Breeze pilots picket at T.F. Green amid stalled union contract talks

Fifteen pilots stood silently outside Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport on Wednesday, their backs to the terminal as they held signs demanding their employer, Breeze Airways, agree to its first collective bargaining agreement three years after negotiations began.

The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, picketed for about an hour outside the Warwick airport, which became a hub for the Utah-based budget airliner in 2023. The demonstration coincided with Breeze’s fifth anniversary.

“We’ve all worked very hard for that very important milestone,” Alex Kluge, a captain who chairs Breeze’s Master Executive Council, told reporters outside the terminal. “Every airline, except the very smallest ones, have a contract — this is the industry norm.”

Kluge said his 700 members are asking for more defined work roles and retirement contributions on par with other major airlines. He noted many Breeze pilots are sent out of their base airport for six days at a time, with their shifts constantly changing.

“You basically don’t know what the next month brings,” he said. “It’s just very tiring to go back and forth on schedules like that.”

Negotiations on an inaugural contract began Jan. 20, 2023 — around five months after pilots voted to unionize. 

Company and union officials meet monthly to go over proposed language in the 30-section submission, Kluge said. While Kluge did not expect immediate consensus on the language, he said momentum has essentially halted at the halfway point of the proposed contract.

“From our perspective, we believe that they’re intentionally stalling our progress,” he said.

Which is why the Air Line Pilots Association in January filed a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction to compel Breeze to bargain in good faith. 

The 31-page complaint claims Breeze officials have repeatedly crossed out significant portions of the union’s proposals in their entirety “without countering the proposal or providing alternative solutions.” The lawsuit further alleges that Breeze has often canceled sessions or outright refused to meet with union negotiators.

The union’s lawsuit claims the company’s actions violate the federal Railway Labor Act (RLA), which requires air carriers to “exert every reasonable effort” to “make and maintain” agreements with the representative of its employees.

“Breeze is acting in contravention of its RLA obligations,” the lawsuit states. “It is motivated to block the path to a first collective bargaining agreement for the pilots, to undermine ALPA and the RLA bargaining process, and ultimately to cause the decertification of ALPA.”

Breeze spokesperson McKinnley Matson said in a statement to Rhode Island Current that airline officials “remain fully committed to reaching an agreement that both reflects that value and ensures the long-term success of the company for everyone.”

“We respect our pilots’ right to advocate for their interests and will continue to be actively engaged in the collective bargaining process,” Matson said.

Kluge said more informational pickets are likely across Breeze’s network of bases as negotiations remain stalled.

“All we want is management to come to the table and negotiate in good faith,” he said.