United Airlines management and the union representing flight attendants (AFL-CIO) are currently engaged in a dispute regarding the firing of two flight attendants, who are accused of retaliation. This situation is getting so serious that United’s management sent a letter to all flight attendants explaining the company’s side of the story.
Continue reading: United Airlines & Flight Attendant Union In Bitter Retaliation Dispute
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As you say Ben, it is good to see United have the guts to do the right thing for employees and customers by enforcing a no-tolerance policy regarding safety violations. I stand with UA and Scott!
All this wasted time, expense and resources over a 3-10% effective virtue signaling device. I'm just glad the lunatic left are now eating their own.
Without exposing too much [I do not need UA coming after me] I can say with 100% certainty that there is misinformation all around. Most importantly, UA's mask policy onboard the aircraft at the time of the incident was much more relaxed then it is now. Specifically Flight Attendants were allowed to to remove/lower their masks while making announcements AND while taking crew rest breaks on flights that had them. So yes, as you said in the piece, it is the "back story" from what happened on the flight in question that is missing here. Intimidation by the company is at a level that I have never seen in over 30 years with UA regarding this subject, to the point where employees that even speak the name of the Flight Attendant who started this are being called in and put on levels of discipline. More to come for sure, but the work environment is currently hostile and filled with fear and intimidation over this situation.
This isn't about the initial conflict (mask issues) - this is about retaliation against someone by providing false information. Since the union does not address the issue but remains silent on it, my conclusion is that they are guilty as charged and trying to do CYA. Shame on them. United is doing the right thing here and they are very open about it.
This clearly stinks of retaliation by the union against one of their own. United is doing the right thing.
Flight attendants used to be an admired job. Now, there's a lot of lazy people or misfits.
I'm a United flight attendant with 25+ years seniority, based at IAD. You hit the nail on the head... this is a dispute between union reps and the company... (not the general population of FAs). The union reps in question made up false accusations of misconduct about the junior FA, in an effort to discredit the said FA. Making up false accusations about a colleague with motive to discredit is a form of retaliation. United has made it very clear through numerous CBTs and training that there is a zero tolerance policy for retaliation. I truly believe that United is acting in the right here. Retaliation, just like discrimination, does not belong in the workplace. Out on the line, I do not feel like United is out to get me or my colleagues... The vast majority of my work friends and colleagues feel no sense of intimidation by the company at all. If you're not doing things you shouldn't be doing, there's no reason to worry. I am not anti-union in the least, but it's obvious that the recent union emails are full of emotive language designed to get people all riled up against the company. Fortunately, the entire court case transcript/summary is available online for free. Anyone who wants more information on this case can read it and make their own decisions: https://casetext.com/case/assn-of-flight-attendants-cwa-afl-cio-v-united-airlines-inc?fbclid=IwAR2fmYuLCmH1rvaLj3EH9RllXO3Ycac_evhu3zFJwC7ckvPuxUkqoWhke5g
Bullying and intimidation are normal things with unions. Any type of organization that rewards members based on how long you haved worked and not by merit is prime for corruption. Why is anyone shocked by this?
Unions protect the “rights” of the perpetually lazy and deadweight employees.
You don’t need representation by wannabe politicians if you’re decent at your job.
I agree that there is misinformation present, but, I have not felt the same level of fear or intimidation that you have. I have been in DCA for more than 20 years. I keep my work and attendance records clean as a whistle, and I have never felt even the slightest hint of hostility or intimidation from United. I enjoy coming to work. The FAs who got fired didn't get fired for breaking the mask policy; they got fired for inventing false reports of misconduct about the junior FA, aka retaliation. The back-story doesn't really matter, because that's not why the dismissals took place. The dismissals took place for the retaliation that took place after the "back-story" was well over with.
I'm a leftist in the vast majority of ways. Yet I agree entirely with your assessment of masks and we'd probably agree on plenty more, on the pandemic. I'd be grateful if you'd drop the wrong labels (left/right) you throw around so casually, at least on pandemic measures. We can fight about affirmative action or Trans rights, instead, okay? In the Omicron phase of the pandemic, masks are completely absurd. (I'm a leftie and I approve this message)
Maybe some fear in UA flight attendants will help them fix their attitude towards their customers. UA flight attendants are the grumpiest of them all.
