PSA Airlines Flight Attendants Request NMB To Declare Negotiations Impasse

Following a week of what they call fruitless negotiations with PSA Airlines management, Flight Attendants at the airline, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), initiated a process that could lead to a strike if management fails to negotiate a new agreement. The AFA on Monday requested the National Mediation Board (NMB) declare that negotiations are at an impasse and offer a proffer of arbitration which could lead to a 30-day cooling-off period and strike deadline.

"It's long past time for management to take these negotiations seriously.  PSA Flight Attendants have sent a loud and clear message to management that action will be taken if a new, improved agreement is not reached. We are done playing games and are ready to do whatever it takes to get a contract that recognizes our meaningful role as first responders," said L.C. Acor, PSA AFA Vice President.

Last September, PSA Flight Attendants overwhelmingly authorized a strike should management fail to negotiate a new contract. Mediated negotiations stalled over compensation, retirement, insurance and related issues when management made no forward progress in these talks.

The NMB will now evaluate whether negotiations are deadlocked and then could make a proffer of arbitration, a step required by the Railway Labor Act prior to a 30-day "cooling off" period leading to a strike deadline.  The strike deadline often encourages focused negotiations.  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.

PSA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of US Airways Group, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio.

FMI: www.afacwa.org