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Several United Airlines flight attendants wearing “CHAOS” T-shirts attend a meeting to decide on a strike in 2001. CHAOS, short for “Create Havoc Around Our System,” is a strike strategy first used in 1993 during a labor dispute between Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants union. The strategy keeps the company guessing about when, where and even how a strike might occur.
Tim Boyle/Newsmakers/Getty Images
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Tim Boyle/Newsmakers/Getty Images
Several United Airlines flight attendants wearing “CHAOS” T-shirts attend a meeting to decide on a strike in 2001. CHAOS, short for “Create Havoc Around Our System,” is a strike strategy first used in 1993 during a labor dispute between Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants union. The strategy keeps the company guessing about when, where and even how a strike might occur.
Tim Boyle/Newsmakers/Getty Images
In 1993, contract negotiations between Alaska Airlines and its flight attendants union broke down, and the union was faced with a choice.
The union, the Association of Flight Attendants (CWA), knew that Alaska Airlines had a plan in place if they chose to strike. While Alaska Airlines technically couldn’t fire striking flight attendants, they could permanently replace striking flight attendants with new employees. Essentially, if the union went on strike, they could potentially put thousands of people out of work. The flight attendants knew they needed a counter-strategy.
They adopted a strategy they called CHAOS: “Creating Chaos Around Our System.”
The strategy is divided into two phases. Phase one: The union keeps Alaska Airlines guessing about when, where, and how the strike will happen. They keep everyone, even union members, in the dark. In turn, Alaska Airlines must be ready to strike at any time and in any place. Phase two is to strike in a targeted and strategic way.
The chaos caused by the flight attendants set off a labor dispute arms race that continues with today’s strike. And it shows how powerful introducing a little chaos into negotiations can be.
Our show today is hosted by Nick Fountain and Kenny Malone. The show is produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, with assistance from Dave Blanchard and Willa Rubin, edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and audio engineered by Hans Copeland. Ayda Pourasad assists with research. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
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