreement with millions of dollars in improvements, but which was voted down by a narrow margin. AFA continued preparations for CHAOS strikes at Northwest pending the outcome of negotiations and litigation surrounding the case.[29]

The bankruptcy court ruled in favor of the union, denying the strike injunction sought by management.[30] On appeal, the federal district court and the court of appeals ruled that workers under the Railway Labor Act cannot strike in response to rejection of a collective bargaining agreement in bankruptcy.[31] Northwest and AFA returned to negotiations and reached a new tentative agreement, which was narrowly ratified by the flight attendants on May 29, 2007.[32] The flight attendants became the last major work group at Northwest to agree to new contract terms in bankruptcy. The new contract provided Northwest with $195 million in annual cuts through 2011, and secured a $182 million equity claim for the flight attendants before it was lost upon the company's exit from bankruptcy.[citation needed]

On August 16, 2023, Alaska Airlines flight attendants protested across the US for better wages and working conditions.[33] Across the US, it has been estimated that over 1,000 flight attendants were in attention outside of airports demanding a higher pay.[34][33][35] In September flight attendants a part of the union voted for a new contract with a 99.47% approval rating.[36]

Member flight attendant groups

AFA represents the flight attendants at the following airlines:[37][38]

Presidents

1945: Ada Brown [39]
1947: Frances Hall[40]
1948: Irene Eastin[40]
1951: Mary Alice Koos[40]
1953 Rowland K. Quinn Jr[40]
1973: Kelly Rueck
1979: Linda Puchala[41][42]
1986: Susan Bianchi-Sand
1991: Dee Maki
1995: Patricia A. Friend
2010: Veda Shook
2014: Sara Nelson

See also

Citations

  1. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  2. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  3. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  4. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  5. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  6. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  7. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  8. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  9. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  10. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  11. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  12. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  13. ^ Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  14. ^ a b World, Special to People’s (2012-08-22). "Today in labor history: Air Line Stewardesses Association formed". People's World. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  15. ^ Nielsen, passim.
  16. ^ "AFA-CWA Plans CHAOS to Stop Industry Assault". Communications Workers of America. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  17. ^ Mutzabaugh, Ben (November 4, 2010). "Aviation Photos & Video". USA Today.
  18. ^ "Union claims Delta interfered in election". David Shaffer. Minneapolis Star Tribune. November 23, 2010
  19. ^ "United Continental flight attendants pick a union, by Joshua Freed, AP". Seattle Post Intelligencer.[dead link]
  20. ^ Borer p. 567.
  21. ^ Polly Lane (1993-08-23). "Striking Flight Attendants Suspended - Union Delays Its First Alaska Trip". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  22. ^ "Alaska Airline Workers Delay Las Vegas Flight". Seattle Times. 1993-08-25. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  23. ^ "Alaska Suspends 17 More Attendants After Flights Disrupted". Seattle Times. 1993-09-14. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  24. ^ "America West Strike Looms", CNN, web posted March 19, 1999. Archived February 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "US Airways Flight Attendants Hold News Conference, CNN, aired March 24, 2000 - 11:03 a.m. ET". CNN. 2000-03-24. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  26. ^ "Union Keeps Midwest Express Guessing", by Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 1, 2002. Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Gregory Meyer (April 29, 2005). "UAL Flight Attendants Threaten CHAOS". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  28. ^ Jeff Horwich (2006-08-01). "How chaotic would CHAOS be for Northwest?". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  29. ^ Dale Russakoff (August 25, 2006). "Cabin Pressure - The Union Promises to Wreak 'Chaos' As Another Carrier Downsizes a Career". Washington Post. p. D01. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  30. ^ Jeff Horwich (2006-08-17). "Judge rules Northwest flight attendants can strike". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  31. ^ Padraic Cassidy (March 29, 2007). "Court upholds strike ban on Northwest's flight attendants". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  32. ^ "Northwest flight attendants okay bargaining agreement". Reuters. 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  33. ^ a b ago, Alex DeMarban Updated: 18 hours ago Published: 19 hours. "Alaska Airlines flight attendants protest at Ted Stevens Anchorage airport". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2023-08-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ Alaska Airlines flight attendants picket for better wages, working conditions, retrieved 2023-08-16
  35. ^ Groves, David (2023-08-16). "Alaska's flight attendants: Pay Us or Chaos!". The Stand. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  36. ^ Sainato, Michael (2023-09-17). "Flight attendants threaten strikes over low pay and unpaid work". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  37. ^ "Our Airlines". AFA CWA. Association of Flight Attendants CWA.
  38. ^ "Our Airlines". Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  39. ^ Kuttner, Robert (2023-09-28). "A Union of Their Own". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  40. ^ a b c d Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union. Ithica, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  41. ^ Nielsen, pp. 135–136.
  42. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration". whitehouse.gov. September 15, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017 – via National Archives.

Works cited

  • Nielsen, Georgia Panter (1982). From Skygirl to Flight Attendant, Women and the Making of a Union. Ithaca, New York: ILR Press/Cornell. ISBN 978-0-87546-093-2.
  • Borer, David A. (1995). "Doing Battle: Flight Attendant Labor Relations in '90s". In Darryl Jenkins (ed.). Handbook of Airline Economics. Aviation Week Grp., Div. of McGraw-Hill. pp. 563–568. ISBN 0-07-607087-5.
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