Now what??
In a bit of a surprising
move, flight
attendants for Southwest Airlines have overwhelmingly
rejected the latest contract proposal.
The vote was 64 percent
to 36.
Surprisingly, the
contract terms were negotiated with the airline by the flight attendants¡¯ union,
the Transport Workers?Union Local 556.
¡°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,¡± said
union president Lyn Montgomery in a statement.
Southwest
said,?¡°We are disappointed the industry-leading agreement reached between
the negotiating committees was not ratified.¡±
The National
Mediation Board has been involved in the negotiations and will likely weigh in
here. This could be devastating because Southwest Airlines pilots are also
threatening to strike.
Flight attendants
at Southwest were offered a contract that included a 16 percent higher pay
increase than their counterparts at Delta Air Lines, which is non-union.
The flight
attendants at Southwest Airlines say
they are ready to strike, but it is a long and involved process.
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