The United States National Mediation Board (NMB) has released American Airlines and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) into a 30-day “cooling off” period. If no agreement is reached by 30 June, 23,000 American Airlines flight attendants will be legally free to go on strike 1 July. The board of the APFA voted not to accept binding arbitration in their negotiations with American Airlines. Talks were scheduled to resume today in Washington, D.C. A strike would have a powerful impact on the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean in general where American Airlines is the dominant air carrier. To follow the negotiations from the flight attendant’s side, see http://www.apfa.org (5 June 2001)
