The pilots of Alaska Airline have voted overwhelmingly to take their combat to the subsequent degree. (Photograph by Robert Alexander)
Getty Photos
After three years of negotiations with Alaska Airways, the service’s pilots have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their union to strike if settlement on a brand new employment contract can’t be reached.
The Air Line Pilots Affiliation (ALPA) introduced yesterday that 99% of union members voted in help of the authorization and that 96% of members participated within the vote earlier this month. The vote adopted picketing final month by 1,500 off-duty pilots, a quantity representing almost half of the pilots employed by the airline. Pilots and their supporters lined airports at each Alaska Airways base, creating the biggest occasion of its sort in ALPA’s historical past.
Alaska Airways shortly issued an announcement to emphasize that pilots should not at present on strike.
Certainly, a strike, if it involves that, can be months away. Earlier than such an motion can happen, the NMB should do two issues. First, it should decide that any extra mediation efforts wouldn’t be productive. Second, it should provide the events a chance to arbitrate the contract dispute.
If both aspect declines the arbitration, each events would then enter a 30-day cooling off interval. Solely afterward might the pilots union name a strike or airline administration name a lockout.
Like each different service, the fifth-largest airline in the USA continues to be clawing its method out of the pandemic gap. Alaska Airways reported a web revenue of $478 million for 2021, in comparison with a web lack of $1.3 billion for 2020. Previous to the pandemic, the service’s reported web revenue was $769 million for 2019.
ALPA mentioned {that a} strike can be a final resort. “For years, we’ve got been working towards a market-based contract with cheap options that tackle work guidelines, scheduling flexibility, and career-security points that pilots at different firms take pleasure in — not a strike,” mentioned Captain Will McQuillen, chairman of the Alaska Airways ALPA Grasp Govt Council. “Now could be the time for administration to reply and have interaction constructively on the bargaining desk.”
“We stay dedicated to reaching a deal to supply an up to date contract that’s good for Alaska’s pilots,” mentioned the airline in an announcement.
But when these talks fail, the union has pledged to stroll.
