Mike Klemm, District 141 President, on NBC Nightly News Discussing Vaccine Mandates

Mike Klemm, District 141 President, on NBC Nightly News Discussing Vaccine Mandates

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IAMAW District President and Directing General Chair, Mike Klemm was among those calling for United to use incentive programs before terminations at United.

Mike Klemm, District 141 President, on NBC Nightly News Discussing Vaccine Mandates

IAMAW District 141 President Mike Klemm was among those interviewed in the aftermath of United Airlines’ decision to fire nearly 600 employees who refused to get vaccinated and did not obtain a religious or medical exemption. 

Unions around the nation are facing vaccine mandates, including professional athletes, actors, Flight Attendants, Pilots, and others. To date, no unions, lawmakers, government officials, or organizations have successfully prevented employer vaccine mandates.

The position of the IAMAW District 141 is that employer vaccine mandates are unnecessarily provocative and divisive. They should not be used until an honest, good-faith effort to employee incentive programs has been tried first. IAMAW District 141 is planning to use the Grievance process to defend the contractual rights of any workers who lose their jobs as a result of vaccine mandates.

DOT Fines United Airlines $1.9 M for Holding Passengers on Tarmac Too Long

DOT Fines United Airlines $1.9 M for Holding Passengers on Tarmac Too Long

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DOT Fines United Airlines $1.9 M for Holding Passengers on Tarmac Too Long

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From DOT.gov

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today fined United Airlines $1.9 million for violating federal statutes and the Department’s rule prohibiting long tarmac delays.  The airline was also ordered to cease and desist from future similar violations.  This is the largest fine issued by the Department for tarmac delay violations.  

An extensive investigation by the Department’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) found that between December 2015 and February 2021, United allowed twenty domestic flights and five international flights at various airports throughout the United States to remain on the tarmac for a lengthy period of time without providing passengers an opportunity to deplane, in violation of the Department’s tarmac delay rule.  The tarmac delays affected a total of 3,218 passengers.

Under the DOT tarmac delay rule, airlines operating aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats are prohibited from allowing their domestic flights to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours at U.S. airports and their international flights to remain on the tarmac for more than four hours at U.S. airports without giving passengers an opportunity to leave the plane.  The rule prohibiting long tarmac delays for domestic flights took effect 2010 and was expanded to include international flights in 2011.  An exception exists for departure delays if the airline begins to return the aircraft to a suitable disembarkation point in order to deplane passengers by those times.  An exception to the time limit is also allowed for safety, security, or air traffic control-related reasons.  The rule also requires airlines to provide adequate food and water, ensure that lavatories are working and, if necessary, provide medical attention to passengers during long tarmac delays.

DOT’s aviation consumer protection website makes it easy for travelers to understand their rights.  The page on tarmac delays can be found here.  Consumers may file an airline complaint with the Department here.

The consent order is available at https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/united-airlines-consent-order-2021-9-21

United Delays Action Against Employees With Medical or Religious Exemptions

United Delays Action Against Employees With Medical or Religious Exemptions

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United Delays Action Against Employees With Medical or Religious Exemptions

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Facing a lawsuit filed by six United Airlines employees, the carrier has announced that it will postpone the decision to place those with medical or religious exemptions on unpaid leave until October 15. Employees who were denied an exemption have been given individual vaccination timelines from the company, which have not changed. Those who never placed a request for reasonable accommodation must have proof of first vaccination by today, September 27.

The lawsuit is not challenging the vaccine mandate at the airline and is not seeking to delay or stop the requirements that all 67,000 employees at the airline must be vaccinated by today. Instead, the lawsuit asks a Texas court to force the company to revise its “Reasonable Accomodation” policy for those who qualify for medical or religious exemptions. According to the complaint, the existing reasonable accommodation policy discriminates against specific disabilities or religious beliefs. If successful, the lawsuit will require United to allow unvaccinated employees with a medical or religious exemption to remain on the clock and submit to regular testing and masking rules instead of unpaid time off.

However, federal law also allows a company to deny a request for accommodation if doing so would impose an “undue hardship” for the employer. United argues that allowing unvaccinated employees to spread the deadly COVID-19 virus at work represents an undue burden to the airline. Therefore unvaccinated employees must be separated from the rest of the workforce.

“Given our focus on safety and the steep increases in COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths, all employees whose request is approved will be placed on temporary, unpaid personal leave on October 2 while specific safety measures for unvaccinated employees are instituted,” United said in a September memo to employees. “Given the dire statistics…we can no longer allow unvaccinated people back into the workplace until we better understand how they might interact with our customers and their vaccinated co-workers.”

According to the complaint, the airline violates Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act by denying pay to unvaccinated employees who are not permitted to enter the workplace.

The lawsuit states that “United’s actions have left Plaintiffs with the impossible choice of either taking the COVID-19 vaccine, at the expense of their religious beliefs and their health, or losing their livelihoods.” It goes on to argue that, “In doing so, United has violated Title VII and the ADA by failing to engage in the interactive process and provide reasonable accommodations, and also by retaliating against employees who engaged in protected activity.”

One of the plaintiffs, Debra Jennefer Thal Jonas, who works as a Customer Service Representative at the United Club at DFW airport, has requested both religious and medical exemptions from the vaccine policy. Ms. Thal was granted a medical exemption but has joined the lawsuit because United did not provide her a way to file a second request on religious grounds.

Another plaintiff, Flight Attendant Genise Kincannon, was granted a religious exemption but is joining the suit because she feels that unpaid leave is unreasonable and a violation of her rights under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act.

The union representing flight attendants at United, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), has said that it will not assist members that apply for vaccine exemptions, saying that the process should be a “private matter.”

At a time when mixed messaging can have devastating results, United has struggled to find a consistent narrative on the subject. In January, United CEO Scott Kirby said United could not realistically mandate vaccinations unless other airlines and companies do the same and require their employees to take them as well. By this summer, Kirby had changed course and implemented the most sweeping vaccination requirements of any of the Big Three carriers at the time. United Ground Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Airlines, first told employees that there were no plans to require vaccinations, then changed course less than a month later. United first told employees that they would have to be “fully vaccinated” by September 27. The company is now telling employees that they only need the first shot by that date.

The position of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union is that vaccine mandates are unnecessarily controversial and should not be used until a good faith effort to employ incentives has been tried first. Throughout this process, United Airlines has failed to provide clear communications and a consistent policy towards vaccinations.

“The IAM will pursue any grievance where our members were wrongfully denied an exemption and then terminated,” IAMAW District President Mike Klemm said in a September 3 statement. “Let me be abundantly clear. Your IAM attorneys have advised us that the company is within its legal rights to mandate the vaccine as a condition of employment so any grievance would be an uphill battle. Morally it’s deplorable, but welcome to Kirby Airlines.”

IAMAW International President Robert Martinez has also demanded that any vaccine mandates be part of the bargaining process. “The IAM will work to enforce the legal obligation of employers to bargain with unions over effects that implementation will have on union-represented employees,” said Martinez. “Rest assured, the IAM will, as always, continue to vigorously protect our members’ rights.”

All major airlines in the United States have announced plans to implement vaccine requirements, including American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, Hawaiian, Frontier, JetBlue, and United. In September, OSHA began drafting policies that will require all US-based employers with more than 100 workers to require vaccinations protecting against COVID-19 or allow weekly testing.

United Airlines September 27 Ultimatum: Union Guidance

United Airlines September 27 Ultimatum: Union Guidance

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United Airlines September 27 Ultimatum: Union Guidance 

As you are aware, United Airlines’ deadline of September 27, 2021, to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or face separation from the Carrier is fast approaching. We know that many of you have applied for religious or medical exemptions and have received notice if it has been accepted or rejected. The following concerns the next steps available for those who had their exemption request denied as well as those who were approved for an accommodation which they find to be unacceptable.

