Alaska Airlines flight attendants have rejected the tentative collective agreement negotiated by their union.
The Flight Attendants Association told KIRO Newsradio in an emailed statement:
Alaska flight attendants voted against ratifying the tentative agreement today. This is democracy in action, and flight attendants always have the final say on any contract. There is still a lot of work to be done.
Flight attendants need improvement as soon as possible. Our union will continue to fight for the contract that Alaska flight attendants deserve. The next step is to survey members to identify the most important issues and bring them to the bargaining table together.”
The union, which represents 6,900 workers in Alaska, reached a tentative agreement in June after about 18 months of negotiations. Voting ended on Wednesday.
More about Alaska Airlines: AA and ZeroAvia jointly develop the largest zero-emission aircraft
According to Aviation Week, the three-year contract would have included a 32 percent salary increase and compensation for the flight attendant’s time spent boarding before the plane takes off.
This contract would have been the first U.S. union agreement to provide for payment of flight crew during the boarding process. Previously, airlines paid their cabin crew only after the cabin door was closed.
Mobile boarding passes: Alaska Airlines demands
The agreement included backdated payment for 21 months, corresponding to the time spent on negotiations.
The union plans to conduct a survey of its members and then resume negotiations.
Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X Here and send him an email here.
