Southwest Airlines pilots are suing Chicago over a billboard they claim was banned by the city at Midway Airport. City Hall decided to bar the advertising that the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association wanted to post at the airport complaining about their lack of pay increases. In the suit, the pilots union is claiming that the City of Chicago’s refusal to allow the billboard at Midway Airport is a violation of their First Amendment rights of free speech under the constitution. The union wanted to get the billboard up prior to the Southwest Airlines shareholders meeting to be held in Chicago on May 18. The City has stated that it decided to ban the billboard due to new guidelines that were issued during the previous summer that disallow any and all political or public issue advertising at Chicago’s Midway and O’Hare airports.
Southwest Airlines pilots argue for wage increases
The advertisement that was denied showed Southwest Airlines pilots holding a sign stating “Shareholder returns: $3.1 billion; Pilot raises: $0” along side the phrase “The Pilots of SWAPA welcome Southwest shareholders to Chicago”. The city rejected the advertisement twice, including a “slightly” modified version of the phrase, according to the lawsuit. The pilots union is seeking a temporary restraining order that would allow the billboard to be posted prior to the shareholder meeting. The pilots are angry, claiming that they have not had a raise since 2011. The last contract that the pilots union had expired in 2012. The pilots union had negotiated a tentative agreement on a new contract last year. That contract collapsed when it was overwhelmingly rejected by the 8,300 members of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association last November. The union elected a new president and selected a new negotiating committee following the rejection of the tentative deal last year.
