We Filed for Our Flight Attendant Union Election!

January 22, 2024

It is an exciting day! Today, just two weeks after going public, we took the next step to claim our power at work by filing for our Flight Attendant Election with the National Mediation Board (NMB). The NMB is the government agency that will oversee our Union Election.

Here are the next steps in the process to Win our Union:

1. 1. Now that we have filed for an election. The NMB will require corporate to provide a list of eligible Flight Attendants and home addresses on file with the company. Management is not eligible to vote. Remember, only the NMB checks the cards. Management and corporate will not ever see the cards, know who signed a card, or how you vote.  
2. 2. Once the NMB concludes its investigation for majority support for a union election, the vote will be called. The election will be a mail ballot. This means a paper ballot will be sent to your home from the NMB.

We will provide more detailed information on the voting process in the coming weeks.

As corporate ramps up their anti-union campaign in their efforts to keep their power over us, keep this in mind:

What does corporate get out of us not organizing?

Currently, corporate headquarters has power over us to make changes to our work life whenever they want.  Over and over again, corporate has thoughtlessly enacted changes to our “playbook,” often resulting in making us work harder for less. For example, many of us were stunned to be forced into the “screener” program without receiving a fair pay incentive. Nor did we get adequate training for important security work that falls outside the usual scope of our Flight Attendant work. A union contract would address these issues, or require management to negotiate with us over changes.

In another example, many of us used to fly high hours so we could make the time and a quarter incentive pay, but that was all but taken away from us, without any warning or communication.

Sadly, even when a provision is in the “playbook,” corporate has chosen to give us the run around rather than considering the solutions we bring to them. This is because a “playbook” is not a “Contract” and only with a legally binding Contract will management become responsive to us.  

In the last two weeks since we went public with our Organizing Campaign, management has magically attempted to be responsive to us. Let’s reflect on why the sudden change of heart. Management knows when we claim the Legal Power of our Union by Voting YES for AFA, corporate loses their complete control over us. Once we have our union, they are required by law to negotiate with us as equals at the negotiations table.  

Our union is not a third party. It is us. We will still have a “direct relationship” with management, only now it’s a real relationship, not a unilateral one.

Be prepared that corporate and their expensive union-busting consultants are going to attempt to persuade you to give your Power back to them. The only way to keep the current Power we are building is to Vote YES for AFA!  

What do we as Flight Attendants gain from winning our Flight Attendant Union?

We have the opportunity to negotiate improvements to our work life and improve our overall quality of life! We have a legal voice at Breeze and a seat at the table for our future here. Management cannot retaliate against us for voting in our union. They are welcome to make improvements while we negotiate for our contract, but they cannot make big unilateral changes that harm our pay, benefits, and work rules.

We gain some legal standing today with this filing, and long-term legal standing when we vote YES for AFA. Then we lock in our union and our right to negotiate for better at Breeze. Let’s go!

In solidarity, 

Breeze AFA

Visit our website breezeafa.org and join the campaign today.