Oct 16, 2018 | Airlines, American, Home, The Association
Brothers and Sisters,
The two mediators assigned to our negotiations have notified the TWU-IAM Association and the Company that three bargaining dates have been scheduled: October 30, January 29-31 and February 12-14. While the Association welcomes the opportunity to negotiate during these dates, these three sessions are simply not enough.
We demand and challenge the Company to come out of hiding and schedule more dates in the interim.
The Company’s blatant delay tactics and an overall lack of respect for the negotiating process have only accomplished one thing; the failure to achieve a fair and equitable contract that our members deserve.
We encourage all Association members to voice your displeasure to the Company. Make it clear to them that by dragging their feet they are disrespecting you and your right to the contract you deserve.
Fraternally,
Your Association Executive Negotiating Committee
Sep 19, 2018 | Airlines, American, Featured, Home, The Association
Brothers and Sisters,
The TWU-IAM Association was notified this week that the National Mediation Board has assigned two mediators to our negotiations. The mediators have indicated that, due to Federal budget concerns and scheduling, they will not schedule mediated negotiating sessions until after October.
The Association has demanded to meet with American with or without the mediators and as soon as possible. American has refused to meet. All indications are that American wants to drag our negotiations out as long as possible.
While mediators can and do schedule negotiating sessions, the parties can meet and reach agreements anytime with or without the mediator in attendance. American Airlines has begun to stall our negotiations now that it is time to deal with the toughest issues before us: scope, retirement, healthcare and compensation.
To American, we say we will meet any time with or without mediators present. Negotiations are just that, negotiations. Waiting for a mediator or dragging your feet does not change the issues necessary to get a deal done. It’s time to get back to the table!
Fraternally,
Your Association Executive Negotiating Committee
Sep 13, 2018 | Airlines, American, Departments, Featured, Home, Organizing, The Association
Many of you have read the Special Jetwire issued by American Airlines regarding our negotiations. If you don’t read anything else in this bulletin, read this:
Beware of any negotiations propaganda issued by the Company. It contains partial examples, misleading statements and outright wrong information.
It is true that your negotiating team has reached tentative agreements on many good improvements for our joint collective bargaining agreements. However, American has not just given those out of the kindness of their heart – they were hard won by the tenacity of your negotiators and, most importantly, you deserve them!
American paints the picture that all you will ever need is right there in their proposal just for the taking. What they don’t tell you is that you would have to agree to concede vast amounts of work you are doing today. You would give up the better and less costly healthcare options ALREADY WON AND PAID FOR through bankruptcy. You would suffer less in retirement value that already exists in our Association and you would have to take less than other American Airlines employee groups. And, you would have to agree to wages that can fall below industry standards during the life of the agreement.
Things American will not tell you is that they demand to allow unlimited fleet work performed today to shift to vendors. They want you to concede scheduled line maintenance work by almost doubling the amount of that work performed outside of the United States from what is done today. They want overhaul maintenance to concede over 2,200 jobs during the life of the agreement. And, they want to shrink the facilities maintenance work to a mere skeleton of what the Association performs today.
Sisters and Brothers, these are CONCESSIONS!
Our members invested in our airlines through our bankruptcy contributions. We are the reason these carriers and this management were able to merge American Airlines and US Airways into the biggest airline in the world. It is now a carrier that is more profitable than it has been in its entire combined past history. It is an airline predicted to never lose money again. We deserve to keep what we bring to the table today in the form of the work we do, the benefits we have and the security we need.
Our proposals seek to allow our membership to grow as the Company grows. We deserve to share in the prosperity we make. We deserve to be rewarded for our sacrifices. Our proposals are reasonable and don’t overreach.
To the contrary, American has chosen this time to be greedy and demand that we continue to give back. They believe they can bribe us into concessions we would have to live with for the rest of our careers.
To that we say, hell no!
One more thing – American can begin the early out today. There is no need to wait.
