![]() ![]() If all of that and some other steps fail, only then would the pilots actually be legally allowed to walk off the job.įan favorites: Southwest, Delta and JetBlue win top marks for customer satisfaction in J.D. ![]() In order for a strike to occur, negotiations need to break down between the pilots and airline management, the National Mediation Board needs to get involved, a mandatory 30-day cooling off period must be observed, during which President Joe Biden could appoint a board to oversee further negotiations. In both cases, the vote is just the first step on a path that rarely if ever ends in an actual work stoppage. Just a few weeks ago, American Airlines pilots announced they had also authorized a strike in a similar vote. Southwest Airlines pilots voted to authorize a strike, but it’s highly unlikely it will happen. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Watch Video: Summer travel demand is high for 2023. “But it does mean the language even around the same thing could be different.” “It doesn’t necessarily mean that we want different things,” Jordan said. With the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the company is working on a “full rewrite.” Jordan said the language in the contract is a very important piece of sealing the agreement. Flight attendants were calling for executives to fix the technology problems that contributed to the disruption. Southwest flight attendants picketed at Love Field in March, the first picket since the December meltdown. Heading into a busy summer travel season, Carlisle said he doesn’t know if the company can secure contracts before then “because it takes both sides to reach an agreement.” “But the reality is, there’s just a lot to talk about.” “I’ll never be pleased with the pace of negotiations because I’d like them all to be done very quickly,” Carlisle said. As of December, there were 54,406 full-time employees at Southwest represented by a union, roughly 82% of the company’s employees. In all, those groups represent more than 42,000 employees. Carlisle said the mediator controls the processes with Southwest’s schedule and is “making really good progress.” Southwest is also in direct negotiations with its meteorologists, represented by Transport Workers Union Local 550, and its ramp, operations, provisioning and cargo agents, represented by Transport Workers Union Local 555. Pilots at Delta Air Lines approved the contract last month, raising their pay by more than 30% over four years. The union said the Delta deal will lead to a cumulative $7 billion in pay raises.īoth flight attendants and pilots have called for mediation. “We obviously saw the change in environment when Delta ratified their agreement.”Ĭarlisle said that the Delta agreement sets a “new marker” and makes carriers sensitive to other areas of agreements, like where a company is spending money in the contract. “We’re all doing the same thing,” Carlisle said. He said he thinks American is “on a big push right now” to get a deal. “We’re getting closer, but we just hope that the company sees the need and delivers what is going to be industry-leading, since flight attendants are the face of Southwest Airlines,” Montgomery said.Īdam Carlisle, vice president of labor relations at Southwest Airlines, said United Airlines, American and Delta have been in negotiations longer than the Dallas carrier. Lyn Montgomery, president of Transport Workers Union Local 556, said there’s still a lot to get through for their deal, but they’ve reached “the nitty gritty,” which is all the things that matter to Southwest’s flight attendants. The email called on Southwest to make a “compelling offer now,” before pilots vote to ratify the deal. “In the worst-case scenario for reaching an agreement anytime soon, and against the mediators’ wishes, this week labor relations presented their reserve counter working from current book rather than SWAPA’s last proposal,” Kurt Heidemann, a member of the union’s negotiating committee, said in the email. “We’re really close on, one or maybe two more.”īut for the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, it was “another week wasted,” according to an update to members sent last week. “While we have a few big ones that are still open, we’ve closed five contracts since October,” Jordan told The Dallas Morning News. Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said the carrier is getting closer to deals with key labor unions, contracts that would improve pay for pilots, flight attendants and other unionized workers at the Dallas-based carrier.Īfter Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines closed its pilot contract earlier this year, carriers have looked to the deal as a foundation for pay rates, especially Fort Worth’s American Airlines, which has already said it is prepared to match the contract’s pay for pilots.
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