Airline Profits: Union Made

Airline Profits: Union Made

Oct 31, 2022 | Front Page, JetBlue, Organizing, Page Five, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2

Record summer airline profits are proof that workers are assets that should be invested in, not liabilities that should be limited.

Summer 2022 Airline Profits: Union Made

Organizing
31 October 2022

Unions create a workplace where workers take their jobs seriously, creating the foundations for long-term careerism at a company. In addition to being more productive, unions provide a better view of real-world working conditions, allowing their companies to make smarter decisions. Union workers provide more value, more stability, and higher profits.

Unions have been vilified by management executives for years. It’s nothing new. The standard narrative goes like this: “If a union comes in, we don’t know what will happen. Things could get worse. We know we have some problems. Give us a chance to fix them. A union is not the answer.”

Management couldn’t be more wrong because “the union” is JetBlue GO Crewmembers. It’s us, and we’re already there. All we need is the legal power by unionizing to make our jobs better through a legally enforceable contract.

Employees who unionize and gain the legal right to participate in how their companies are run do so with great success. 

The recent earnings reports of US airlines demonstrate this.

Turns out, unionized airlines are performing at the top of our industry. United Airlines earned just under $1 Billion during the summer, earning an astounding $2.81 per share. But United wasn’t alone in posting impressive profits. Alaska raked in a whopping $2.53 a share over the same period. American and Southwest reported earnings of $.69 and $.41 a share, respectively. 

Meanwhile, JetBlue management came home with a dismal $0.21 per share. The worst performing unionized carrier, Southwest, posted almost twice the earnings per share as JetBlue management did. 

Rigid, heavy-handed, top-down management doesn’t always make the best decisions at a company. As JetBlue’s earnings report proves. But a Unified workforce, with front-line workers able to contribute and add their input as critical decisions are made, is working – especially in commercial aviation. 

And, a big part of why that’s happening is precisely because front-line workers might know a thing or two about how best to do our jobs. Management should listen to us, not dictate to us.

Unions play a vital role in ensuring the financial success of airlines. By providing economic certainty, stability, and fairness, unions help airlines deal with the many different externalities that face the industry. Here’s a look at how unions add value to airlines.

Unions help airlines be financially successful by providing economic certainty.

When an airline has a strong union contract, it knows how much it will have to pay its employees each year. This predictability helps the airline budget more effectively long term and plan for the future. It also allows the airline to offer its employees competitive wages, benefits, and working conditions. This helps attract and retain the best talent. Non-union airlines, like JetBlue, are often plagued by high turnover which places a lot more stress on the existing workforce. This leads to OJIs, MSEs, outsourcing, and many other detrimental outcomes. 

Unions help airlines by providing stability.

A union contract is a legal agreement between an airline and its employees that outlines the terms of employment. This includes wages, hours, working conditions, and job security. Once a contract is in place, it can only be changed through negotiation between the airline and the workers themselves. This process helps ensure that the workplace is stable, which is essential for an industry constantly facing uncertainty.

Unions help airlines by providing fairness.

Union contracts often include provisions that protect employees from things like arbitrary and unjust discipline and termination, favoritism, discrimination, and sexual harassment. This helps create a fair and safe workplace, which is essential for attracting and retaining the best talent. It also helps protect employees from being taken advantage of by their employers.

Unions help airlines succeed financially by giving front-line workers a seat at the table.

The people who are going to make the best decisions about how to run an airline operation will always be the people who do the actual work. And, that would be JetBlue GO Crewmembers. It’s not that all company bigwigs are entirely clueless. But, company executives would benefit greatly from the operational knowledge of GO Crewmembers. Just think about safety and working conditions. Don’t you think that management would be better off because they HAD to listen to us and take our ideas into consideration when dealing with safety issues and improving working conditions?

Unions ensure that the people who know how the work is done can add their insights and offer real-world expertise as company decisions are made. Executives may know their thing, but Unions will better understand how to keep the workplace motivated, enabled, and productive.

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Summer Airline Profits: Union Made

31 October 2022

Record summer airline profits are proof that workers are assets that should be invested in, not liabilities that should be limited.

Unions create a workplace where workers take their jobs seriously, creating the foundations for long-term careerism at a company. In addition to being more productive, unions provide a better view of real-world working conditions, allowing their companies to make smarter decisions. Union workers provide more value, more stability, and higher profits.

Unions have been vilified by management executives for years. It’s nothing new. The standard narrative goes like this: “If a union comes in, we don’t know what will happen. Things could get worse. We know we have some problems. Give us a chance to fix them. A union is not the answer.”