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Michael G. Klemm
President/Directing General Chair
District Lodge 141
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Dave Supplee
President/Directing General Chair
District Lodge 142
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Sep 12, 2018 | Airlines, American, Featured, Home, The Association
Brothers and Sisters,
Today, September 12, 2018, American Airlines delivered Section 6 notices for all open TWU-IAM Association collective bargaining agreements. Simply stated, a Section 6 notice officially opens contracts under the Railway Labor Act. The TWU-IAM Association welcomes this gesture by the Company as a sign they will now get serious about reaching the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreements our members deserve.
Included in the Company’s communication to the Association is a notice of their intent to file for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB). This move is also welcomed by the Association. The NMB has previously been involved in these negotiations with the attendance of a Board member serving as the mediator. The Association looks forward to a Board member returning to our negotiating table.
We truly hope this is a sign that the Company will get serious in addressing the necessary wage, scope, retirement and healthcare issues it will take to reach agreement. It is high-time the Company stop its concessionary demands and recognizes the sacrifices our members have made to allow American Airlines and US Airways to merge and create the largest airline in the world. Our position of achieving the protections, pay and benefits our members deserve will not be hindered by this process, it will be amplified by it.
The involvement of the NMB in our negotiations does not mean a third party has the right or the ability to impose terms of any kind nor can it make decisions on our contracts or force decisions upon us, it merely introduces a facililitator into the process. It also does another thing: it begins the formal Railway Labor Act process that can eventually lead to cooling-off periods and eventually self-help. If American Airlines refuses to respect our membership and fails to reach satisfactory settlements, the TWU-IAM Association will exercise every option under the Railway Labor Act up to and including self-help. For that reason, the Association will begin assembling strike committees in all American Airlines represented locations.
Fraternally,
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Alex Garcia
TWU International Executive Vice President
TWU/IAM Association Director
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Sito Pantoja
IAM General Vice President
TWU/IAM Association Vice Director
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Aug 30, 2018 | Airlines, American, Departments, Featured, Home, Organizing, The Association, Video
District 142 General Chair Sean Ryan and District 141 Assistant General Chair Mark Baskett discuss the ongoing contract negotiations to American Airlines membership.
Aug 24, 2018 | Airlines, American, Departments, Featured, Home, Organizing, The Association
Brothers and Sisters,
The Association Executive leadership met with American Airlines management this week to push through the tough Fleet Service Scope issues and proposals we have exchanged. Your committee was initially pleased when the Company’s Chief Negotiator offered to include protection for all of the fleet work currently performed at the 40 fleet service stations.
When the Association committee began to engage the offer, the Company negotiators abruptly reversed course, denied the offer they made and insisted that health care and wages be agreed to before they would agree to any further scope discussions.
This highly erratic behavior by senior level company negotiators is so unusual that it creates an aura of distrust over any of our ongoing negotiations. We are left to wonder what other issues the company may reverse course on.
While the company has publically dangled the carrot of more in wages and other vague benefits, in reality, none of what they say has been agreed to by them. It is the unequivocal position of the Association that the work we perform must be protected because the pay and benefit smoke and mirrors have no meaning without the job protection we need to guarantee our futures at American Airlines.
The truth of our current state of negotiations is that the Association is ready to discuss all of our outstanding Scope issues and proposals, but the Company negotiators refuse to proceed. They insist that work done TODAY, in every Association represented classification, should not be guaranteed in our contracts. Their position is that we should agree to concede work we do TODAY.
Our membership suffered the bankruptcies to pay for the survival of our airlines. We bring to the table the work we do today from those bankruptcy contracts. American Airlines, the largest airline in the world, is healthy and boasts that it will be profitable as far as anyone can see into the future. To demand that we concede work we do TODAY is nothing but an insult to every Association represented worker.
The time to fight for our jobs is now. Our futures depend on it.
Fraternally,
Your Association Executive Negotiating Committee
