Flight attendants rally

It was one of 15 rallies held at airports across the world including Chicago, Seattle, New York City, Frankfurt and Los Angeles. The rally was put together by the Association of Flight Attendants, a union with about 70,000 members, to put a spotlight on a year of failed contract negotiations.

United flight attendants are seeking an industry-leading contract.

On Monday, the airline indicated it would be willing to match the pay Continental Airlines offers its flight attendants in exchange for work rule concessions.

United wants more flexibility over which hotels flight attendants stay and reductions in benefits for those who trade away their flying time, according to a letter to the union by Doug McKeen, United’s senior vice president for Labor Relations.

United is willing to boost pay for some experienced flight attendants by 10 percent, according to McKeen’s letter.

But Chris Black, the AFA’s local president, said the airline was simply engaging in stall tactics and that the union’s membership has made repeated concessions dating back to 2002, when the company filed for bankruptcy.

United flight attendants took steep pay cuts before it emerged from bankruptcy in 2006.

Negotiations on a new contract began a year ago yesterday.

"We cannot afford to wait for a new contract,” Black said. "Working at 1994 wages is unacceptable, especially when execs are raking in millions in bonuses.”

Protests will continue, Black said, until United grants its flight attendants an industry-leading contract.

"We will not back down,” Black said.

Shelley Kessler, San Mateo County Central Labor Council’s executive secretary/treasurer, said the flight attendants deserved decent wages, hours, health care and retirement benefits.

"Everybody in the industry works to keep the skies friendly. We can only make the skies friendly if we are treated with respect,” Kessler said.

Kessler represents 70,000 union members in San Mateo County, many who stood alongside United flight attendants yesterday.

Veda Shook, a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines, also took time to speak out against the objectification of flight attendants in the new reality show "Fly Girls.” The show follows San Francisco-based Virgin America flight attendants as they travel across the country.

"The job is not about getting a note from some dude on the plane. The job is about feeding our families,” Shook said. "Those girls need a union.”

The contract United has with its flight attendants never expires. It can be amended, however.

"United is not negotiating in good faith,” Black said. "They want us to stay in cheap hotels. That is egregious.”

Lou Lucivero, president of the local chapter of Engineers and Scientists of California, attended the rally to support the flight attendants and to also bring to light a new United practice of outsourcing engineering documentation work to India.

"Once United gets away with it, others will follow,” Lucivero said. "These are technical documents with instructions to mechanics. Things will get missed. There are potential safety issues.”

United essentially collapsed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It lost $2.1 billion in 2001, furloughed thousands of jobs in 2002 and eventually cut pensions, an act that has left United executives at odds with its employees for years.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.