United Airlines flight attendants and their supporters demonstrate in front of the A.B. Won Pat International Airport on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024.
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — “What do you want?” a man shouted.
“Contract,” the crowd of about two or three dozen people shouted in unison.
“When do you want it?” the man asked.
“Now,” the crowd responded. “If we don’t get it, shut it down,” they chanted loudly.
Motorists traveling past the A.B. Won Pat International Airport late Thursday morning were greeted with an increasingly familiar sight on Guam — a group of United Airlines flight attendants and their supporters demonstrating for better working conditions. These demonstrations have popped up occasionally since late 2022 as flight attendants and their union continued to seek contractual changes with management at United, but Thursday’s demonstration also came with an announcement.
Flight attendants at United had voted on whether they were willing to go on strike should their management not agree to improvements. The result of that vote was announced at demonstrations at airports across the U.S., one of which was the one on Guam on Thursday.
“We got the final results this morning at 2 o’clock Guam time, and it was 99.99% willing to strike,” said Lisa Obias, a United Airlines flight attendant and vice president and secretary for United Airlines Association of Flight Attendants Council 65 Guam.
“It’s significant to us because it’s showing the company that we’re willing to do what we need to do to get our contract. What we’re looking for is better pay, better benefits and better working conditions…for all our flight attendants,” Obias said.
United Airlines flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. According to a release from the union, 90.21% of members participated in the strike authorization vote, and 99.99% voted yes to authorize a strike.
“This is the first time since the 2005 bankruptcy negotiations that flight attendants at the major airline voted on strike authorization. Recent strike authorization votes have propelled negotiations forward at American, Alaska, Southwest, and other airlines,” AFA-CWA said in the release.
United flight attendants are demanding a significant double-digit base pay raise, pay for time working on the ground, retroactive pay, schedule flexibility and work rule improvements, job security, retirement and other demands, the union added in the release.
“What’s after this is now the ball is basically in the company’s court, for them to come to the table and see if we can get this contract going and finalize it, and get our tentative agreement set for all of us,” Obias said Thursday morning.
“This process has taken almost a month. We started this at the beginning of the month, on (Aug. 2), the authorization vote. Finally, it ended last night. So, it’s pretty important for us to get this contract and to show the company that we’re serious about doing what we need to do,” Obias added.
Now that members have voted to authorize a strike, the union could request a release from the National Mediation Board leading to a 30-day cooling-off period and strike deadline, AFA-CWA said in the release. The AFA trademarked a strike strategy known as CHAOS, or Create Havoc Around Our System, it said in the release.
“With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how to strike without notice to management or passengers,” the AFA-CWA said in the release.
“United flight attendants filed for federal mediation over eight months ago and have been working under an amendable contract for nearly three years,” the release added.