As the District Lodge 141 leadership has stated before, and bears repeating, we encourage members to get vaccinated as long as doing so is safe for each individual, but we do not believe United should accomplish vaccinations through a mandate under threat of termination. Nonetheless, the IAM’s attorneys have advised us that the Carrier is within its legal rights to mandate the vaccine as a condition of employment.

For those employees who have been approved for a religious or medical accommodation, we have recently learned more details about the “accommodation” United intends to put in place. We had hoped that once those employees who applied were approved, that we could move forward from this matter, but unfortunately it now appears that United’s “approval for an accommodation” places many employees in an untenable situation.

As has likely become clear to many of you who have been approved for an accommodation, United is imposing involuntary unpaid leave effective October 2, 2021. According to United, its reason for removing non-vaccinated employees from the workplace is because it cannot in “good conscience” allow them to continue to report to work and may require significant time to put safety protocols in place before they can be recalled. United has thus announced that:

      • Effective October 2nd, employees approved for a religious accommodation will be placed on unpaid personal leave, and employees approved for a medical accommodation will begin using their sick leave bank and then transition to EIS.

      • Employees on personal leave (i.e., with a religious accommodation) face the additional hardships that medical coverage does not continue during personal leave, and seniority will cease accruing after three months. 
      • The details of the conditions United is imposing on each group can be found on United’s HelpHub.

For those in customer-facing roles (Customer Service Representative), United has said that this involuntary leave will continue until the “the pandemic meaningfully recedes”, which essentially leaves it indefinite at this point. For non-customer facing roles (including Fleet Service and Storekeepers) this involuntary leave will continue until safety protocols are put in place and non-vaccinated employees are recalled; no date has been set for that return, although United promises an update by mid-October.

Being placed on what essentially amounts to indefinite unpaid leave is not really an accommodation at all and is likely not what anyone thought they were signing up for when they first applied for an accommodation. We have explored the legal options available to challenge this compelled unpaid leave and we want you to know the following.

If you wish to challenge the so-called accommodation which United has imposed (i.e., open-ended unpaid leave), you have the individual right to file a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). There are no fees or costs for filing an EEOC charge and hiring an attorney is not required. Filing an EEOC charge is a right available to each individual employee and the initial steps can be accomplished online. If you decide to file a Charge, here is what you will need to know and can expect:

        • The deadline for filing an EEOC charge is generally 300 days but is only 180 days in some states,  so if you decide to file, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible.  
        • Filing will require you to register an account with the EEOC’s website and provide an email address and other personal information. Do not use your United Airlines email address.  
        • The Charge is filed once the needed sections of the form are complete and you have signed and dated it. Make sure you receive and save a confirmation notice that it is filed and are assigned a  case number.  
        • The EEOC will notify United that you have filed a charge against it. The EEOC process is not  anonymous. However, federal law forbids United from retaliating against you for filing a Charge. 
        • After you have filed, an EEOC investigator will likely contact you for further information and may request to conduct an interview or request additional documents from you. You should cooperate with the EEOC investigator in a timely manner if you wish your case to be continued. You can request a  withdrawal at any time. 
        • Be advised, EEOC investigations often take many months and just because several weeks may
          pass without communication with the EEOC does not mean your case has been closed or denied. 

Instructions on the Charge filing process can be found at the following link:  

https://www.eeoc.gov/how-file-charge-employment-discrimination 

Charges can be filed online using the EEOC’s Public Portal: 

https://publicportal.eeoc.gov/Portal/Login.aspx 

The District Lodge will continue in its effort under the collective bargaining agreement and Railway Labor  Act to obtain fair and safe working conditions for all of our members and will keep you updated on those efforts.  

 

Sincerely,  

Michael G Klemm 
President/Directing General Chairman 
IAM District Lodge 141

 

Recording Secretaries: Please print and post on all IAMAW bulletin boards.

