Southwest Flight Attendants to Revote on Tentative Agreement

This past Wednesday, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) released a bulletin to members regarding the recent tentative agreement vote for Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants. The letter was first released on X by user @xJonNYC.

Initially, the collective membership group voted down the Tentative Agreement, drafted between the Union and the Company. However, the Union’s election board determined the final tally may not have been the true collective vote. According to the TWU local 556’s website, members of the union are now able to register for the re-vote webinar. 

In an email to members, the Union stated they had received numerous complaints from voting members regarding issues with the voting site. These issues were noted by the labor group in a letter:

• When they logged onto the voting site and entered their PIN, a blank screen appeared with no option to choose a vote;
• The system showed a member voted, but no ballot was cast;
• The site froze while attempting to cast a ballot without a selection;
• Inoperative hyperlink to take them to the voting site;
• When the complaints were raised with TrueBallot, the vendor that conducted the election tabulation, the Board of Election was assured that there were no issues with the voting system.

The Board had entrusted TrueBallot, an organization that provides election services for unions and other organizations. The labor group entrusted the security of the election to this group, however, TrueBallot’s system was deemed extremely vulnerable. According to the TWU, member data that was not supposed to be identifiable was.

Names, votes and other information directly related to the individual was identifiable on the TrueBallot database. This led to TrueBallot disturbing a newsletter amongst customers regarding a breach in security at the company.

This breach in vote integrity has led the Union to dismiss the results of that vote. The board announced to the member group that a second vote should be held shortly, in hopes of getting a true, honest vote on whether or not the TA is accepted by the labor group. 

Other Labor Groups

Many labor groups are currently in negotiations with their respective companies. Recently, American Airlines and the carrier’s passenger service agents came together, with the labor group passing their respective TA. The carrier’s flight attendant union is also currently in negotiations with the airline to produce a contract.

At Southwest, the carrier’s pilot group is also in negotiations for a new Tentative Agreement. While currently without an agreement, word is spreading that a potential agreement may be reached soon with the company. The pilot group would then vote on the agreement soon after, much like the flight attendants have recently, and will do so again in the near future with a new election service. 

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Zach Cooke

Zach’s love for aviation began when he was in elementary school with a flight sim and model planes. This passion for being in the air only intensified throughout high school when he earned his Private Pilot Certificate. He then attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, earning his certificates and ratings to later flight instruct and share his passion for aviation with others. He now resides in the North East living out his dream as an airline pilot.

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