United flight attendants approve strike ahead of Labor Day weekend – NBC Chicago

As travelers prepare for a busy Labor Day weekend, flight attendants at O’Hare Airport announced Wednesday morning that they are preparing to go on strike.

Speaking to more than 100 flight attendants representing more than 29,000 employees at Chicago-based United Airlines, Ken Diaz of the Association of Flight Attendants said more than 91 percent of flight attendants voted for a strike, with more than 99 percent of those voting yes.

“This has been coming for a long time,” Diaz said, pointing out that members of the group have not received a raise in more than three years.

Amanda Tomaszewski is one of these flight attendants.

She said she had worked for United for nearly eight years, but she and her husband still couldn’t afford a house.

“I haven’t had a raise in almost three years, so unfortunately we have no way to save for it,” she said.

Even though United flight attendants have voted to strike, that doesn’t mean it will happen anytime soon.

Sara Nelson, international president of AFA/CWA, said travelers and airline managers should be warned.

“If they don’t get serious at the negotiating table, there will be disruption,” she said.

If a strike is called, the union does not expect its members to walk off work en masse. Instead, the AFA plans to call “chaos” strikes aimed at “spawning chaos in our system.” It would be a series of selective strikes similar to those carried out last year by the United Auto Workers.

“We continue to work toward an industry-leading agreement for our flight attendants, including negotiations this week and every month through November,” United said in a statement Wednesday.

A federal mediator was called in.

It’s been more than 20 years since flight attendants have gone on strike here at O’Hare, but they want to make it clear to passengers that they are willing to walk off duty to get their demands from the airline.

“All they want is concessions from the flight attendants at a time when we have record revenues and record profits,” said Scott Pejas of the AFA. “The flight attendants are fed up.”