Seems to me, if the Union is correct in saying that the 2 accused are entitled to an arbitration hearing, then the airline is dead wrong (and sleazy) to go public before that hearing (if requested by the 2) has taken place. On the other hand, if that's a misleading claim by the Union (either because they aren't necessarily entitled to a hearing, or because they are, and they haven't demanded one) then the Union is being sleazy and misleading and should be called out on it, specifically, with details, instead of innuendo or tired anti-union nonsense. Which is it? I hope everyone will forgive my fixation on the hearing, but it seems to me that's the crux of the matter, because it's how such matters are supposed to be solved.
I can say with 100% certainty that if UA's mask policy onboard the aircraft at the time of the incident was much more relaxed then it is now, there wouldn't be any investigation.
However, it would be useless to give weight to your statements as unbiased since you have already decided who is to blame by calling out the Flight Attendant "who started this".
You probably feel that the work environment is currently hostile and filled with fear and intimidation over this situation because even union officials don't have immunity anymore.
LOL, I love how the wacko connies always have such exact percentages. If you didn´t know any better you would think they are pulling them out of their nether regions.
So the union initiates going "public" with this, the airline responds in kind with a detailed response, and the union responds by saying that's not the whole story but we won't go share the rest publicly? Why wouldn't you share the information that vindicates your member, if it really exists?
United's public comments directly address the matter at hand. The union's public comments deflect and play whataboutism. Seems pretty clear to me who's in the right.
Unions need reform to only act on behalf of the whole, e.g. for collective bargaining on salary and PTO. Their job should not be to protect individual employees who screw up.
Does that extend to the ALPA? Cops? Firemen? Both sides can overplay their hands at times. In this case, it was the union, maybe. If the facts presented in this article are representative.
I've been in two unions and my wife has been in three. The union leadership takes care of each other first, their buddies second. Anyone else is on there own.
I would disagree strongly with your assertion that with regard to omicron masks are absurd. Quite the opposite, as this variation is intensely airborne transmitted. Do you see intense exhortations to endlessly wash your hands and wipe down every surface you see with omicron? No you don't, as this variations main mode of spreading is via air, and masks (worn properly) greatly reduce viral load transmission from the mouth, and reduce the possibility of inhaling it, providing your nose is covered. Oh, and the virus is indifferent to left/right political beliefs, as many now deceased right-wing lunatics discovered!
Oh if the masks had been off ONLY between "sips and nibbles"? The insanity of ALL OF THIS MASK CRAP is so off the chart- Right up there with walking to your restaurant table with it on and you're somehow magically protected after being seated. Just STOP. The little junior snitch should have gone to the union in the first place and left management out of it. He/she is more suited for a management position after this... Until then, have fun on the line!
Just another Trump slurping mouth breathing chump. Thankfully it’s mainly just the anti vaxxing hard right still dying of this easily preventable virus.
@Craig: If you're replying to me, yes.
(The IUPA is especially egregious when it comes to protecting bad cops.)
@consarerightsoideflect
3-10% is a range. It's pretty much the opposite of an exact percentage. Maybe take one statistics class before exposing your stupidity on statistics. Your lack of math skills is why you are so easily duped That range is based on several clinical studies on mask effectiveness, specifically cloth and surgical masks. The reason is that covid is not primarily spread by droplets (ie coughing and sneezing) but aerosolized particles (ie your breath, which masks obviously don't stop) But answer me this, smart guy: when blue states implemented mask mandates and lockdowns, was covid eradicated in those regions? No? A thinking person may question whether masks were doing anything if cases kept going up during draconian measures, but we know you are not that kind of person.
@glenn
Covid has always been airborne transmitted. Surface transmission was always extremely low risk. Omicron didn't change how it's transmitted, it only changed severity (much lower).
@Eskimo is right and AIADFlyer you are blowing smoke out of your arse. United isn't in the business of picking a fight with the Union over such petty crap if they have zero cause. Please stop your rambling nonsense.
