‘Pay Us or Chaos.’ Piedmont Flight Attendants Protest Outside Charlotte Airport

About two dozen Piedmont Airlines flight attendants embroiled in a labor dispute with airline management protested outside Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Thursday.

“Who wants a contract?” they chanted in a field across from the airport entrance to occasional honks of support from passing drivers. “We do!”

”Hey, hey, ho, ho, corporate greed has got to go!” they chanted.

Flight attendants from Piedmont’s Charlotte and Philadelphia crew bases held bright placards that read, “100% Ready to Strike,” “We can’t afford to work at Piedmont” and “Pay Us or Chaos.”

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In October, all participating Piedmont Airlines flight attendants voted to allow their union to authorize a strike.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents the flight attendants, has been negotiating a contract with Piedmont Airlines for more than three years, according to the union.

Union: Attendants sleeping in cars

Union officials said negotiations stalled after management proposed minimal pay increases and higher health premiums.

“A new hire in the first year is paid $16,900,” Megan Robinson, chairperson of the union local council negotiations committee, told The Charlotte Observer at the protest.

Some “are sleeping in cars and in the airport,” she said.

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The flight attendants union has had to create food banks in Charlotte and Philadelphia for its members, said Keturah Johnson, their union president. “It’s flight attendants helping other flight attendants, bringing in food just to help people get by.

“Piedmont flight attendants cannot afford to work at Piedmont,” Johnson said, “and the company should be ashamed of what’s going on right now.”

Mediation a possibility

“The flight attendants are fed up, we’re fired up and we’re not going to stop,” Johnson said. “We’re not going anywhere until we can get a good contract.”

Thursday’s protest followed another round of negotiations, according to the flight attendants. Another round is scheduled for early December, they said.

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The October strike authorization vote didn’t mean the flight attendants will immediately strike. The vote gave the union the authorization to call for a strike.

After the vote, the union could request that the National Mediation Board declare the negotiations deadlocked, according to AFA. The national board would release both parties into a 30-day “cooling off” period, which would lead to a strike deadline.

In a statement to the Observer, Piedmont Airlines said it is “dedicated” to reaching “a competitive contract” with its flight attendants.

“We are in agreement our team members deserve the best contract and we are committed to delivering that to them,” the airline said. “We look forward to getting back to negotiations in December.”

The airline opened contract talks with AFA in September 2018, but paused negotiations for 18 months during the pandemic by mutual decision, according to Piedmont. Talks resumed in June.

Piedmont operated an average of 66 daily flights out of Charlotte Douglas in October, according to the airline. It is a subsidiary of American Airlines, the dominant carrier at CLT.

Piedmont Airlines operates nearly 400 daily flights across the Eastern United States to more than 55 cities under the American Eagle brand.

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