May 21, 2020 | American, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Home, Organizing |
Honoring Agreements, Union Members at American Get Bonuses This Week
Bonuses budgeted before the coronavirus pandemic spread widely in the United States are scheduled to go out today and tomorrow to union members in fleet service and aircraft maintenance at American Airlines. (The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transport Workers Union represent workers at American in an alliance known as “The Association.”)
Qualifying fleet service workers will receive $3,000 signing bonus checks this week.
To qualify for the payments, every union member must have been an active employee at American as of March 26, 2020. Union members on certain types of company and military leave will get the money when they return to work.
The agreements also call for cash payouts because of improvements in vacation accruals, which will add thousands more in retroactive compensation for some members.
The money will be paid out like regular paychecks. Statements showing the deposits should be visible in bank statements starting today.
The bonuses are part of agreements between American Airlines executives and their unionized fleet service workers, which were ratified by over 90% of eligible voting members of the IAM and TWU Association on March 26th. In a joint statement released after the agreements were reached, Sito Pantoja, Association Chairman, and Alex Garcia, Vice Chairman said: “Together, after more than four years, the terms of these agreements are proof that we took the right path and achieved the best contracts in the airline industry.”
Mike Klemm, President and Directing General Chair of District 141 of the IAM said that given the current status of the airline industry and the bleak forecasts, union members at American would be well-served if they are cautious about how they use their bonus paychecks. Echoing statements he made in a letter to IAM members at United Airlines, Klemm noted that without a substantial increase in demand for air travel, “furloughs at every US-based airline at the end of September are almost certain.” He added: “I urge you to save as much of this earned bonus as you can, and spend some time in the next few months to prepare for the storms we see forming on the horizon. We can only hope it turns out to be rainy days and not a tsunami, but our union will be with you and will use every resource at our disposal to defend your rights and your livelihoods, just like we did when we reached these historic agreements with American Airlines.”
Employees of American Airlines may submit questions about this payment via the company’s Payroll Service Center, at psc@aa.com.
May 11, 2020 | COVID, Featured News, Front Page, Organizing, Row 2, United |
Mike Klemm, President and Directing General Chair of District 141 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, sits down with the Valley Labor Report to discuss labor issues in the airline industry.
Hosts David Story and Jacob Morrison asked Klemm to talk about how the union defeated an attempt by United Airlines executives to furlough and impose pay cuts and benefit reductions for 15,000 workers.
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ District 141 President Mike Klemm told VLR show hosts David Story and Jacob Morrison that protecting jobs from mass elimination was something that could only be done through mass action; individual workers would always be outspent by their corporations.
The Valley Labor Report is a weekly radio program airing Saturday mornings on 92.5 WVNN based in Athens, Alabama. Listeners can tune in live at WVNN.com and on YouTube.
The full broadcast with IAMAW District 141 President Mike Klemm is available here.
May 8, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Front Page, Hawaiian, Home, Home, Organizing, Uncategorized |
May 8, 2020
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
We hope this communication finds you safe and healthy. As you are aware, we entered into Limited Issue/Expedited Negotiations with Hawaiian Airlines in the month of February. The majority of the Negotiating sessions were spent on sharing the proposals of both sides. We spent time explaining your proposals and listening to the Company proposals so that we had a very good understanding of the intention/purpose of the Company proposals. We were able to make some progress and felt that we were on our way to reaching a good Agreement on your behalf. The plan was to meet most of the month of April in hopes of reaching that Agreement. Unfortunately, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, we were not able to meet to further the discussions.
On Monday, May 4, We held a conference call with the Company to discuss resuming Negotiations. We made it very clear that our position remains unchanged. We must reach an agreement that rewards our Members at HA fairly for their hard work and sacrifices. We believe that HA will survive the current state of the Airline Industry and will return to profitability. Today’s hard work and sacrifice will make that possible. You deserve to be recognized for that moving in to the future. That recognition comes from a good Contract. An agreement was made to extend the timeframe for the Expedited Negotiations.
The plan for Negotiations will be to resume meeting with the Company as soon as the quarantine order is lifted by the State of Hawaii. We hope that happens sometime in June. Our position will be to pick up where we left off in March.
In closing, thank you for all you do. It is with your support and solidarity that your Negotiating Committee will be able to secure a good contract on your behalf.
President and Directing General Chair, District 141, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
President and Directing General Chair, District 142, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
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May 8, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Front Page, Home, Home, Organizing, United |
May 5, 2020
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We hope you share our outrage that United Airlines, a few short days after accepting $5 billion of taxpayer dollars which it committed to use to allow it to continue to pay its employees their wages until the end of September, has quickly broken that promise. Having pocketed the money, United has turned around and told over 15,000 full-time employees that their wages will be drastically reduced as they will be allowed to work only on a part-time basis. In addition to drastically cutting the wages of these workers, United’s decision would also be a major cut in employees’ sick leave, vacation and retirement benefits. These actions are a direct violation of the obligations it undertook when it received federal relief through the CARES Act and reflect a stunning breach of trust. We urge you to use your full authority to intervene and order United to rescind its decision to take away full employment for its employees.
