PSA / CWA-AFA Mediation · 2025 Full-Year Review

Key Takeaways

PSA entered 2025 already inside formal National Mediation Board mediation, so the year was defined less by Section 6 positioning and more by whether mediated bargaining could be converted into a ratifiable package.
Public bargaining detail remained thin, which made process markers — public pressure actions, mediated session cadence, and management statements about continued talks — more important than rhetoric alone.
Spring and summer 2025 kept the dispute visible through public picketing and repeated “contract now” pressure, while PSA continued to say talks were active with National Mediation Board support.
By late 2025, the dispute was still unresolved, but the public record showed an active mediated case rather than a released or dormant one.
In hindsight, 2025 is best understood as the bridge year that set up the tentative agreement publicly announced on 2026.02.19.

Background & Context

PSA’s 2019–2023 collective bargaining agreement became amendable in July 2023. The dispute was then docketed at the National Mediation Board in January 2024 as A-14072 and later reassigned to Kevin Barry in June 2024, which meant PSA began 2025 in an established federal mediation framework rather than in ordinary pre-mediation bargaining.

That procedural posture matters because the Railway Labor Act does not force a settlement simply because a case is in mediation. For a smaller carrier like PSA, the best public indicators are whether mediated bargaining continues, whether pressure escalates, and whether the year ends closer to a package than it began.

Spring Pressure Kept the Dispute Visible (March 2025)

The clearest public signal in the spring came on March 26, when PSA Flight Attendants picketed for equal pay and better quality-of-life protections. Local coverage framed the event as evidence that bargaining remained unresolved more than a year after mediation began, with members emphasizing that the dispute was no longer just about headline wages but also about livability and work rules.

PSA’s public statement during that cycle was also notable. The carrier said reaching an agreement remained a priority, that picketing reflected a shared desire to get a deal done, and that discussions continued with National Mediation Board support. That is not the language of a closed case; it is the language of a live mediated dispute still searching for a package.

Summer Mediation and Broader Pressure (August 2025)

The same basic pattern reappeared in August. PSA Flight Attendants held another Day of Action on August 18 just ahead of scheduled mediated talks later that week. Outside reporting described a mix of economic frustration, long-duty-day concerns, and continuing demands for meaningful work-rule change rather than a small catch-up adjustment.

Just as important, public reporting tied the pressure campaign directly to mediated bargaining cadence. Coverage from that week said negotiations would continue later in Washington, D.C., and quoted PSA as saying that, with National Mediation Board support, the parties continued to meet regularly and had made progress toward an agreement. That made 2025 look less like drift and more like slow, heavily pressured convergence.

Late-Year Pressure Without Closure (December 2025)

December confirmed that the case was still active but not yet done. PSA Flight Attendants staged another system-wide Day of Action on December 18, keeping public pressure on management during a high-visibility travel period. The visible message at year-end was simple: workers still believed the case needed a contract, not another indefinite extension of mediated bargaining.

Year-end public reporting likewise fit an unresolved-but-moving case. The dispute was still being described as active, still connected to National Mediation Board-supported bargaining, and still lacking a public tentative agreement. That is why the close of 2025 should be read as a pre-closing phase rather than as a breakthrough phase.

Status at Year-End 2025

By the close of 2025, PSA / CWA-AFA mediation had clearly advanced, but had not yet crossed the finish line: