Author: Susan Carey
A majority of the 15,000 premerger flight attendants at United Airlines approved a new labor contract reached in January, according to the Association of Flight Attendants union. The new accord, which succeeds a contract that has been in place since United was in bankruptcy-court protection, is a "stepping stone" to a single contract that will cover all the cabin crew members at both United and Continental Airlines, said Greg Davidowitch, president of the union at the United subsidiary.
United and Continental merged in October 2010, and the achievement of a single contract covering both work groups is necessary for the merged airline to combine its flight-attendant ranks. The 9,000 Continental attendants, who recently voted to be represented by the AFA, already have a new stand-alone contract. Mr. Davidowitch said United Continental Holdings Inc., the parent of the combined airlines, has agreed to return to the bargaining table for joint contract negotiations no later than this summer.
More than 88% of the eligible United attendants cast ballots, and 70% voted for the new agreement, which the union said includes job-security protections, scheduling improvements, an immediate 10% pay increase and a $5,000 signing bonus. During United's bankruptcy, which ran from 2002 to 2006, the attendants and all the other employees made big concessions to help the company reorganize.
United Continental is also involved in contract talks with both of its pilot groups, which are represented by the same union, and it intends to begin joint bargaining soon with its mechanics, which also share the same union affiliation. In December, United's 5,500 premerger mechanics approved a new stand-alone agreement, following their 3,600 Continental counterparts who ratified their own new deal a year earlier. United is also waiting to see the outcome of a representation election that will determine whether its combined customer-service agents and reservationists choose to be represented by the union that represents the United employees or to stay nonunion, the status of the Continental agents.
Until all the groups have common contracts and agree on seniority lists, the combined airline can't freely assign employees, meaning it won't get the full efficiencies from the merger.