Management couldn’t be more wrong because “the union” is JetBlue GO Crewmembers. It’s us, and we’re already there. All we need is the legal power by unionizing to make our jobs better through a legally enforceable contract.

Employees who unionize and gain the legal right to participate in how their companies are run do so with great success. 

The recent earnings reports of US airlines demonstrate this.

Turns out, unionized airlines are performing at the top of our industry. United Airlines earned just under $1 Billion during the summer, earning an astounding $2.81 per share. But United wasn’t alone in posting impressive profits. Alaska raked in a whopping $2.53 a share over the same period. American and Southwest reported earnings of $.69 and $.41 a share, respectively. 

Meanwhile, JetBlue management came home with a dismal $0.21 per share. The worst performing unionized carrier, Southwest, posted almost twice the earnings per share as JetBlue management did. 

Rigid, heavy-handed, top-down management doesn’t always make the best decisions at a company. As JetBlue’s earnings report proves. But a Unified workforce, with front-line workers able to contribute and add their input as critical decisions are made, is working – especially in commercial aviation. 

And, a big part of why that’s happening is precisely because front-line workers might know a thing or two about how best to do our jobs. Management should listen to us, not dictate to us.

Unions play a vital role in ensuring the financial success of airlines. By providing economic certainty, stability, and fairness, unions help airlines deal with the many different externalities that face the industry. Here’s a look at how unions add value to airlines.

Unions help airlines be financially successful by providing economic certainty.

When an airline has a strong union contract, it knows how much it will have to pay its employees each year. This predictability helps the airline budget more effectively long term and plan for the future. It also allows the airline to offer its employees competitive wages, benefits, and working conditions. This helps attract and retain the best talent. Non-union airlines, like JetBlue, are often plagued by high turnover which places a lot more stress on the existing workforce. This leads to OJIs, MSEs, outsourcing, and many other detrimental outcomes. 

Unions help airlines by providing stability.

A union contract is a legal agreement between an airline and its employees that outlines the terms of employment. This includes wages, hours, working conditions, and job security. Once a contract is in place, it can only be changed through negotiation between the airline and the workers themselves. This process helps ensure that the workplace is stable, which is essential for an industry constantly facing uncertainty.

Unions help airlines by providing fairness.

Union contracts often include provisions that protect employees from things like arbitrary and unjust discipline and termination, favoritism, discrimination, and sexual harassment. This helps create a fair and safe workplace, which is essential for attracting and retaining the best talent. It also helps protect employees from being taken advantage of by their employers.

Unions help airlines succeed financially by giving front-line workers a seat at the table.

The people who are going to make the best decisions about how to run an airline operation will always be the people who do the actual work. And, that would be JetBlue GO Crewmembers. It’s not that all company bigwigs are entirely clueless. But, company executives would benefit greatly from the operational knowledge of GO Crewmembers. Just think about safety and working conditions. Don’t you think that management would be better off because they HAD to listen to us and take our ideas into consideration when dealing with safety issues and improving working conditions? 

Unions ensure that the people who know how the work is done can add their insights and offer real-world expertise as company decisions are made. Executives may know their thing, but Unions will better understand how to keep the workplace motivated, enabled, and productive.

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A Halloween Story About Dues at JetBlue

A Halloween Story About Dues at JetBlue

Oct 31, 2022 | Front Page, JetBlue, Organizing, Perusals, Row 2

Supervisors at JetBlue think Crewmembers should be scared of dues, but it’s abusive supervisors who have the most to fear from a well-funded, unified workplace. 

A Halloween Story About Dues at JetBlue

Organizing
31 October 2022

Anti-Union managers at JetBlue seem to wish more people were scared of “Union Dues” (cue scary Halloween music.) Long a staple of anti-union campaigns, JetBlue has been banging on about “Dues” (Oh No!) for years. Now that a majority of Ground Operations at the airline have petitioned the Federal Government to join the Machinists & Aerospace Union, managers and their hunch-backed lackeys have been working themselves into an absolute froth trying to conjure up the specter of Dues (Oh No!).

With all the drama of a Silver-Age Gothic Horror Movie, JetBlue Company Men have been shouting, “The Dues are Coming! The Dues are Coming!” with the energy of an organ-playing maniac haunting a creepy old concert hall. Frightening flyers created by company managers in dank dungeon laboratories have begun rising from dark hallways: “Got Dues? (The IAM Does.) they warn. Company Men have taken to social media to toll the graveyard bell, intoning, “They’re coming to get your dues, Barbara!” And, “You’re all Due’med! You’re all Duuuuue’med!”

