10.24.23 – Negotiations Update #37: APFA BOD To Convene To Approve A Request For Release

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

APFA Board of Directors to Convene to Approve a Request for Release Immediately Following Our Next Bargaining Session

Company negotiators showed up to our last bargaining session in Dallas/Ft Worth with no responses to our comprehensive economic and non-economic packages. In fact, they had no proposals for us. Instead, they spent time advancing a rather odd theory that any retroactive increases would be costed against the new agreement. This essentially would mean Flight Attendants would suffer twice- both when Flight Attendants have been underpaid for years during negotiations, and to add insult to injury, would have to fund those payments out of our wages and benefits going forward.

Needless to say, your committee firmly rejected that approach and what can only be described as delay tactics. Rather than raise any concerns in advance of the meeting, management raised these issues for the first time this week. Management has had our economic proposal since March 7th, and our economic counterproposal since September, and has had ample time to address our demands.

Your APFA National Officers have convened a meeting of the APFA Board of Directors on Friday, November 17th. The sole purpose of the meeting is, in the event management fails to make substantial movement towards concluding these negotiations, to approve a request that the members of the National Mediation Board release APFA and American Airlines into a thirty-day cooling-off period, after which the 26,000 Flight Attendants would be able to strike in support of our contract demands. The Board meeting will immediately follow our mediated talks scheduled to take place in Phoenix, AZ, a location chosen by our federal mediator.

We have set a November 17th deadline for a reason. While it might make intuitive sense to file to be released to strike right now, we cannot let the company goad us into strategic errors. We cannot allow our request to be dismissed because management claims they need more time. We cannot and will not allow the company to use excuses to delay our desperately needed increases. That is why we have set this firm deadline.

The ball is firmly in management’s court. As we told them this week, if they have no change in position, simply put that in writing so we can move the process forward. If they don’t have a proposal, we have a deadline, and failure to meet that deadline will result in a request to be released. They certainly are good at imposing deadlines on Flight Attendants, so this surely is a concept they understand. No more delays will be tolerated.

We will be providing more information on steps all Flight Attendants should take to prepare for a possible strike. American Airlines Flight Attendants are unified, committed and We Are Ready!

On November 16th, the day before the BOD meets to approve our request, we are holding a system-wide picketing event at 11:00am local time. This is the time for all Flight Attendants to show up on the picket line.

Click here for information on picketing locations and to RSVP.

Continue to wear your red WAR pin, red lanyard, and bag tags until we secure the contract we’ve earned.

In Solidarity,