The union representing Southwest Airlines flight attendants has voted in favor of strike authorization after its members rejected a contract negotiated between the airline and the union last month.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556, which represents more than 21,000 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines, said it would return to the negotiating table to get a more favorable contract.
Around 98 percent of the members voted in favor, marking the first time in the union’s history that flight attendants have taken a vote to authorize a strike against Southwest Airlines.
The union pledged to do “whatever it takes” to secure a contract that recognizes the contributions of flight attendants to the success of the carrier.
Lyn Montgomery, president of TWU Local 556 and a career flight attendant, emphasized the necessity of securing pay that “sets a new industry standard.”
Southwest Airlines flight attendants are seeking a new contract that includes “scheduling for on-call rotations, appropriate compensation for ground time, improved commuter policies, and the ability to have a safe place to sleep on overnights.”
“When you are told at the negotiating table that certain work rule changes are off-limits and then you grant them to another workgroup, it’s clear that you do not value employees equally,” Ms. Montgomery said in a statement.
“This is not just about job roles; at this point, our fight is about valuing our very personhood. Our employer has failed to implement even no-cost work rule changes that would improve our quality of life.
“While we battle for our earned value professionally, we find that we also fight to be valued as people. Even that seems up in the air with Southwest Airlines management today.”
Last month, flight attendants at Southwest Airlines voted down a contract deal that would have given them industry-leading pay, 16 percent above crews at Delta Air Lines, who are non-union.
Ms. Montgomery said the vote followed five years of negotiations during which the flight crews have not received pay raises.
“We will go back to the table to achieve the collective bargaining agreement that meets the needs of the hardest-working flight attendants in the industry,” she said at the time.
Airline workers have said they kept working through the pandemic and deserve higher pay now that most of the carriers have returned to profitability. Pilots at American, United, and Delta have won raises of roughly 40 percent over five years.
