WATCH: IAMAW Panel American Airlines Negotiations Update
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District 141 and 142 answer questions about issues our Association members are facing with American Airlines.
American, AGAIN, Shows Their Corporate Greed
Brothers and Sisters,
The Association leadership met with American Airlines executive management Wednesday, April 3rd in Washington, DC. The idea was to have an unfiltered discussion with company decision makers to, hopefully, break the logjam in negotiations.
The lower level company negotiators had reached the end of their authority and steadfastly continued their concessionary demands that the Association give up healthcare options that already exist, accept inferior retirement provisions and allow our work to be outsourced. Your negotiators refuse to accept these concessionary demands.
The higher level executives doubled down at the meeting by reinforcing all of the company concessionary demands. They unflinchingly argued that their proposals should be good enough for the Association workforce to accept. They glowed about the future rosy outlook for the company while simultaneously stating that the workforce should shrink and be happy about it.
Consider this: over a 5-year period, American Airlines has authorized that $15 billion of company money be spent to buy back company stock. The cost of our contracts, with all of our proposals including work protections, would only be a fraction of that money. The leadership of this company is clearly driven by greed over consideration of the long term survival of its workforce.
Sisters and Brothers, we are in the fight of our careers. The executive leadership of this company has made it perfectly clear that they will not play fair.
The choice for every Association represented member is to either lay down and accept this or clearly and unambiguously let the company know you refuse. Your Association leadership has already let them know we are in for the fight.
The rest is up to you.
Fraternally,
Your Association Negotiating Committees
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A TRUCK INVOLVED IN COLLISION WITH AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM SERVICE NINE TIMES
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The incident was included in the findings of a recently published union safety study
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The study by UnionSafe 141 recorded and tracked more than 15 thousand safety issues
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The findings come as American Airlines is under pressure by the FAA and Mechanics for pressuring employees to overlook safety concerns
A water truck that slammed into a parked American Airlines plane in January had a long history of malfunctioning, according to a safety report just released.
While servicing an American Airlines aircraft bound for Raleigh Durham, a water truck suddenly lurched into gear and lodged itself under an Airbus A320, causing the plane to be removed from service. No passengers were on board the aircraft, and no one was injured in the incident.
This week, new data is suggesting that the vehicle had a troubled history.
According to a comprehensive safety audit conducted by the Machinists Union in Philadelphia, the vehicle had been removed from service by fleet service workers at least nine times over the past year.
The truck’s safety reports included complaints about the vehicle’s transmission and brakes. Despite these mechanical issues, managers demanded the truck be returned to service without first undergoing critical safety checks.
“This is just one incident like this that we’ve recorded,” said Dennis Spencer, the PHL Fleet Service Agent and Union Safety Advocate who co-authored the report. “Our mechanics do a great job; they are literally the best in the industry. That’s not where the fault lies.”
American Airlines executives and managers are under fire for recent attempts to outsource the work of fleet service agents who perform safety audits at the airline, and for pressuring mechanics to rush inspections and repairs.
In a shocking report conducted by CBS News, 26 Mechanics at American Airlines came forward to report unethical and potentially dangerous pressure from management to look the other way when they encounter safety issues – to get the planes and equipment back into service faster.
The study by CBS News largely agrees with the findings of the Machinists Union, which systematically tracks and monitors safety issues at American Airlines in an annual report called the “Safety System Annual Report.” The study offers a comprehensive overview of thousands of safety reports filed throughout the year by airline employees.
The annual report is conducted as part of UnionSafe141, a safety program that began at PHL airport and has expanded to more than a dozen major airports around the nation. The UnionSafe141 program is carried out by fleet service workers at American. More information about the program can be found at UnionSafe141.org.
The report meticulously logged and tracked more than 15 thousand safety issues over the past year, including broken and worn-out airport equipment, injuries and other mishaps.
“I want to reassure members of the flying public; we take their safety seriously out here,” Spencer said. “Let’s be clear; we are in an era of aviation safety that’s equal to none. Our fleet service agents are some of the most capable airplane inspectors on the planet. We have a great record, and we’re committed to maintaining the high standards that we’ve set for ourselves.”
“What this incident shows is that everyone that works directly on these planes should be well-trained and committed. These jobs cannot be safely outsourced, as executives want to do.” Spencer said. “Usually, we work well with management when it comes to safety, that’s a source of pride for us. We put any adversarial relationships between our union and management aside in the name of keeping this airline safe. That’s a big part of why we’ve been as successful as we have been in terms of protecting safety. But, when managers start trying to force us to cut corners… that’s when we need to have some uncomfortable conversations.”