United’s action threatens to undermine the principal goal of the CARES Act, which was to protect employee wages in this crisis. If left standing, United’s attack on its employees will send a clear message to other carriers that they too can ignore their worker retention obligations with impunity. The tens of thousands of employees that the CARES Act was intended to protect will be left out in the cold while companies take the money and run.
We are not alone in our outrage over United’s handling of this matter. In a letter to United, Senator Josh Hawley stated:
During such a severe economic crisis, it is critical that our own corporations act as responsible stewards over their respective workforces. Decisions by major employers like United Airlines can reverberate widely across the labor market, affecting communities and working families alike. The taxpayers of this country have offered a generous bailout to your company and you should, in turn, honor this trust by keeping the promises you made to those you employ.
With over 30 million Americans out of work, now is not the time for unscrupulous companies to undermine the clear intent of the federal relief effort aimed at worker retention. Is it too much to ask corporations like United to honor their commitments under the CARES Act? We respectfully request that you intervene immediately and order United to honor its commitments to the United States and to its employees and continue to pay its employees the wages that federal funding has secured.
Sincerely
Robert G. Martinez Jr.
International President,
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
Richard L. Trumka
President,
AFL-CIO IAMAW
cc: Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
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May 1, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Front Page, Home, Home, Organizing, Uncategorized |
May 1, 2020
Good morning to all of our DL 141 Brothers and Sisters, but this memo is specific to our United members who fall under the PSE and Fleet agreements at United Airlines.
I’m sure the anxiety and frustration of rumors circulating around the workplace and social media are taking its toll on you all, and for that I’m sorry. I wish I could make them all go away right now but the truth of the matter is this: only United Airlines can do that today and unfortunately, only a return of the flying public can do that past September 30, 2020.
As communicated last week, United Airlines has advised us they are looking to reduce all employees who work under the Passenger Service (including Reservations) and Fleet agreements to part-time to save money. Money for a Company that has over $10 billion on hand today, that will have between $8 and $10 billion at the end of June and between $4 and $6 billion at the end of September.
Regardless, no Company can survive long-term with passenger loads the way they are at United today.
We have suggested many cost savings ideas for the Company. Some of those are;
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Allow 12-month COLAS that continue to pay employees 25% of their salary.
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Offer the medical bridge to employees between the ages of 55-65. (It’s important to note that we have over 10,000 members under these two contracts who are 55 or older.)
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Allow employees to defer 25-50% of their salary until the first quarter of 2021.
We’ve suggested incentivizing these voluntary programs by offering United club passes and Positive Space travel which would cost the Company nothing.
Additionally, we have put forward several smaller, but critical proposals that can produce the level of savings that United needs if we can attract enough participation from our members.
More than 25% of employees have taken 3 to 6-month COLAs already. The company does not want to count these sacrifices alongside the other cost-cutting efforts that have been made to date.
As of this communication, the company has declined these suggestions without so much as an explanation. They have told us they would be making a decision on many of these matters as early as today.
If the Company were to furlough all full-time employees to part-time they would still be required to follow key contractual rules. For example, they will need to notify everyone no later than Monday, May 4th to meet their May 24th target date to adhere to the contractually-required 20-day language.
They have also told us they plan to go down to 22 hours. We expressed that a 45% pay cut, or any pay cut for that matter, is unacceptable under the CARES act and even though we don’t and won’t agree to any pay cuts, they should at least give everyone 30 hours a week.
Times are tough. It’s easy to be an employee-friendly company when you’re making billions on top of billions of dollars (which again, they still have). However, it’s times like this, when everyone is scared for their livelihood, their safety, and our industry as a whole that United could show true CORE4 leadership.
As our Country salutes its essential workers is this really how United wants to treat theirs?
Mike Klemm
President and Directing General Chair,
District 141, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
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Apr 15, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Front Page, Home, Home, Organizing, Safety, Safety, United |
District 141 has just been informed that United Airlines, in an effort to reduce the risk of possible transmission of any virus to our agents who interact with customers, will be installing personal barriers made of Plexiglas in the areas where our agents are most vulnerable.
The following test locations have been chosen based on flight schedule: IAD, ORD, SFO, LAX, DFW, PDX, and MCO. Twenty (20) podium guards and two (2) gate reader guards will be overnighted to each location and installed tomorrow. DEN will have its guards in place today, as they don’t need to be shipped.
Once in place, the company will immediately look for feedback on the effectiveness of the guards. When a decision is reached the company will start ordering the guards for all remaining stations. They will advise us of the rollout schedule as the guards are being manufactured. The company said they would like a test phase that enables them to get good feedback while still being able to expedite the process of installation.
The company has begun temperature checks for employees prior to starting their shift. EWR, LGA, MSY, IAH and SFO Base have started. Other locations will be coming online as they get the procedures and staff in place to ensure everyone’s safety. You will be receiving information from your specific locations station leadership prior to it being implemented. When the District is informed of stations beginning more checks we will post it.
