5.15.24 – 178 Members of Congress Sign Letter to the National Mediation Board

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Yesterday, Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-01) sent this bipartisan letter to the National Mediation Board, which included the signatures of 178 members of Congress. The letter urges the agency to use all provisions under the Railway Labor Act to resolve contract negotiations promptly.

Thank you to all Flight Attendants and allies for showing our strength! Together, we wrote 16,000+ letters and made 1,200+ calls to Congress to advocate for our careers. Thank you to the APFA Government Affairs Team, the APFA Contract Action Team, the Congressional Labor Caucus, and our Union siblings at AFA-CWA for their collective efforts over the past month to make this letter successful!

“We know that thousands of flight attendants across the country have been stuck in prolonged contract negotiations for years while airline executives drag their feet. As frontline workers, America’s flight attendants helped the airline industry not only survive the COVID-19 pandemic, but also thrive in the ensuing economic recovery, and it’s time they receive their fair share of the profits they created,” said Congressional Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Steven Horsford (D-NV), and Mark Pocan (D-WI). “We’re calling on the National Mediation Board (NMB) to use all of the tools at its disposal to encourage the resolution of these negotiations so flight attendants and all workers before the NMB can secure the contracts they deserve.”  

The Railway Labor Act (RLA) was intended to facilitate prompt resolution of labor disputes; however, our negotiations have dragged on for far too long. Workers under the RLA should be able to exercise our right to strike. This letter is about fixing a fundamental flaw at the NMB in regard to resolving disputes promptly, as intended under the RLA.

click letter to enlarge

If your member of Congress signed this letter, please reach out to thank them!

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

In Solidarity,

Allie Malis
Lori Vitto-Glattly
APFA Government Affairs Representatives
[email protected]