United Airlines September 27 Ultimatum: Union Guidance

UGE Changes Course

3 September, 2021

UGE Changes Course

Less than a week after announcing they would not mandate employee vaccinations, United Ground Express (UGE) has changed its mind and demanded that all UGE workers would need to be vaccinated to maintain employment. UGE workers who have a medical condition or religious beliefs that prevent them from receiving a vaccine can be exempted if all necessary paperwork is submitted. 

This is quite ironic since United Airlines repeatedly states they have no control over what UGE does. I guess Scott Kirby didn’t think his marketing idea of branding United as the safest airline to fly because their employees are vaccinated all the way through. 

This is not about safety. If Kirby cared about OUR safety, he would require all customers to upload their vaccination cards before purchasing a ticket. Does anyone think that would ever happen? Me either. 

I want to be clear. I’m vaccinated. The entire District Lodge 141 Executive Board, and all our staff are vaccinated. There was no mandate. We individually and collectively believe it is the best decision for our families and the IAM members we interact with daily. We also believe that each person should be free to make their own medical decisions regarding what we put in our bodies. A corporation should not make this decision. I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t want to get vaccinated. I simply ask you to consult with your doctor before you make the decision not to get vaccinated. As you know, United Airlines management has threatened to terminate any United Airlines employees who do not get vaccinated. 

The IAM will pursue any grievance where our members were wrongfully denied an exemption and then terminated. Let me be abundantly clear. Your IAM attorneys have advised us that the Company is within its legal rights to mandate the vaccine as a condition of  employment so any grievance would be an uphill battle. Morally it’s deplorable, but welcome to Kirby Airlines.

 

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

Airline Business Weaker Due to Delta Variant

Airline Business Weaker Due to Delta Variant

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Airline Business Weaker Due to Delta Variant

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While summer traffic has been promising, there are troubling signs that the profit season for airlines may have peaked early – due to the continuing Pandemic.

TSA bookings year over year show positive growth throughout commercial aviation. Compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic began to ravage airlines, today’s air traffic is 80% of what it historically should be for August. 

However, it may be too early to declare the pandemic behind us. With the Delta variant clogging hospitals with unvaccinated Americans, airline travel is showing severe signs of weakening. For the third straight week, airline bookings are down and far weaker than in 2019. System bookings are currently 53.8% lower than 2019 levels. That could show that the most profitable quarter for airlines may be shorter this year than the historical average. If the trend continues, many airlines will not have enough summer profits to get them through the rest of 2021 as they might have wanted. 

The cause of the general malaise within airlines can be attributed to the continued COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lucrative business and international travel is down at all airlines and show few signs of a quick comeback. Popular destinations for American air travelers, including France, remain on the CDC’s “Do Not Travel” list. Hawaii is restarting restrictions on travel to the islands, including group sizes. Several other resort destinations are asking visitors to leave as soon as possible, while others extend border closures. All of which are challenges that airlines do not need right now. 

Southwest attributed a general slowdown “close-in reservations” for August to the Delta Variant in an SEC filing last week. Delta, Hawaiian, Air Canada, United, and Frontier have imposed some vaccine requirements for employees. 

recent study of air travelers conducted by Longwoods International is not helping relieve fears of long-term, pandemic-related slowdowns for air travel. According to the research, a shocking 67% of communities want to shut their doors to tourists and their money. This number is high and growing; two months ago, it was at 47%, an already incomprehensibly high figure for areas dependent on tourist revenue. The study also found other indicators that COVID-19 concerns are a serious threat to aviation. 

30% of respondents reported that they would rather drive instead of fly to their next travel destination, with 25% choosing domestic rather than international travel. The number that said COVID-19 concerns would “greatly” impact their travel decisions over the next six months was a staggering 34%. 

If all these indications of weakening air travel demand are accurate, airlines may have hit the high point of their profit season.