AFA to represent UA/CO FAs

[WorldTraveler]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Flight attendants at United Continental Holdings (NYSE:UAL - News), formed from the merger of United and Continental airlines, have selected the Association of Flight Attendants to bargain for their labor contracts, the AFA union said on Wednesday.

The vote was a defeat for the International Association of Machinists, which represented the flight attendants at Continental Airlines, and marks a step toward integration of the carriers' work forces.

The AFA, which represented flight attendants at the old United Airlines, won the election with 55.1 percent of the vote. The union now represents about 25,000 active and retired flight attendants at the company.

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commentary on how/why the AFA won?

 

[Onestep2flt]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Flight attendants at United Continental Holdings (NYSE:UAL - News), formed from the merger of United and Continental airlines, have selected the Association of Flight Attendants to bargain for their labor contracts, the AFA union said on Wednesday.

The vote was a defeat for the International Association of Machinists, which represented the flight attendants at Continental Airlines, and marks a step toward integration of the carriers' work forces.

The AFA, which represented flight attendants at the old United Airlines, won the election with 55.1 percent of the vote. The union now represents about 25,000 active and retired flight attendants at the company.

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commentary on how/why the AFA won?

No useful commentary. I do feel for the CO flight attendants though. Could be worse. Could be like the North West folks that now have no union! Of course I am sure Delta will be on good behavior for a while anyway.

Seems there were more United flight Attendants for starters. There was probably a few grass is always greener folks at CO having not sat down and rationally looked at the big disparity in contracts. (CO being far superior for the most part) Did not AFA start at UA? Those are some of my guesses.

Wish them nothing but the best.

 

[Veritas]

No useful commentary.

The IAM sellout of the TWA flight attendants has come home to roost.

 

[SegmentKing]

The CO contract has some very nice commuter language in it... hopefully AFA will see it and salivate & fight to keep it!

 

[nbmcg01]

The CO contract has some very nice commuter language in it... hopefully AFA will see it and salivate & fight to keep it!

.
No trip or duty rigs for CAL. It isn't always about the $$ per hour. What works for one class or craft does not always work for another.

We had a good time educating the f/as on white ballots, voting procedures, autonomy and so many other fine aspects of the IAM. In the end it is all about the dues. There are not many former TWA f/as shedding a tear for the IAM.

Congratulations AFA.

 

[rampster]

commentary on how/why the AFA won?

It's all a numbers game.

There was supposedly 15,159 afa members vs approx. 9,300 IAM voting. AFA was elected with 55.1% of the vote. AFA received 11,942 votes and 9,745 votes were cast for the IAM.

If you do the math 2,772 didn't seem to care either way. :blink:

 

[Borescope]

Not going to make a difference what union represents the FA's. They will all have to sit down and negotiate a contract that is agreeable to both groups. It will be interesting what they come up with.