AFA President Condemns United's Contract Violation on Sick Leave Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 25, 2024) — The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has voiced strong objections to United Airlines' recent actions regarding sick leave policies. AFA President Sara Nelson highlighted the union's concerns in a statement, specifically addressing the company's approach to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policies.

"Over the past year, we have been raising with the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Hour and Wage Division the problems with United's practices on FMLA, including auto designation and documentation. Problems were brought into sharp focus this week when in the midst of the CrowdStrike meltdown on Saturday, July 20, management sent an offensive and accusatory scheduling alert to require Flight Attendants submit absence certificates for all sick leave calls over weekend days. This change to the sick leave policy is a violation of the contract and we believe it also violates the law. AFA Legal has been interfacing again with the Department this week and individual Flight Attendants have also filed complaints with the DOL."

The pushback from flight attendants has been immediate and strong. Nelson emphasized that they will not tolerate United management's attempts to undermine their legal and contractual rights. In a positive development for the union, the DOL announced today that it is engaging with United Airlines to ensure compliance with leave policies and legal requirements.

The union has taken formal action by filing a grievance over the contract violation. Nelson pointed out that requiring medical verification for approved FMLA leave is both burdensome and costly, describing it as an unlawful interference with the right to take FMLA leave.

Nelson also linked the current issues to policies from the previous administration, which issued letters in 2019 that she said undermined workers' control over their FMLA benefits. The union argues that United's recent requirement for absence certificates is part of a broader effort to dilute workers' FMLA reserves.

"We applaud the DOL’s proactive response to these issues that we have raised with them and will continue our efforts to hold management accountable to our contract and the law," Nelson stated.

###

The Association of Flight Attendants is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for over 78 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. 55,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.