WASHINGTON (AP) -- Southwest Airlines flight attendants say the prospect of no meal breaks at the nation''s most profitable airline is no picnic.
So, picnic baskets in hand and passing out boxed lunches to their co-workers, the flight attendants plan to protest Wednesday at airports in Baltimore, Chicago and Oakland, California.
The demonstrations are aimed at a management proposal to increase working hours without providing breaks or meals.
Southwest, the nation''s only major airline posting profits in an industry struggling for survival, wants its flight attendants to add 2.5 hours to their 10.5-hour days, and to cut their time off.
The flight attendants are the airline''s only unresolved labor contract. About 85 percent of Southwest''s employees are represented by a union.
Southwest flight attendants have tried repeatedly to successfully negotiate a 15-minute per day break. Reddick said she often eats lunch on the plane standing over a trash can, if she gets to eat at all. Southwest''s flight attendants and pilots clean the airplanes between flights, unlike other airlines that have cleaning crews.
So, picnic baskets in hand and passing out boxed lunches to their co-workers, the flight attendants plan to protest Wednesday at airports in Baltimore, Chicago and Oakland, California.
The demonstrations are aimed at a management proposal to increase working hours without providing breaks or meals.
Southwest, the nation''s only major airline posting profits in an industry struggling for survival, wants its flight attendants to add 2.5 hours to their 10.5-hour days, and to cut their time off.
The flight attendants are the airline''s only unresolved labor contract. About 85 percent of Southwest''s employees are represented by a union.
Southwest flight attendants have tried repeatedly to successfully negotiate a 15-minute per day break. Reddick said she often eats lunch on the plane standing over a trash can, if she gets to eat at all. Southwest''s flight attendants and pilots clean the airplanes between flights, unlike other airlines that have cleaning crews.