Except, it’s not working. By a vast margin, these grim warnings are almost universally shrugged off by JetBlue Crewmembers. Nobody’s scared, and Company Men seem honestly perplexed about how that could be. They were sure that the dreaded campfire story of Dues (Oh No!) would drive a stake right through the heart of the union movement at the carrier. Except, it’s just become a spectacular failure. And, this has got the Company Men almost adorably mystified. 

One way to make ghost stories of Dues (Oh No!) less scary is to make them not exist in the first place. A September statement from Machinists Union General Vice President Richard Johnsen to Crewmembers made it clear that there would be no dues until they made union wages.

 

“Let me be 100 percent crystal clear,” Johnsen said in the statement. “Not one cent in union dues will be paid by Ground Operations Crewmembers until Ground Operations Crewmembers have a contract that is ratified by a majority of GO Crewmembers,” he said. “Once a legally binding contract is in place, union dues will be $42 per month. And, because JetBlue GO Crewmembers are a newly organized group of workers, there will be no initiation fee,” the statement continued. 

JetBlue supervisors and their hench-persons seemed to need help comprehending the announcement. 

“I find it hard to believe that a company will represent you for maybe years and say nope we are not going to charge you,” said one individual in a social media post. “Because, at the end of the day, a union is still a business, and businesses all have the fine print,” he continued. 

Unions are not businesses and cannot make profits from dues. Unions make more money when they negotiate a higher hourly wage from their employers. Several years ago, the Machinists Union ran an organizing campaign at JetBlue under the slogan “$30 and a Contract,” to pressure the airline to bring their wages up. At the time, the Machinists were negotiating a new contract at American Airlines. The airline was using the example of underpaid Crewmembers at JetBlue as an excuse to avoid the wage hikes Union Negotiators were demanding. The airline claimed that it could not stay competitive if it paid a modern wage to its unified workforce. Eventually, JetBlue raised wages to just under $30 an hour, hoping to end the Union Organizing campaign. American Airlines relented and agreed to pay increases. By the time a Tentative Agreement was worked out, American had agreed to the highest wages in the history of commercial aviation (…at the time. Since then, the Machinists Union has broken the American Airlines hourly wage record with a recent contract at Alaskan and now with a new Tentative Agreement at Southwest).

In other words, the Union made money from the higher industry-standard wages resulting from discount carriers like JetBlue raising the floor on pay. The potential Dues (Oh No!) from JetBlue Crewmembers were never part of the equation; the bigger negotiated paychecks at JetBlue and American were always the primary economic goal. 

Machinists Union members will never “make money” from JetBlue dues for a long, long time. Crewmembers will contribute no dues during the expensive first contract negotiation process. Additionally, it will take years to recoup the financial investments Union Members have made to assist JetBlue Union Organizers up to this point. 

Once JetBlue Ground Crews start contributing $42 a month, they will need to spend money enforcing their first contract, making the notion of Dues (Oh No!) as a profit-maker even more remote. A single Grievance that gets to the District level can cost as much as $10,000 to arbitrate. JetBlue Supervisors are not accustomed to dealing with unified workers and teaching these Supervisors to follow the rules the hard way is bound to be costly. Much of that $42 will also be used to take JetBlue Crewmembers off the clock to enforce the contract full-time. Some Crewmembers will also work as “Union Stewards” and assist co-workers facing disciplinary action by the company. Dues will be spent covering the costs Union Stewards run into as they protect other Crewmembers. 

Making the Dues (Oh No!) argument even more mysterious, Unions are going to be adding about 30,000 new members over the next two years as United bulks up its workforce. That’s 30,000 new union members who will be paying full dues from day one. The tale that Machinists need the 3,000 non-dues paying members at JetBlue for their Dues is very hard to reconcile with reality.

The Union will meet monthly at a Local Lodge office to conduct Union Business. At these meetings, union members from JetBlue will vote on exactly how to spend dues revenue. Unions vote on how every dollar is spent. There will be a monthly vote on whether or not to pay the electric bill, for example. JetBlue Crewmembers will also vote to spend money on special events, fundraisers, and community involvement. But the primary way dues will be spent will be by enforcing the contract and creating penalties for abusive supervisors who refuse to follow the rules Crewmembers laid out in the Agreement.

Supervisors who can’t stop violating the Agreement will sooner or later start getting expensive, and not just for the Union. JetBlue will also have to pay up whenever a supervisor gets out of pocket, covering its own costs to arbitrate a Grievance. These rogue Supervisors can also bring down financial penalties and fees from Federal Regulators as punishment for severe contractual infringements. If they keep racking up Grievances, supervisors will find themselves too great a legal risk for the airline to keep on the payroll. 