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ASSOCIATION NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
Brothers and Sisters,
If American Airlines wants to throw down their version of facts from two people who have never participated in a negotiating session, that’s their prerogative, we’ll throw down the real facts from those who were actually there.
Fact: The Mediators assigned by the NMB were informed by the lead Company negotiator that he was not permitted to reach any agreement on the most important outstanding issues. In an attempt to break the logjam, the Mediators made an attempt to involve higher ranking Company executives to meet with our Executive negotiating team, including the Association Director and Vice Director. The Association offered to meet where the Director and Vice Director could attend, in Chicago, IL. The Company Executives elected not to travel the next day to meet but have agreed to meet on an alternate future date. Instead of returning to the table to seriously negotiate, the Company negotiators and the Mediators wasted a day going to meet with AA Executives, anyway. Remember, the Company can talk to themselves anytime – they don’t need to waste valuable negotiating time in non-productive, one-sided meetings among themselves.
Fact: The Company lead negotiator made it very clear on Tuesday, March 19, in front of the mediators, that AA refuses to bargain further unless the Association made concessions on healthcare and Scope provisions in all contracts. The Association made it clear that we were willing to negotiate on every aspect of the contract, but we were not going to negotiate concessions on healthcare, Scope, retirement and other areas that are LESS THAN WHAT WE ARE STARTING WITH – WHAT WE HAVE TODAY!
Fact: The Company’s communication, actually signed by senior vice presidents, flatly distorts the proposals made by their negotiators and the positions of the Association negotiators. They are either lying or they are totally ignorant of what is going on at the bargaining table.
Fact: The Association is not divided – there are no IAM proposals and there are no TWU proposals. All of our positions are to benefit all Association represented members and to achieve the best contracts in the industry. We intend to achieve this without bowing to AA’s bargaining threats to extremely diminish our livelihoods.
Fact: Every Association represented member has sacrificed through concessions and bankruptcies. We paid the price to save our companies and create the environment for the merger that formed the largest airline in the world. We will not sell out, we will not concede more. It is time for every Association represented member to make American Airlines understand that they must get serious at the table to finish these negotiations. The Company must hear from you that their miscommunication garbage will not work.
Fact: If American were to have offered to “Guarantee” 15 mechanics per aircraft, into the future, we would sign that scope proposal tomorrow. With 962 aircraft, that would equal 14,540 mechanics. American has never “guaranteed the Association headcount in the future.” It is absolutely clear that AA is attempting to outsource huge swaths of our current scope, including offshoring maintenance work to foreign soil.
Fact: The NMB had ex-parte negotiations with American Airlines senior leadership and four members of senior management had agreed to, on less than 24 hours-notice, “make themselves available for two hours to meet with us, from 8am to 10am, Wednesday morning.” We did not believe 2 hours was enough time and offered to meet all day in Chicago. The Company proved they’re not interested in serious bargaining because they rejected that offer! The next morning, the mediators again met with senior AA leadership, and their negotiating team at Headquarters until 1 pm, which seemed odd since the Senior leadership could “only make themselves available for two hours for the Association Leadership.” More evidence of the company’s deceitfulness.
We have now agreed to meet with the Company on April 3 in Washington, DC at a neutral location, in order to close out the agreement.
Fact: Jerry Glass made it very clear on Tuesday, March 19 in front of the mediators, that he had no room to move unless the Association made concessions on the Company’s medical proposal. The Association’s Committee made it clear that we were willing to negotiate on every aspect of the contract, but we were not going to negotiate against ourselves by making concessions on our medical proposal unless the Company agreed to move off their “take it or leave it” demand on our “Health & Welfare proposal” that goes well beyond the medical plan.
Fact: On the morning of Thursday, March 21 the Company explained that they may have something they can do regarding the “Health & Welfare” proposal but they would not know for a while if they would be able to do it. We agreed that we would be interested in fully understanding their “proposed concept” on a piece of the Health & Welfare proposal, but this was only a piece of the puzzle and they still needed to respond with the rest.
Fact: Our proposal is that all “Association Members” receive full retro, from the Company back to the amendable date.
To summarize, our position is based on sound logic that this membership has sacrificed in bankruptcy to save our work, pay for what we have and create the environment for USAir and American to merge into the largest airline in the world. There is absolutely no reason to give up any more! There is no basis for the Company to demand more in concessions because American is reaping record profits.
Let’s not forget that Doug Parker said, “We’re never going to lose money again.” Is this another play on words, and Doug actually meant the “We” as in only him and his leadership team? While negotiations are about give and take, American thinks they can fool us with hourly pay offers while they take everything else that matters. They call it the “Best Contract in The Industry?” Not by a long shot with their take-it-or-leave-it proposals.
