Lawsuits Expose SkyWest and SIA

IT'S TIME! The lawsuits

The truth about SkyWest is now on the record.

Federal courts and the U.S. Department of Labor are examining SkyWest and SIA, the group management funds and runs. The lawsuits lay bare how far management will go to hold onto unchecked power over our jobs: an election SIA had to suspend, whistleblowers fired, and charges a court threw out for good. As we rise, the truth keeps coming out. With SkyWest AFA, we are shifting the power.

From the campaign · Posted June 12

The short version

Retaliation. Interference. No accountability.

SkyWest management, and the company-controlled group it funds and operates, SIA, are now tangled in multiple federal lawsuits. Tap each pattern for what it looks like in practice.

Pattern 01

Retaliation

Two Flight Attendants who exposed a broken SIA election were fired one month later. Criminal charges followed. A court threw the charges out with prejudice. Tap for details Pattern 02

Election interference

In SIA's August 2023 board election, Flight Attendants reported being told they had already voted. Others opened the electronic ballot to find one candidate already selected for them, with no way to remove the selection. Flight Attendants' unique voting codes were accessible on SIA's own website. SIA called it a "glitch," a flaw it had been made aware of and left in place. After the exposure went public, SIA suspended the election. Tap for details Pattern 03

No accountability

The U.S. Department of Labor found SIA fails to follow basic transparency law. SIA still refuses to comply. Management faces no check on any of it. Tap for details

Instead of addressing SkyWest Flight Attendants' concerns, management continues to deprive us of our democratic right to representation free from management interference, and doubles down on Flight Attendants who dare to speak up. Here is how we got here, and what it means for all of us.

How we got here

The 2023 SIA election, step by step.

Tap any step to read what happened.

The timelineTap a step to expand

1 August 2023 SIA holds an election for two board seats+ From the start, many Flight Attendants ran into voting problems. Some were told they had already voted when they hadn't. Others opened the electronic ballot to find one candidate already selected for them, with no way to remove the selection. SIA brushed off the concerns as a "glitch," a flaw it had been made aware of and left in place.

2 Shortly after the election closed Whistleblowers expose the vulnerability+ Salt Lake City-based Flight Attendants Tresa Grange and Shane Price brought the problem into the open, sharing with fellow crew that Flight Attendants' unique voting codes were accessible on SIA's website. SIA had failed to protect the integrity of its so-called election, and now everyone could see it.

3 Days later SIA suspends the election+ SIA vaguely cited "suspicious activity." It never acknowledged the evidence, the whistleblowers, or the security breach.

4 One month later Grange and Price are terminated+ SkyWest management promoted a false narrative about the whistleblowers' actions, casting doubt on their reasons for exposing serious election vulnerabilities. According to the company's own investigation, the individual actually found to have cast fraudulent votes faced no similar consequences.

5 Soon after Criminal charges are filed against them+ The exact source of the charges remains unclear. The timing lined up suspiciously with management's claims.

6 The ruling The court dismisses the charges with prejudice+ Dismissed with prejudice means the charges cannot be brought again. The court confirmed they never should have been filed. Grange and Price raised valid concerns about an election that affected every SkyWest Flight Attendant. Instead of being heard, they were punished.

7 Now Flight Attendants fight back in federal court+ With the support of AFA-CWA, Grange and Price are suing SkyWest for wrongful termination. Flight Attendant Brandon Finley stepped forward and sued SIA for posing as a labor representative while being entirely funded and directed by management. The Department of Labor has filed suits of its own. The docket is below.

The electionManagement's responseFlight Attendants push back

The reality is clear: Grange and Price are whistleblowers. They raised valid concerns about the integrity of an election that affected every one of us. Instead of being heard, they were punished.

The docket

Four lawsuits. More may follow.

Federal lawsuit #1Filed

Grange and Price v. SkyWest

Wrongful termination. Brought with the support of AFA-CWA after the criminal charges against both whistleblowers were dismissed with prejudice.

Federal lawsuit #2Filed

Finley v. SIA

Flight Attendant Brandon Finley is suing SIA for falsely posing as a labor representative while being entirely funded and directed by SkyWest management.

DOL lawsuit #1U.S. Dept. of Labor

Enforcing the LMRDA

After Flight Attendants reported SIA's election conduct, the Department of Labor concluded SIA can't claim to represent us while ignoring the transparency the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act requires. SIA refused to comply. DOL sued to enforce it.

DOL lawsuit #2U.S. Dept. of Labor

A second flawed election

SIA ran another election with the same problems. The Department of Labor filed a second suit.

The DOL's finding, in plain terms: SIA can't have it both ways.

Side by side

The illusion of legitimacy falls apart.

SIA has never been an independent or legally recognized labor union. It was created and funded by management from the start. It presents itself as a representative body, yet it has none of a real union's structure, standards, or accountability. The elections are one example among many. Its attempts to simulate democracy have produced inconsistent practices and implausible outcomes, including the now-infamous election where a winter coat allegedly "won" over a pay raise.

Pick a side to compare.

SIA AFA-CWA

Who runs itSkyWest managementCreated, funded, and operated by the company.Elected membersMembers run the organization, not management.

ElectionsRun by SIA, on a known flawPre-selected candidates, exposed voting codes, a vulnerability SIA knew about and left unfixed, an election suspended mid-count.Secure, transparent, independently administeredMandated by the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws, with strict protocols against exactly the failures seen under SIA.

Legal standingNot a legally recognized unionNow in federal court for posing as one.A real, legally recognized unionRepresenting Flight Attendants at carriers across the industry.

If you're firedNo just-cause standard, no appealToday at SkyWest a termination or discipline stands, with nowhere to take it. Grange and Price were terminated a month after speaking up.Just cause, representation, a neutral arbitratorWith an AFA contract, management must show just cause, you have union representation at every step, and we have legal standing to challenge unfair terminations and discipline through a grievance process that ends with a neutral arbitrator.

What it does for usShields managementIt doesn't negotiate, protect, or serve Flight Attendants.Fights for us alreadyEven before a contract, AFA is in the courts defending Flight Attendants and demanding accountability.

The power of a real union

This could happen to any one of us.

Had we already secured an AFA-CWA contract, Grange and Price would have been protected by just cause standards and a binding grievance process. Management would have had to prove its case, and the final word would have belonged to a neutral arbitrator, not to management alone.

Why a contract matters

SkyWest leadership inserted itself so deeply into SIA's internal affairs, and used those actions to target whistleblowers, that the point is plain: SIA and SkyWest management are not separate. They are one and the same.

This will keep happening as long as management has unchecked control to lash out at any Flight Attendant who lands in its crosshairs. Management treasures that control over our jobs and our lives, and holds tightly to its ability to retaliate against anyone who speaks up. The only way to bring that power into balance, and to secure the fairness, dignity, and protections we deserve, is to organize with AFA and negotiate an enforceable contract built on our priorities.

Even without a contract in place yet, AFA is already standing with us: fighting in the courts, defending Flight Attendants, and demanding accountability.

It's time to organize

Something real. Something we control.

SIA was designed to look like a union, and the lawsuits are exposing that it has never worked as one. We're organizing to end retaliation and to build something better, run by SkyWest Flight Attendants, for SkyWest Flight Attendants. It's time for SkyWest AFA.

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