PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Hundreds of Alaska Airlines flight attendants picketed in front of Portland International Airport on Tuesday in a national demand for higher wages.
The flight attendants are among thousands of picketers across the U.S. demanding a new contract after their union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, resumed contract negotiations with Alaska Airlines management on Monday.
According to AFA-CWA’s representatives, workers are demanding fair compensation and safe working conditions as the airline continues “flying more than ever before, launching new destinations, and taking delivery of new aircraft.”
“Alaska Airlines flight attendants carried the airline successfully through the pandemic and operational meltdowns — now it’s time for management to recognize their work with a new contract,” the union said in a press release. “While Alaska management claimed they were committed to ‘top of industry’ wages when negotiations started nearly a year ago, their proposals have been anything but ‘top of industry’ and fail to compensate workers for all of their time on the job.”
Alaska Airlines issued a statement Tuesday afternoon in response to the demonstration, saying the counter-proposal that the AFA-CWA had previously issued included cost increases “that just weren’t economically feasible.”
Source : koin06
