Pittsburgh — The nation's largest flight attendants union said Tuesday it would conduct strike-authorization votes at four airlines, accusing the industry of using the bankruptcy process to cut workers' pay and other benefits.
The strike votes should be tallied by the end of December, union officials said. After that, they plan to await the outcome of the airlines' bankruptcy proceedings before weighing whether to walk off the job.
"Almost everywhere we look, flight attendants are being forced to work longer hours with reduced rest time, and all for ever-decreasing wages," said Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. "This must stop."
The union immediately will poll members at four airlines about whether to strike, said Friend, opening a meeting of the union's board of directors. The union has 46,000 members employed by 26 airlines, but the four airlines immediately at issue are United, US Airways, ATA and Hawaiian.
It was unclear Tuesday how many flight attendants -- and from what airlines -- would strike if union members approved a walkout.
The union likely would use "our trademark chaos strike tactic, which involves intermittent strikes without notice as to flight, time, day, airport," said David Kameras, a union spokesman.
US Airways spokesman David A. Castelveter said the airline continued to negotiate.
"We understand the union's frustration," Castelveter said, while cautioning that a strike "would ground this airline and send approximately 5,400 flight attendants to the unemployment lines."
Friend noted the efforts at airlines such as United and US Airways to use the bankruptcy process to cancel union contracts and impose deep pay cuts. She said the bankruptcy process was being used to terminate pension plans and eliminate health coverage for retirees.
Flight attendants cheer as Patricia Friend, at podium at right, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, tells the media that she called on the union's board of directors to authorize a nationwide strike if the contract of any airline's flight attendants is nullified. She spoke during a meeting Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
"We intend to exercise our right to self help, which is to withdraw our services," Friend said, noting that seven carriers with AFA representation were in bankruptcy, with others on the brink. "Our entire industry is in turmoil and the careers of our flight attendants all hang in the balance."
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