American attendants vote to authorize strike

DALLAS, Texas -- Flight attendants at American Airlines have voted to authorize their negotiators to call a strike at American if contract talks fail, their union said Thursday.

According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, 18,000 American Airlines flight attendants voted by a margin of 96 percent to authorize a strike if necessary.

From here, the union leaders will got back to the negotiating table during the first two weeks of March with AMR, American's parent company.

If the parties cannot agree on a contract, the union will ask to be relieved from negotiations, and a 30-day "cooling-off" period would begin, the union said.

Under that plan, if all negotiations break down, a strike could be declared as soon as mid-April.

American Airlines
Association of Professional Flight Attendants

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