The union representing flight attendants at Southwest Airlines has asked federal mediators to step in and help with stalled contract talks after more than three years of negotiations.
Flight attendants with the 14,600-member TWU Local 556 union have already made plans to picket airports at the end of September after complaints that conditions for workers remain poor and that the Dallas-based carrier isn’t moving fast enough toward a new contract. Now the union is asking the National Mediation Board to oversee negotiations to force progress.
The move by flight attendants puts more pressure on a company that is just getting back to full employment after the COVID-19 pandemic and dealing with labor difficulties from some of its biggest work groups, including pilots, customer service workers, ground workers and dispatchers.
