I'll see your 18 months and raise you 2.
Has anyone metioned that the TWU Flight attendants have been without a contract since
June 2002
FA's 20 months and TWU is a no show.
08/13/2003 - Updated 11:06 AM ET
Southwest attendants protest contract talks
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Flight attendants from Southwest Airlines are touring airports to tell passengers about turbulence in talks to settle a new labor contract with the carrier.
About two dozen of Southwest's 7,200 flight attendants picketed outside San Antonio International Airport Tuesday on the first day of their "Tough LUV Tour." LUV is the Dallas-based airline's symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.
Among their complaints are lack of pension and retirement insurance plans, and what they call a requirement unique among major carriers: the attendants clean their plane between flights without pay.
The Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents the bargaining unit, estimates that the typical Southwest flight attendant works nearly 300 hours a year without compensation. Christine Buggy, a Chicago-based flight attendant, said she worked nearly six hours for free during a three-day shift this week.
Southwest spokeswoman Ginger Hardage disputed the notion of work without pay.
"Our flight attendants are paid by the trip, and the philosophical thinking is that the (ground) duties are included within that pay," she said.
Hardage said Southwest is committed to preserving a cost structure that has allowed it to weather a prolonged industry downturn that devastated many of its rivals. Southwest is the only major U.S. carrier to remain profitable during the prolonged industry downturn that has devastated many of its rivals.
Kevin Onstead, one of the union's negotiators, said flight attendants also are seeking "significant" pay raises, though he wouldn't say how much. He and Buggy say they work substantial overtime to get their pay up to the mid-$30,000 range.
A new flight attendant at Southwest makes about $14,000 per year.
The flight attendants received their last negotiated raise in 2000 as part of a contract that ran through June 2002.