The truth is AA is hell-bent on capturing massive concessions for each and every station and workgroup, leaving us with far less in real compensation and loss of security for the far fewer remaining jobs. Their promise of “you will have a job” doesn’t come with any promise of keeping the work you do, replacing workers as they leave the workforce or advancing our seniority for shift, day off improvement or choice of other work as those workers leave the seniority list. What it does come with is a guarantee that your seniority will mean less in the future than it ever has in the past.
There are only three scheduled days of negotiations left with no additional dates scheduled by the mediators. Those dates are April 23-25 in Fort Lauderdale. It appears that we are headed for a very long and hot summer, remaining behind our peers in the industry.
Fraternally,
Your Association Negotiating Committees
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Knowledge is Power
Educators from District 141 held a Shop Steward training session for members of Local 2319 in Tampa, Florida this week. District 141 AGCs Robert Jesel and Tony Gibson joined educators Vinny Capitani, Andrea Myers, Deena Pena and Education Director Mac McGovern. Click on the video for TPA Remote Reservations Shop Steward Marcy Jones’ views on how the training provided building blocks to increase our power in the union.
ASSOCIATION NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
Brothers and Sisters,
This week, American Airlines not only continued to slow roll negotiations, THEY ACTUALLY JUST STOPPED. American’s arrogance and obstinance at the table is a tell-tale sign of their mistaken belief that this membership is okay with them forcing massive concessions on us in Scope and several other Articles. Without Scope, all else in the CBA is of little consolation because our quality of life is further and forever diminished. Their reluctance to move beyond their current table position that eliminates thousands of more jobs, by obliterating our members’ ranks, is directly correlated to this flawed belief that each of us is okay with letting American’s Leadership Team stuff hundreds of millions of dollars into their pockets at our expense.
This week it was made clear that American’s Negotiating Committee has been neutered and powerless in their ability to negotiate anything that is open. In fact, they had to take the entire Wednesday morning to go to headquarters and ask the top executives for permission to negotiate. It was clear they were denied permission since the only answer to any discussion was “NO.” Neutered might even be to weak a word to describe their lethargic and disrespectful demeanor.
The Association and American’s positions on the big issues that remain open are below:
| Article | Association’s Proposal | American’s Demand | American’s Answer This Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope | Preserve the work we do today with minimum headcounts and grow as the company grows | Reduce the number of jobs on the seniority list by thousands and thousands | Not open for discussion. Our position is our position |
| Wages | The best overall pay in the industry and guarantee industry- leading profit sharing
Annual industry wage comparator reset |
Delta plus 3% and keep current AA (1.4%) profit sharing
No annual industry wage comparison reset. |
Not open for discussion. Our position is our position
Not open for discussion. Our position is our position |
| Pension | Maintain the defined benefit pension plan, plus additional in 401(k) to be the best retirement in the industry. All paid by the company. | Abolish the defined benefit pension plan. Replace with 5% defined contribution plan with a 4% match | American isn’t sure what they want to do. Our position is our position |
| Medical Benefits | Maintain superior LUS medical plans with existing cost caps as added options for all Association members | Eliminate all LUS medical plans and restrict choice to the inferior LAA plan at uncapped cost | Not open for discussion. Our position is our position |
| Retiree Medical | A bridge for retirement utilizing accrued sick time and other retiree insurance benefits | Eliminate bridge to retire medical for all members and retirees left to fend for themselves | Not open for discussion. Our position is our position |
To summarize, our position is based on sound logic that this membership has sacrificed in bankruptcy to save our work, pay for what we have and create the environment for USAir and American to merge into the largest airline in the World. There is absolutely no reason to give up any more! There is no basis for the Company to demand more in concessions because American is reaping record profits.
Let’s not forget that Doug Parker said, “We’re never going to lose money again.” Is this another play on words, and Doug actually meant the “We,” as in only him and his leadership team? While negotiations are about give and take, American thinks they can fool us with hourly pay offers while they take everything else that matters. They call it the “Best Contract in The Industry?” Not by a long shot with their take-it-or-leave-it proposals.
The truth is American is hell-bent on capturing massive concessions for each and every station and workgroup, leaving us with far less in real compensation and loss of security for the far fewer remaining jobs. Their promise of “you will have a job” doesn’t come with any promise of keeping the work you do, replacing workers as they leave the workforce or advancing our seniority for shift, day off improvement or choice of other work as those workers leave the seniority list. What it does come with is a guarantee that your seniority will mean less in the future than it ever has in the past.
There are only three scheduled days of negotiations left with no additional dates scheduled by the mediators. Those dates are April 23rd – 25th in Fort Lauderdale. It appears that we are headed for a very long and hot summer, remaining behind our peers in the industry.
Fraternally,
Your Association Negotiating Committees
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