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Last October, Miranda Beal led a little more than a dozen of her fellow flight attendants and pilots at United Airlines to Door 6 at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
They brought yellow signs calling out "corporate greed." They chanted for higher wages. They noted the company's $12 billion earnings for one quarter compared to prevailing wages for workers.
"Year after year, they're making record revenues," Beal told Scene then, referring to United's C-suite, as picketers chanted behind her. "So, we're here to demand United to come to the negotiating table in good faith."
On Wednesday afternoon, United had not yet placated Beal and roughly 27,000 other of its flight attendants across the country.
As today, around 1 p.m., Beal announced in tandem with picketing crews at 26 other airports in the U.S. and Great Britain that those tens of thousands of workers had had enough inaction. They, for the first time in 19 years, were ready to strike—if need be.
"Well, if we feel like we're deadlocked and they're not giving us what we need," she clarified, "then we'll have no other choice."
Beal's sentiment was pretty much unanimous amongst the 24,700 vote-eligible members of the United Association of Flight Attendants: "99.9 percent" of them, Beal told Scene minutes after the announcement, had voted in favor of a potential strike.
As the yellow signs warned on Wednesday—"PAY US OR CHAOS"—the main demand echoed in front of Door 6 was for higher pay. The average flight attendant in Ohio sees about $33,700, or roughly $16 an hour, according to ZipRecruiter. United CEO Scott Kirby takes in about 30 times that, at about $1 million a year.
If the AFA picketers do get approval from the U.S. National Mediation Board, and hear nothing from United corporate by the end of September, it's likely that they'll strike. And not in typical fashion. Attendants and full crews would use their so-called CHAOS approach ("Create Havoc Around the System"), a kind of flash strike method, targeting specific flights under direction from union higher ups.
"Or we could just shut it all down," Beal suggested. But "we are really, really hoping that we don't have to initiate the strikeout. We're calling on United to come to the table."
Though attendants picketing Wednesday weren't clear on the exact details of what they want to see in a revised contract, many recalled the last successful negotiation, in 2021.
But a lot's changed since then. Grocery prices have shot up nearly 20 percent. A $750 a month apartment is now $1,100. Gas is now on average $3.50 a gallon.
"In that time frame, we've seen tremendous amount of inflation," United pilot Ed Higgins told Scene in midst of the demonstration. "We've seen cost-of-living increases. United has set record profits, and the United flight attendants have nothing to show for it."
United Airlines has yet to respond to today's news. They'll have, like Beal said, until the end of the 30-day "cooling off" period to reciprocate.
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They brought yellow signs calling out "corporate greed." They chanted for higher wages. They noted the company's $12 billion earnings for one quarter compared to prevailing wages for workers.
"Year after year, they're making record revenues," Beal told Scene then, referring to United's C-suite, as picketers chanted behind her. "So, we're here to demand United to come to the negotiating table in good faith."
On Wednesday afternoon, United had not yet placated Beal and roughly 27,000 other of its flight attendants across the country.
As today, around 1 p.m., Beal announced in tandem with picketing crews at 26 other airports in the U.S. and Great Britain that those tens of thousands of workers had had enough inaction. They, for the first time in 19 years, were ready to strike—if need be.
"Well, if we feel like we're deadlocked and they're not giving us what we need," she clarified, "then we'll have no other choice."
Beal's sentiment was pretty much unanimous amongst the 24,700 vote-eligible members of the United Association of Flight Attendants: "99.9 percent" of them, Beal told Scene minutes after the announcement, had voted in favor of a potential strike.
Mark Oprea
Melinda Beal, a flight attendant, announced the authorization of a strike at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. It was the first time since 2005 the AFA authorized a strike on this level.
If the AFA picketers do get approval from the U.S. National Mediation Board, and hear nothing from United corporate by the end of September, it's likely that they'll strike. And not in typical fashion. Attendants and full crews would use their so-called CHAOS approach ("Create Havoc Around the System"), a kind of flash strike method, targeting specific flights under direction from union higher ups.
"Or we could just shut it all down," Beal suggested. But "we are really, really hoping that we don't have to initiate the strikeout. We're calling on United to come to the table."
Though attendants picketing Wednesday weren't clear on the exact details of what they want to see in a revised contract, many recalled the last successful negotiation, in 2021.
But a lot's changed since then. Grocery prices have shot up nearly 20 percent. A $750 a month apartment is now $1,100. Gas is now on average $3.50 a gallon.
"In that time frame, we've seen tremendous amount of inflation," United pilot Ed Higgins told Scene in midst of the demonstration. "We've seen cost-of-living increases. United has set record profits, and the United flight attendants have nothing to show for it."
United Airlines has yet to respond to today's news. They'll have, like Beal said, until the end of the 30-day "cooling off" period to reciprocate.
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