@worstairlinein$hitholecity
Actually very few people at all are dying now, most are elderly that would die anyway. Your face diaper prevents nothing. Omicron is extremely mild, as we knew months ago.
But you don't want to have a logical argument do you? No, you're just a leftist troll that has one play in the playbook. Trump bad, blah blah blah.
Oh, BTW, how do you reconcile your sides climate change rhetoric with your frequent flying habits? I guess you don't really believe in the cause, do you? Or maybe you are like most elitist Dems that follow the do as I say, not as I do philosophy, as they do with the mask mandates?
"The union deals with issues among flight attendants through the Professional Standards program that encourages parties to resolve problems, while United management “chooses to deal with disputes among employees with their typical approach, by mass firings and intimidation”"
So in other words, the Union, instead of United HR, should oversee any safety violations? That's absurd.
United provided its version of the truth. As with all disputes, the Union won’t debate the issue in the press. That is different from deflecting or avoiding telling of the truth. Let the process play out under contractual protocols, not decided in the news.
The Union did not go public, principals in and around the events posted on social media, which became public. United went public.
UA's policy at the time of the incident was indeed different/more relaxed vs post mandate. So feel however you like about the rest of my post, that part is indeed 100% correct.
You are so right, the union is in place to protect FAs from being fired without just cause and other things, good luck to the junior flight attendant if she ever needs to union, and A mask issue, really?
Aren’t we over this crap.
Sounds very odd and back stabbing, I Would have resolved this on the plane or at professional standards, now it she was threatened or harassed that would be a different story!
The union has a purpose, if it wasn’t for the union we would working 16 hour duty days with 5 hours layovers in some podunk hotel, but it is lead by humans who are bias like anything and everyone, so I didn’t see with my own eyes or hear with my ears but will follow to see what happens.
Sadly Ray, Eskimo is not correct about the mask policy. He/She/They is correct about me not being unbiased, which I do not believe I ever claimed to be. If a co-worker is taking pictures and turning them in to management, yes, I have formed an opinion and it is not a good one. There is a process in place for when you have an issue with a co-worker, but taking pictures to use against them is not ok. If you think that ANY of my fellow flight attendants feel differently, why don't you try taking a picture of them the next time you are on the plane. I assure you, it will not go well, regardless of the fact that you really have done nothing wrong. When I started out my post with "without exposing too much", I did not mean that I knew less then I was posting, I meant that I know a lot, I am just not willing to share a lot on here for a bunch of people who have "decided who to blame" but are not in the industry or have more knowledge of the situation then UA and AFA have allowed them to have.
@Terraplane
The Union tried to bring this to the public first, but when United presented their side of the story suddenly things "shouldn't be decided in the news"?
The union is way WRONG here. This issue is about retaliation for reporting a concern. Nothing more. Nothing less. Sorry lazy nasty stupid union reps, GAME OVER and I am sure that the arbitrator will uphold your terminations. Union reps are not above the law.
So true!
I was terminated by UA after a twenty year career, and AFA never had my back.
It is odd that it is the employer doing the right thing here. In this case, it is AFA who is shameful! The court documents are very insightful and very helpful in making an informed decision.
AFA is indeed the villain here- which is too bad as unions are great. Too bad AFA leadership is so obviously corrupt!
Omigosh, yes!!! I agree 100%. Anyone know the outcome of the arbitrations related to this case? Should be out by now.
Omigosh, yes!!! I agree 100%. Anyone know the outcome of the arbitrations related to this case? Should be out by now.
It is odd that it is the employer doing the right thing here. In this case, it is AFA who is shameful! The court documents are very insightful and very helpful in making an informed decision.
AFA is indeed the villain here- which is too bad as unions are great. Too bad AFA leadership is so obviously corrupt!
I like how everyone is taking her story verbatim. Ya think there might be a little more to it???
I agree that United did their homework when considering what to do in this situation. Being direct and specific shows that United definitely did the right thing. Lying to get the reporting employee in trouble made United’s decision correct and prudent.