On a clear eveningin Washington this past summer, Sara Nelson was in her element, waiting to speak to a revved-up crowd of union members at Reagan National Airport. Dressed in a navy flight attendants? uniform, she stood out against the sea of jewel-toned business suits and union T-shirts.
If it intimidated Nelson that she was slotted to speak alongside two of the nation?s most notable progressives ? Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren ? it didn?t show. Over the course of her seven-minute speech, Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, excoriated American Airlines executives for outsourcing catering jobs and driving down wages.