American Eagle Carrier Piedmont Flight Attendants Will Vote on Strike

Washington, D.C. (September 15, 2021) - Piedmont Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), are gearing up for a strike vote after mounting frustrations in mediated negotiations. Strike vote ballots will be sent to the almost 300 Flight Attendants later this month, with a vote count scheduled for October 21, 2021.

Piedmont Flight Attendants have engaged in over three years of stalled contract negotiations and are underpaid compared to their counterparts in the industry. Management has proposed minimal pay increases that do not provide a living wage for Piedmont Flight Attendants. Combined with proposed increases in health care, in many cases Flight Attendants would earn less than they do today, while American doles out record bonuses to other workgroups.

'We kept the planes flying throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and saved Piedmont and the entire American Airlines Group through the Payroll Support Program which helped American with billions of dollars in labor costs. The thanks we get is management demanding concessions. This must stop,' said Keturah Johnson, AFA Piedmont President. 'Piedmont Flight Attendants cannot afford to work at Piedmont. It's time management recognizes Flight Attendants and pays us a living-wage.'

This lack of progress could lead to the National Mediation Board (NMB) declaring that negotiations are deadlocked and releasing both parties into a 30-day 'cooling off' period leading to a strike deadline. AFA has a trademarked strike strategy known as CHAOS™ or Create Havoc Around Our System™. With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how to strike without notice to management or passengers.

Piedmont Flight Attendant pay has fallen in comparison with the rest of the industry while the cost of living and medical expenses continue to rise. Wages, protecting work rules, and achieving security in retirement are key in this contract fight.

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The Association of Flight Attendants is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 75 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.