n the same day that United Airlines, along with most of the rest of the aviation industry, was still suffering from the crippling effects of a global IT outage, the airline sent out a new sickness policy to its flight attendants, threatening them with termination if they are sick on a weekend.
The new policy has been slammed as ‘reprehensible’ by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), which represents crew members at the Chicago-based airline, and the union says it is already seeking legal advice to challenge United’s policy.
Providing flight attendants with less than 24 hours before the new policy came into force, United sent out a so-called ‘scheduling alert’ on Friday, informing crew members that they must now obtain an absence certificate at their own expense if they report sick for any trip that departs on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
United has warned flight attendants that the punishment for failing to provide managers with an absence certificate within 72 hours of calling sick, will be disciplinary action up and including termination.
The union immediately called foul, claiming that United was violating their contract and making up rules on the fly.
“Not only is this a willful Contract violation, it is yet another demonstration of management’s lack of respect for Flight Attendants and our contract,” the union slammed in a memo on Saturday.
The memo continued: “Flight Attendants on the line the last few days have endured the effects of another irregular operation. We have once again risen to the challenge and made it all work while dealing with one the largest IT outages in history.”
“Management couldn’t be bothered to wait until this unprecedented crisis was resolved to blatantly violate our Contract; they had to do it right now, in the midst of the chaos. This is a clear indication of just how tone-deaf management is.”
Under the flight attendant contract, United Airlines has previously been able to require crew members to provide an absence certificate for certain key dates. At present, these dates only cover the Fourth of July and Christmas holiday periods.
The contract also states that flight attendants are to provide an absence certificate within 72 hours of the scheduled trip or reserve period ending – not within 72 hours of calling sick.
United Airlines and the AFA are currently negotiating a new flight attendant contract, but while this process continues, the old contract remains in force.
After months of stalled bargaining, the union approved a strike authorization vote last week – the first such vote at United in more than 19 years. The ballot is set to open on August 1 and close on August 28.