Abusive and corrupt Supervisors have a lot more to fear from “Dues” than Crewmembers.

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The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

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A Halloween Story About Dues At JetBlue

31 October 2022

Supervisors at JetBlue think Crewmembers should be scared of dues, but it’s abusive supervisors who have the most to fear from a well-funded, unified workplace.

Anti-Union managers at JetBlue seem to wish more people were scared of “Union Dues” (cue scary Halloween music.) Long a staple of anti-union campaigns, JetBlue has been banging on about “Dues” (Oh No!) for years. Now that a majority of Ground Operations at the airline have petitioned the Federal Government to join the Machinists & Aerospace Union, managers and their hunch-backed lackeys have been working themselves into an absolute froth trying to conjure up the specter of Dues (Oh No!).

With all the drama of a Silver-Age Gothic Horror Movie, JetBlue Company Men have been shouting, “The Dues are Coming! The Dues are Coming!” with the energy of an organ-playing maniac haunting a creepy old concert hall. Frightening flyers created by company managers in dank dungeon laboratories have begun rising from dark hallways: “Got Dues? (The IAM Does.) they warn. Company Men have taken to social media to toll the graveyard bell, intoning, “They’re coming to get your dues, Barbara!” And, “You’re all Due’med! You’re all Duuuuue’med!”

Except, it’s not working. By a vast margin, these grim warnings are almost universally shrugged off by JetBlue Crewmembers. Nobody’s scared, and Company Men seem honestly perplexed about how that could be. They were sure that the dreaded campfire story of Dues (Oh No!) would drive a stake right through the heart of the union movement at the carrier. Except, it’s just become a spectacular failure. And, this has got the Company Men almost adorably mystified. 

One way to make ghost stories of Dues (Oh No!) less scary is to make them not exist in the first place. A September statement from Machinists Union General Vice President Richard Johnsen to Crewmembers made it clear that there would be no dues until they made union wages.

“Let me be 100 percent crystal clear,” Johnsen said in the statement. “Not one cent in union dues will be paid by Ground Operations Crewmembers until Ground Operations Crewmembers have a contract that is ratified by a majority of GO Crewmembers,” he said. “Once a legally binding contract is in place, union dues will be $42 per month. And, because JetBlue GO Crewmembers are a newly organized group of workers, there will be no initiation fee,” the statement continued. 

JetBlue supervisors and their hench-persons seemed to need help comprehending the announcement. 

“I find it hard to believe that a company will represent you for maybe years and say nope we are not going to charge you,” said one individual in a social media post. “Because, at the end of the day, a union is still a business, and businesses all have the fine print,” he continued.

Unions are not businesses and cannot make profits from dues. Unions make more money when they negotiate a higher hourly wage from their employers.

Several years ago, the Machinists Union ran an organizing campaign at JetBlue under the slogan “$30 and a Contract,” to pressure the airline to bring their wages up. At the time, the Machinists were negotiating a new contract at American Airlines. The airline was using the example of underpaid Crewmembers at JetBlue as an excuse to avoid the wage hikes Union Negotiators were demanding. The airline claimed that it could not stay competitive if it paid a modern wage to its unified workforce.

Eventually, JetBlue raised wages to just under $30 an hour, hoping to end the Union Organizing campaign. American Airlines relented and agreed to pay increases. By the time a Tentative Agreement was worked out, American had agreed to the highest wages in the history of commercial aviation (…at the time. Since then, the Machinists Union has broken the American Airlines hourly wage record with a recent contract at Alaskan and now with a new Tentative Agreement at Southwest).

In other words, the Union made money from the higher industry-standard wages resulting from discount carriers like JetBlue raising the floor on pay. The potential Dues (Oh No!) from JetBlue Crewmembers were never part of the equation; the bigger negotiated paychecks at JetBlue and American were always the primary economic goal. 

Machinists Union members will never “make money” from JetBlue dues for a long, long time. Crewmembers will contribute no dues during the expensive first contract negotiation process. Additionally, it will take years to recoup the financial investments Union Members have made to assist JetBlue Union Organizers up to this point. 

Once JetBlue Ground Crews start contributing $42 a month, they will need to spend money enforcing their first contract, making the notion of Dues (Oh No!) as a profit-maker even more remote. A single Grievance that gets to the District level can cost as much as $10,000 to arbitrate. JetBlue Supervisors are not accustomed to dealing with unified workers and teaching these Supervisors to follow the rules the hard way is bound to be costly. Much of that $42 will also be used to take JetBlue Crewmembers off the clock to enforce the contract full-time. Some Crewmembers will also work as “Union Stewards” and assist co-workers facing disciplinary action by the company. Dues will be spent covering the costs Union Stewards run into as they protect other Crewmembers.

