United flight attendants picket

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

Temperatures are rising today on an informational picket line by United Airlines flight attendants who promise to turn up the heat on the company that flies about a quarter million passengers a month in and out of Las Vegas.

Members of the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, say they would implement work stoppages in selected locations around United's route system if demands for better pay and benefits are not met.

Groups of eight representing about 300 Las Vegas-based United flight attendants are working in shifts on an informational picket line at McCarran International Airport through Friday to spread the word about their view of contract negotiations, currently under way in Honolulu.

At issue are disputes over pay and benefits packages. The attendants say despite record profits, United has sought to hold down their wages. United's corporate earnings were more than $1 billion in 1996, 48 percent more than 1995's record performance.

Laura Kay Mannel, vice president of United Council No. 25, the local AFA affiliation, said flight attendants represent 20 percent of the work force, but their wages represent 7 percent of the payroll.

Union officials say their retirement package is 18 years old and needs an overhaul. The flight attendants -- the only employee group that did not participate in the recent buy-out of the airline's stock -- also said they wanted parity with pilots on layover accommodations. Pilots stay in downtown hotels while flight attendants are relegated to suburban hotels or airport locations.

Flight attendants have been working without a contract since March 1996.

Richard Martin, a spokesman for Chicago-based United, said the company and the union are in "concentrated negotiations," which began earlier this month.

Neither side wants the negotiations to drag on and that an earlier contract proposal missed passage by only 2 percent, he said adding he could not comment on specific sticking points.

If talks break down and a mediator declares an impasse, CHAOS could be in store for United passengers. That's the job action campaign which the flight attendants will initiate after a 30-day cooling-off period that occurs if talks break off.

CHAOS or Create Havoc Around Our System involves striking at select locations instead of systemwide. Because schedules are precisely integrated, selective job actions can be as effective at crippling the world's largest airline as a full-blown strike.

The AFA effectively used CHAOS tactics in a strike against Alaska Airlines in 1993.

Mannel said CHAOS actions come without warning and are planned by top union officials. There was no way to tell how Las Vegas flight attendants would be a part of the action, she added.