Alaska Pilots Authorize Future Strike if Contract Talks Fail

SEATTLE (AP) — Alaska Airways pilots have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a future strike if present contract negotiations with administration and federal mediation efforts fail.

The Air Line Pilots Affiliation mentioned Wednesday that nearly 96% of its members solid mail-in votes and that 99% of these approved the union’s leaders to name a strike if mandatory and when permitted after a protracted course of managed by the Nationwide Mediation Board, The Seattle Instances reported.

Following an informational picket in April by 1,500 off-duty pilots, the vote might enhance strain on Alaska Airways administration to come back to a contract settlement. The union has been stalled for years making an attempt to barter a contract that addresses work guidelines, scheduling flexibility and profession safety.

In a memo to the pilots, Capt. Will McQuillen, council chairperson of the pilots affiliation’s Alaska unit, mentioned the vote supplies union negotiators “an necessary device to assist obtain your targets.”

He mentioned it additionally sends “a transparent message that you’re unwilling to fall additional behind your friends” at different main airways.

After a administration request, the pilots’ union and firm officers are assembly once more this week. The union instructed its members it is going to report back to them Friday on the result of these talks.

A strike, nevertheless, can’t occur quickly.

Federal laws governing nationwide transportation staff mandates that earlier than they will strike, the Nationwide Mediation Board should determine that extra mediation efforts wouldn’t be productive and should supply a possibility to resolve the contract by way of arbitration. That might take months.

If both facet declines the arbitration, an extra 30-day “cooling off” interval is required earlier than strike motion.

A spate of Alaska Airways flight cancellations over the previous two months weren’t due to labor motion by the pilots however had been brought on by a common pilot scarcity.

Alaska’s administration misjudged what number of newly employed pilots would graduate from its coaching college this spring. The airline minimize its flight schedule in response and mentioned the state of affairs ought to considerably enhance in June.

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