Sun Country Airline’s 240 ground workers who handle luggage and guide airplanes at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are on track to ink their first-ever union contract.
The Minneapolis-based leisure airline and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement Thursday. Workers soon will vote on whether to ratify it.
A Sun Country spokeswoman said Friday the proposed contract “recognizes the important role these employees play” in the company’s operation and success.
Sun Country declined to share wage or benefit details in the agreement. Local union leaders did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Most fleet workers at major U.S. airlines are unionized. Delta Air Lines, the dominant passenger carrier at MSP, is one notable exception. Only Delta’s pilots and dispatchers are unionized.
Fleet workers at Sun Country voted to form a union under the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 970 nearly three years ago. The desire for better pay, improved working conditions and a seniority system motivated the effort. But the unionization process at Sun Country hit bumps along the way.
The Teamsters brought a federal lawsuit against Sun Country in 2023 that accused the airline of illegally firing employees active in unionizing efforts, a violation of the Railway Labor Act. Sun Country denied wrongdoing.
The lawsuit centered on the cases of ramp workers Sly Oliver and Monique Crisp. Both claimed the airline fired them within weeks of the successful vote to unionize because of their support for the movement. The airline, however, said it terminated Oliver and Crisp for attendance issues.
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