Sun Country Pilots Authorize Strike Action
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — Sun Country Airlines pilots have voted to authorize union leaders to call a strike if they can't reach a federally-mediated contract agreement with management.
The Air Line Pilots Association says 100 percent of Sun Country pilots voting on the strike agree to authorization. That includes 209 pilots.
Local union chairman Capt. Dennis Vanatta says Sun Country pilots are the lowest-paid Boeing 737 pilots in the U.S.
The pilots' union and Sun Country began working with a federal mediator in May 2012. In order to go on strike, the National Mediation Board must first decide that additional mediation efforts would not be productive and extend an offer to arbitrate the dispute. If either side declines arbitration, the parties enter a 30-day "cooling off" period before any action is taken.
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