Margin Was Narrow, Only 16 More Voted Against Than For The Contract

American Airline's flight attendants have narrowly rejected a tentative agreement hailed as being "Industry-Leading" when the pact was finalized.

The margin was very narrow. There were 16 more "No" votes than "Yes" votes out of the 16,376 ballots cast.

The APFA said in a statement posted on its website that "the outstanding issues (those issues reached in the final days of bargaining) shall be submitted for binding arbitration. Until the arbitration is completed and the new contract is awarded, each legacy workgroup will continue to work under its current contract: the LAA Conditional Labor Agreement and the LUS Red Book."

The contract was reached between management and the flight attendants on September 19. At the time, the APFA said that "part of the agreement APFA struck with US Airways was a fast and direct path to an industry-leading contract following the merger's close. The parties came up with a protocol that provided expedited contract negotiations followed by a backstop of interest arbitration. The union's goal was to achieve the highest wages and best work rules the network carriers during negotiations, leaving nothing to arbitration."

The first possible date for arbitration is December 3, according to the union.

FMI: www.apfa.org