Friday, January 16, 2015

Allegiant Air pilots authorize strike, if necessary

Pilots at Allegiant Air, represented by the Airline Professionals Association (APA) Teamsters Local 1224, voted overwhelmingly, 465-8, Friday to authorize a strike against Allegiant Air.

The voting period closed Friday, with 98 percent of Allegiant Air pilots voting yes to authorize the union to call a strike if necessary.

"This does not mean that a strike is going to happen tomorrow or even next week," said APA Teamsters Local 1224 President Daniel Wells. "If Allegiant continues to stonewall in negotiations, then a pilot strike at Allegiant Air will be very realistic."

The pilots have been in negotiations with Allegiant Air for two years with little to no progress. Their first negotiation session began in December of 2012.

Teamster pilots with Allegiant Air conducted informational picketing on Tuesday at McCarran International Airport and Allegiant Air Corporate Headquarters in Las Vegas, as well as at St Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida, to make the public aware of their fight for infrastructural investments into Allegiant Air's operational systems, basic industry averages in salary and for other job protection measures that are standard in the airline industry.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air is one of the most profitable airlines in the world, reporting a profit for 47 consecutive quarters. Its executives are among the highest compensated in the industry, yet its pilots are among the lowest paid and are subject to substandard working conditions in comparison to the rest of the industry.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My company has been negotiating for 7 years with no positive results. We voted to strike, doesn't mean anything since the government wont allow us too.