Laura Glading is a

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

activist and leader. She was elected president of the

Association of Professional Flight Attendants The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) is a labor union which was founded in 1977 and represents over 28,000 flight attendants at American Airlines. In 2003, APFA played a major role in keeping American Airlines solvent and out ...

(APFA), the independent union that represents flight attendants at American Airlines, in February 2008. Glading was elected to a second term in February 2012. She is currently the executive director of labor and employee relations for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Career

Glading began her career as a flight attendant with American Airlines in the late 1970s, quickly becoming an active member of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. She became a base president for the APFA in New York prior to the 1993 American Airlines flight attendant strike. Later, she served as committee chair for the APFA's negotiation committee before being elected national president of the APFA in 2008. During her nearly eight-year tenure as president, Glading oversaw the union through American Airline's bankruptcy and advocated for the historic

American Airlines–US Airways merger American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. Along with union leaders David Bates of the

Allied Pilots Association The Allied Pilots Association (APA) is the labor union representing American Airlines pilots. APA was founded in 1963 by a group of American Airlines pilots who broke away from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The five founding pilots of A ...

and James Little of the Transport Workers Union, Glading reached an agreement with US Airways management to back merger efforts. In September 2013, Glading met with top antitrust officials at the

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

to urge their approval of the planned merger, which they had initially opposed. The meeting followed a pro-merger rally outside the U.S. Capitol led by workers from both airlines. Glading later credited the merger with saving 5,000 flight attendant jobs and leading to pay raises of 13% to 16%. In November 2014, a new contract that Glading negotiated in the wake of the merger was voted down by a small margin due to some members' discontent with its omission of profit-sharing. The next month, the airline announced an arbitrated contract that fell short of the November proposal by $81 million. Glading and the APFA negotiating committee subsequently met with American Airlines management and succeeded in increasing the value of the contract, securing a raise for union flight attendants. Glading has spoken publicly on a number of issues relating to flight attendant safety and security, including a submission to the

United States House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security The Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security is a subcommittee within the House Homeland Security Committee. It was the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection until 2011, when infrastruct ...

in April 2013 in which she opposed a

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

(TSA) initiative to permit small knives on planes. The TSA reversed its decision to allow knives on planes in June 2013. On October 3, 2015, Glading sent a letter to the membership of APFA stating that she would resign as APFA National President on December 2, 2015. On October 5, 2015, following a meeting with the APFA Board of Directors, Glading announced that she would step down on October 9, 2015. In 2016, Glading was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration's human resource management department in Washington D.C. as executive director of labor and employee relations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glading, Laura American trade union leaders Living people Year of birth missing (living people)