Work Reform @lemmy.world return2ozma @lemmy.world 2mo ago

American Airlines Flight Attendants Just Won Boarding Pay

jacobin.com American Airlines Flight Attendants Just Won Boarding Pay

Flight attendants typically aren’t paid during boarding time. Earlier this month, after a three-year contract campaign and a credible strike threat, flight attendants at American Airlines became the first to win boarding pay.

unions @lemmy.ml return2ozma @lemmy.world 2mo ago

jacobin.com /2024/09/american-flight-attendants-boarding-pay

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They weren't being paid during the time they were working to usher and assist boarding passengers?

What the fuck.
- Nope. Their pay started when the door closed and ended when it opened. The rest of the work at the gate or prepping the cabin was just free labor.
  
  And that's WITH existing union agreements already, so you know it was even worse than that before the union was formed in the first place. Unions don't appear out of nowhere. If a business or industry has a union, it's because the workers were being screwed so hard it became necessary.
- This is seriously insane to me. I start getting paid as soon as my ass hits my chair. And when I was working in an office, it was as soon as my foot went in the door.
  
  I can't imagine interacting with the public on behalf of a company without being paid for it. Wtf.
  
  You a freelancer/contractor now?
  
  In office you weren’t salaried I suppose
That is a huge deal. They should be paid from the minute they enter the airport but this is at least a step in the right direction. Another W for unions
- Agreed!
  
  Flight attendants typically are not paid until the aircraft doors close. All that greeting, seating, sorting out problems, and assistance with bags is off the clock.
  
  This makes no sense. This is a major part of their job. Imagine what would happen if they stopped doing this function altogether - boarding would become unbearable.
  
  Next I'll find out that the pay stops as soon as the doors open and they're not getting paid to help people off the plane or greet them. (Seriously, I hope I don't find this out because it's not true.)
  
  It does stop the second the door opens. No idea if this change fixes that too tho
Now give them retroactive boarding back pay.
- Not that I'm defending them but that will probably put all airliners out of business. Which I hope it would.
Collective action works. Tell your friends.
Ah the land of the free to be exploited by corporations...
https://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2018/09/wage-theft-vs-other-forms-of-theft-in-the-u-s/

Wage theft dwarfs and eclipses any other type of theft COMBINED. But how many cops are arresting CEOs for that? How many in jail? 0

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