April 20, 2016
To All United Flight Attendants:
The Railway Labor Act provides airline employees with the right to participate in all activities in support of their Union. Though probationary Flight Attendants do not become AFA members until the end of their probation, they can participate in all AFA activities, including the wearing of AFA pins, lanyards and bag-tags and walking the picket lines to show their support for their certified bargaining representative, prior to becoming AFA members.
No probationary Flight Attendant at United Airlines has ever been disciplined or terminated for wearing AFA insignia or walking a picket line.
If any probationary Flight Attendant is disciplined for engaging in those activities, as employees they are protected by their statutory rights under the RLA.
Sincerely,
Edward J. Gilmartin
AFA-CWA General Counsel