Negotiations between the union and the company have been going on since December 1999. A tentative agreement was rejected in a vote by union members last November over the length of employment necessary before a worker reaches top pay, benefits, low wages, and forced overtime. The TWU has represented 5,300 ramp, operations, and provisioning workers at the airline for four years. Tim Waddell, a ramp worker with seven months seniority, was forced to work three double shifts in a row the previous weekend. Another ramp worker, Marcus Garc a, said he had been denied overtime until recently, forcing him to get a second job.
Workers also say they are fighting the excessive workload demanded by the company.
One example of this is that there are approximately 90 workers employed per airplane at Southwest compared to 140 at American airlines. Union members say they are planning further pickets over the coming weeks. Phil Duzinski is a textile worker.