United Airlines. Photo: United Airlines After a lengthy period of negotiations and struggle with company management, United Airlines employees approved a new labor agreement that is considered one of the most significant in the American aviation industry in recent years.
The flight attendants, represented by the AFA-CWA union, approved on Tuesday, May 12, a new five-year agreement, approved by a majority of 82% of voters, and including sharp wage increases, hundreds of millions of dollars in retroactive payments, and a series of improvements in the employment conditions and welfare of flight crews.
As a result, approximately 30,000 United flight attendants will benefit from an average salary increase of 31% this summer, with payment for boarding time being included for the first time in the company's history, a move that, according to the union, is expected to increase total compensation by an average of 7%-8%.
One of the most prominent clauses in the agreement is a retroactive payment totaling $741 million, to be paid to flight attendants for the period before the agreement is ratified. Along with this, the agreement also includes a series of improvements in employment conditions, including increased pension provisions, improved ISA benefits, payment for extended waiting times between flights, and new restrictions on night flights.
At the same time, the agreement also includes an expansion of parental rights, with 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and two weeks of paid parental and adoption leave.
"The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic," said Ken Diaz, president of the Daily United representation in the AFA union, adding, "Our solidarity delivers the goods."
Sara Nelson, International President of the AFA-CWA International, concluded: “The United Airlines Flight Attendant contract now leads the industry in total value for Flight Attendants and it should. We will continue to press forward with all of our contracts and build power with our organizing to ensure Flight Attendants are respected with meaningful return for our work as aviation’s first responders.”