Dear Flying Partners,
As negotiations intensify, we must be careful on social media about how we talk about negotiations and how to pressure the Company.
Under the Railway Labor Act, we cannot engage in "self-help" until we have been in federally supervised mediation for a period of time and only after the National Mediation Board releases us following a thirty-day cooling-off period. The National Mediation Board has discretion over whether to grant a release to strike.
What this means is we are not able to engage in any self-help at this point in time. Examples of self-help include calls to not pick up open time, calls for "work to rule," refusing to perform duties, any disruption of the Company's operation over the holiday period, refusing to charge customers for buy-on-board products, coordinating calling in sick, etc. It is illegal to advocate for such actions before the end of the thirty-day cooling-off period. Individuals could face discipline, and the Union could face injunctions and fines.
This also means that we cannot threaten or discuss that we will engage in any type of self-help or disruptions to United Airlines operations over the upcoming holiday period. That does not help our efforts to reach an agreement and is also illegal.
We have a path to reach an agreement that involves sending a clear message to the Company that 26,000 Flight Attendants are fired up and ready for a contract. Please do not jeopardize yourself or our collective efforts by advocating any such unauthorized and/or illegal activities.
In Solidarity,
Ken Diaz, President
United Master Executive Council
AFA-CWA/AFL-CIO