Three hundred flight attendants at American Airlines subsidiary Piedmont Airlines have voted to authorize a strike by an overwhelming margin, according to their union.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) said Thursday that 100% of workers who cast ballots approved of striking if Piedmont Airlines doesnt offer them a satisfactory contract. The workers have been trying to secure a new collective bargaining agreement with the regional carrier for three years, with negotiations interrupted by the pandemic.

Flight attendants are pretty fed up with whats been going on, Keturah Johnson, a flight attendant and president of the unions local affiliate for Piedmont workers, told HuffPost. Right now, they cant afford to work for Piedmont. The company doesnt care for us, and theyre stalling negotiations.

A spokesperson for Maryland-based Piedmont Airlines said the company, which is part of American Airlines American Eagle group of regional carriers, planned to return to the bargaining table with the union in November.

"We have the most professional Flight Service professionals in the industry, and Piedmont is a leader in safety and performance because of their efforts," Crystal Byrd, the spokesperson, said in an email. "We are in agreement our team members deserve the best contract and we are committed to delivering that to them."

A strike authorization doesnt necessarily mean workers will end up walking off the job. Its an escalation tactic that gives the unions leadership the leeway to call a strike if they see fit.

Ten thousand workers at agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere went on strike last week after rejecting a deal their union negotiated. Roughly 60,000 film and television workers have also threatened to go on strike, though a work stoppage has been averted for now after their union reached a tentative agreement over the weekend.

Airline workers must go through a special process before initiating a work stoppage, since a strike could have ripple effects for passengers across the country. Federal regulators will review the case and decide whether the two parties have reached an impasse and should be released from mediation. If so, they can allow the union to carry out a legal strike after a 30-day cooling off period.

In the vast majority of airline-related cases, the union and the employer avoid a work stoppage. But if a strike comes to pass, it could be a major nuisance for Piedmont and its parent company, American.

The AFA deploys its own strike strategy known as CHAOS , which stands for create havoc around our system. Rather than all flight attendants walking off at once, the union carries out intermittent, surprise strikes by small crews of workers that lead to flight cancellations. The strategy bedevils the targeted employer without causing widespread disruption across airlines and airports.

AFA first used CHAOS against Alaska Airlines in 1993, when it rattled the carrier by striking just seven seemingly random flights over the course of nine months, eventually securing a new contract.