AirTran pilots have voted to authorize a strike, an action that does not signal that a strike is planned but is aimed at sending a message to management amid contract negotiations.
Of the pilots that cast votes, 97.5 percent voted in favor of authorizing a strike, according to the pilots union at AirTran. A total of 96.2 percent of eligible pilots cast ballots.
After about six years of contract negotiations, "it's a measure of our pilots' frustration," said Linden Hillman, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association at AirTran. "We don't want a strike, we want a fair contract."
The AirTran pilots completed the voting as they prepared to picket at AirTran's annual shareholders meeting in Milwaukee on Tuesday and announce the results of the strike authorization vote there.
Even with a strike authorization vote completed, pilots would still have to clear a number of hurdles to be able to strike under the Railway Labor Act that governs airline labor relations.
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