Sara Nelson's Email & Phone

Sara Nelson took office as the International Vice-President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO on January 1, 2011. Sara has been a union activist since nearly the beginning of her flying career, after becoming a United Airlines Flight Attendant in 1996. The hallmarks of Sara's union activism have been collective action and effective communications. Early in her union career, Sara served in a variety of positions including CHAOS? Strike Co-Coordinator, and Local Council Vice President, Local CHAOS Strike Coordinator and Council Rep. (United Airlines, Boston). In those roles she learned the power of collective action first hand. "The members make our union powerful," Sara said. "When Flight Attendants march on the picket line, engage in CHAOS strikes, or come to the Hill to talk with their representatives, they bring attention to the important issues we face, and build leverage for our union and for our profession. We can raise our voices in many ways, and my job as a union leader is to make sure our voices are heard." Prior to her election as International Vice President, Sara spent over eight years directing communications and PR efforts for the union's United Airlines unit. In that role she represented the union in all the major news media in the U.S., including news coverage on all the major networks, CNN, PBS, NPR, the BBC and BBC radio, and other overseas news outlets, major newspapers and wire service reports. She also was responsible for internal member communications and mobilization, experience which is invaluable for her role as International Vice President in directing leadership development, mobilization and organizing of Flight Attendants throughout the industry. Sara also has extensive government relations experience having written Congressional testimony, coordinated Congressional press conferences, and personally lobbied members of Congress. She also conducted extensive training on a wide range of topics for union members. Whether it's in organizing, in communications, or on the picket line, Sara is passionate about her union, and what it can mean to the Flight Attendant profession. Sara grew up in Corvallis, Oregon and earned a bachelor's degree from Principia College with majors in English and Education before joining United Airlines as a Flight Attendant. She resides in the DC area with her husband, David Borer, who is the General Counsel of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO. Sara and David are the proud parents of Jack, who was born in 2009, and attended his first picket line in support of improving Flight Attendant careers at the age of two months.