IAM District 141, United Airlines Agree to Expedited Contract Talks

2 July 2023

IAM District 141 and United Airlines met this week in Chicago, IL, and agreed to enter into an expedited collective bargaining process that, if successful, would lead to seven new contracts covering approximately 23,000 IAM- represented workers at the carrier.

The expedited process, which was utilized in 2016 and led to industry-leading contracts for IAM-represented workers at United at the time, is structured to narrow the scope of issues to be negotiated, based on membership priorities. The goal is to reach industry-best contracts in a condensed period of time. In 2016, the expedited negotiations process took only five months, compared to the industry average of about 15 months. Traditional negotiations between the IAM and United have historically exceeded the 15-month industry average.

“District 141 is pleased to report that all priorities identified in the recent survey by IAM-represented workers at United are on the list to be negotiated with the Company,” said IAM District 141 President and Directing General Chairman Mike Klemm. “We are excited to get this process going and bring back the improvements that IAM members at United Airlines fully deserve. IAM members at United continue to answer the bell, day in and day out, to ensure that United Airlines remains atop the airline during the most difficult and uncertain times the US aviation industry has ever known. Simply put, IAM-represented workers at United Airlines deserve to be compensated as the industry’s best.”

Both IAM District 141 and United Airlines reserve the right to terminate the expedited contract negotiations process and enter traditional collective bargaining under what is known as Section Six of the Railway Labor Act, the federal law that governs contract negotiations in the airline and railroad sectors.

The two sides are in the process of scheduling future negotiations dates and the membership will be advised of those dates when they are finalized.

Michael G. Klemm
President and Directing General Chair,
IAMAW District 141