Delta Connection Flight Attendants Request Release To Strike After Negotiations Reach Stalemate

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Compass Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), today requested a proffer of arbitration from the National Mediation Board (NMB), indicating willingness to strike should management fail to negotiate a new agreement for the nearly 450 Flight Attendants. If the NMB grants AFA's request and agrees that management has refused to make significant movement, then negotiations will be declared deadlocked and both parties will be released into a 30-day "cooling off" period leading to a strike deadline.

"Compass Flight Attendants remain focused on reaching an agreement that provides fair wages, working conditions and benefits. Management's unwillingness to engage in productive negotiations leading to an acceptable tentative agreement is self-evident, and we are asking the NMB to hold them accountable for their lack of action," said Catriona Bagley, AFA Compass President. 

Compass, a Delta Connection carrier, provides approximately 190 daily flights to over 50 Delta Air Lines destinations.  Compass Airlines is wholly owned by Trans States Holdings of St. Louis and is headquartered in Minneapolis.

"Compass Flight Attendants are determined to reach an agreement. We are committed to the success of our airline and our contributions continue to make the company a top-of-the-industry performer. If management continues to choose obstruction over cooperation, then they should be prepared for CHAOS™."

CHAOS, or Create Havoc Around Our System™, is AFA's trademarked strike strategy. 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. Throughout negotiations, AFA has continued to address Flight Attendant concerns while management has consistently made proposals that are below industry standards. 

The Association of Flight Attendants is the world's largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 67 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 60,000 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.

SOURCE Association of Flight Attendants