Minnesota Flight Attendants Demand Better Wages From Sun Country
BLOOMINGTON (WJON News) -- Flight attendants from a Minnesota-based airline held an informational picket earlier this week.
Sun Country Airlines employees represented by Teamsters Local 120 held a picket outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Wednesday, requesting better wages and rewards for company loyalty.
The previous contract is from 2014, and workers and the airline first started negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in December 2019. Those talks were later suspended until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that pause, many flight attendants agreed to take temporary leaves of absence.
The Teamsters most recently rejected a proposal from the company in May 2023, claiming the rates being offered fell way below the industry standard. Sun Country increased the size of its fleet and brought in record-breaking profits last year, but union representatives say much of that money was spent on stock buybacks instead of being reinvested in the company's workforce.
The informational picket did not interrupt any flights and there are still several steps in the process before workers could even vote to authorize a strike. Representatives from Sun Country say they are confident the two sides can come to an agreement before it comes to that.
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