Machinists Union Members Ratify Five Contracts with United Airlines

Sisters and Brothers, this evening approximately 29,000 District Lodge 141 members at United Airlines overwhelmingly ratified five contracts in the Fleet Service, Passenger Service, Storekeeper, Maintenance Instructor, and Fleet Technical Instructor and Related classifications. Unfortunately, the 73 Central Load Planners and 45 Security Officers did not ratify and will now proceed to Section 6 Negotiations.

These five contracts will provide industry-best wage rates at every step of the respective pay scales in each agreement, insource five previously outsourced locations, MIA, COS (ATW and BTW), ATL, RDU and SLC (BTW) and bring the 17 locations currently covered by LOA 9 into the scope of the agreement with no expiration date. We also were able to increase lead and specialty premiums, limit part-time usage, extend system no lay-off protection to tens of thousands of IAM members and obtain a ratification payment.

The ratified two-year agreements also allow us to start Section 6 negotiations in 12 months, one year before the amendable date of the agreements. Early next year, we will begin the collective bargaining process, with a survey and an official call for proposals. We will then appoint a screening committee to determine membership priorities and begin negotiations.

I’d like to thank every District Lodge 141 member who participated in the ratification vote to not only improve their lives, but also the lives of thousands of other airline workers in like classes and crafts. District Lodge 141 members have once again set the bar in the airline industry by demonstrating their solidarity and demanding justice on the job.

I’d also like to thank every member of the negotiating committee for their diligence in negotiating these contracts for our members; Olu Ajetomobi, Joe Bartz, Victor Hernandez, Barb Martin, Andrea’ Myers, Terry Stansbury, Faysal Silwany, Erik Stenberg, and Sue Weisner.

I want every IAM member to know that your committee represented your interests with the greatest of care, attention, and detail. I also want to thank Air Transport General Vice President Richie Johnsen and his staff for their support and counsel. These agreements would not have been possible without the support and resources of the Grand Lodge.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the United Airlines management negotiators who were respectful to our negotiators and were always willing to keep the dialogue going. While we had many disagreements across the table, United management negotiators recognized that United workers are an asset to be invested in, not a liability to be minimized. For that, they deserve credit.

In Solidarity,

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

Town Hall Meetings on the Cusp of a Historic

Contract Ratification at United

A gathering of Machinists Union Members filed into a Town Hall Meeting to discuss seven new contractual agreements with United Airlines. 

At more than 50 airports around the nation, Machinists Union members have been gathering in airport Ready Rooms, Local Lodges, and other locations to discuss the ratification of seven new agreements that will cover about 30,000 employees at the carrier. 

The Agreements will add new wage scales that will make it easier for United to attract new hires and increase the number of Lead agents. They will also introduce new language to protect agents at 17 stations that might have otherwise been subject to outsourcing. 

Following the return of air travel after the pandemic, United has repeatedly been forced to resort to huge bonuses to draw in workers interested in working for the airline. Stenberg told the assembly that United hoped higher starting wages would help reduce the need for large bonuses to attract new employees. 

The new agreements will also introduce minimum levels of full-time workers, a first for the airline. 

During the height of the pandemic, CEO Scott Kirby attempted to furlough thousands of employees to part-time status. “It’s important to remember that,” said Joe Bartz at the Chicago meeting. “We took him to court to stop that plan, and we protected full-time status for our members. But, if we hadn’t made him back down, there’s no guarantee that he wouldn’t have been able to legally do that,” he continued. 

“These new agreements will make sure that he can never try to do that again,” he said. 

While the new agreements protect full-time positions, Erik Stenberg stressed that no part-timers would be forced to go full-time. Stenberg, who led the meeting and is an Assistant General Chair, and Bartz, reassured part-timers that their status was also protected. 

Stenberg and Bartz were among the group of Union Negotiators who helped forge the new agreements. 

The Chicago meeting comes as the voting period for the Agreements is drawing to a close following a 7-day voting window. The Ratification Vote will end on May 1, with results expected to be announced within 24 hours, barring any unforeseen developments.

In the first quarter of 2023, United Airlines reported a pre-tax loss of $256 million. However, the company increased its total operating revenue by 51.1% compared to the same period in 2022 and its total revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) by 22.5%. The airline has also been increasing its capacity in recent months, with a 22.4% year-on-year increase in Q1 and an expected 18.5% increase in Q2 compared to Q2 2022.

According to Bartz, the Union and Company will return to full “Section 6” negotiations, where the two sides will litigate every word of all seven contracts. Typically, Union Negotiations in the Airline industry take anywhere from two to four years to complete. Any workgroups that vote down their agreement will have to wait until the Section 6 talks wrap up to lock in new wages and job protections. 

“For the first time ever, every single ramp and Customer service airport cannot be outsourced under any circumstances,” Bartz told the union members.

“You will be the highest paid in your work classification in the industry, Bartz told the group. “No matter what. We will get back to work, protect all our stations, and Kirby will never be able to cut us to part-time.”

“For the past five months, we’ve been laser focused on wages and job security,” he continued. “We were in a position where we had to go forward, and you guys are going to tell us how well we did.”

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