The  IAM today announced it has filed for federal mediation in its year-long negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement for 9,500 Flight Attendants at Continental Airlines, a subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc.

On October 27, 2010, Continental Flight Attendants rejected a tentative interim agreement that provided wage increases and job guarantees through Continental’s merger and integration with United Airlines. Negotiations began in December 2010, before Continental’s merger with United was announced.

“Continental has been unwilling to restore all the sacrifices Flight Attendants made to help the carrier avoid bankruptcy and merge with United,” said Sheila Hammond, a Continental Flight Attendant and IAM negotiating committee member. “Requesting the help of a federal mediator is the next logical step in the bargaining process.”

The request for mediation was made on November 18, 2010 to the National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency that oversees collective bargaining in the airline industry under the Railway Labor Act. The NMB assigned Senior Mediator Pat Sims to the negotiations. Negotiations have been scheduled to resume on December 8, 2010. The assignment of a mediator does not preclude direct negotiations from continuing between the parties without the mediator.