Hundreds of flight attendants lined International Boulevard outside the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday afternoon, demanding better contracts. It was part of a Global Day of Action, including 30 airports nationwide.
One Alaska Airlines flight attendant told KIRO 7 it’s pretty normal to have an over ten-hour workday, but only get paid for five of those hours because of pay guidelines.
It’s reasons like that 99% of Alaska Airlines flight attendants say they’re ready to strike when the time comes.
“We have flight attendants who are living way below the poverty level,” said Alaska Airlines flight attendant, Erin Gailey. “We have flight attendants who are going without food right now.”
Higher pay is just one of the many demands Alaska Airlines flight attendants are negotiating for.
“We’re looking for industry-leading wages, but also we’re trying to end the standard practice of not being paid for our entire time on duty,” said the president of the local Associate of Flight Attendants, Paual Isla-McGill. “We want to get paid for boarding, we want to get paid for ground time when we’re stranded.”