Making the Dues (Oh No!) argument even more mysterious, Unions are going to be adding about 30,000 new members over the next two years as United bulks up its workforce. That’s 30,000 new union members who will be paying full dues from day one. The tale that Machinists need the 3,000 non-dues paying members at JetBlue for their Dues is very hard to reconcile with reality. 

The Union will meet monthly at a Local Lodge office to conduct Union Business. At these meetings, union members from JetBlue will vote on exactly how to spend dues revenue. Unions vote on how every dollar is spent. There will be a monthly vote on whether or not to pay the electric bill, for example. JetBlue Crewmembers will also vote to spend money on special events, fundraisers, and community involvement. But the primary way dues will be spent will be by enforcing the contract and creating penalties for abusive supervisors who refuse to follow the rules Crewmembers laid out in the Agreement.

Supervisors who can’t stop violating the Agreement will sooner or later start getting expensive, and not just for the Union. JetBlue will also have to pay up whenever a supervisor gets out of pocket, covering its own costs to arbitrate a Grievance. These rogue Supervisors can also bring down financial penalties and fees from Federal Regulators as punishment for severe contractual infringements. If they keep racking up Grievances, supervisors will find themselves too great a legal risk for the airline to keep on the payroll. 

Abusive and corrupt Supervisors have a lot more to fear from “Dues” than Crewmembers.



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JetBlue Union Vote Update: No Back Dues

JetBlue Union Vote Update: No Back Dues

Oct 27, 2022 | Front Page, JetBlue, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2

JetBlue Union Vote Update: No Back Dues

Organizing
27 October 2022

Dear GO Crewmembers:

Sadly and unfortunately, it has come to our attention that JetBlue management and their agents are lying about the union dues issue once again.

Let me be as clear as possible: There will be NO PAYMENT OF “BACK DUES” AND NO INITIATION FEE. AFTER GO CREWMEMBERS RATIFY THEIR FIRST CONTRACT, GO CREWMEMBERS WILL PAY $42 PER MONTH IN DUES.

It is not surprising that JetBlue management and their agents are attempting to deceive you. JetBlue management, and the management-controlled “Values Committee,” only seek to maintain the status quo. JetBlue management’s goal is to retain all the power over all the decisions that affect the lives of GO Crewmembers and their families.

They do not want GO Crewmembers to have the right to negotiate their own legally binding contract and vote on that contract. Simply put, they want control. The “Values Committee” is an extension of JetBlue management. The reason it exists is to give GO Crewmembers the impression that the interests of GO Crewmembers are represented.

While there are likely well­meanihg GO Crewmembers who serve, and have served, on the “Values Committee,” the committee has no legal standing and has no legal power to represent GO Crewmembers. JetBlue management makes ALL decisions regarding the wages, benefits and working conditions of GO Crewmembers.

If GO Crewmembers don’t like those decisions, GO Crewmembers have no recourse other than to accept those decisions or cease employment. JetBlue management even says so in Section 1.1 of the Crewmember Blue Book:

“The Crewmember Blue Book is not intended to, and does not, create a term of employment or any employment contract, promise or representation, expressed or implied, with JetBlue; and does not limit or restrict JetBlue in creating or separating employment relationships.”

Why do you think JetBlue management and the “Values Committee” are working so hard to convince GO Crewmembers that you don’t need a union? Is it because they really care about you, or is it because it benefits them if things stay the same?

Because of your unity and efforts to unionize and gain a legally binding contract, JetBlue management and the “Values Committee” are threatened. And when the power structure and the status quo are threatened, people do strange things like lie and misinform their employees and co-workers in an effort to keep their power and cushy positions.

Stay strong sisters and brothers and VOTE YES, THEN NEGOTIATE YOUR CONTRACT WHEN THE TIME COMES!

In Unity,

Richard Johnsen,
General Vice President,
International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers

Get Printable Flyer

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JetBlue Union Vote Update: No Back Dues

27 October, 2022

Dear GO Crewmembers:

Sadly and unfortunately, it has come to our attention that JetBlue management and their agents are lying about the union dues issue once again.

Let me be as clear as possible: There will be NO PAYMENT OF “BACK DUES” AND NO INITIATION FEE. AFTER GO CREWMEMBERS RATIFY THEIR FIRST CONTRACT, GO CREWMEMBERS WILL PAY $42 PER MONTH IN DUES.

It is not surprising that JetBlue management and their agents are attempting to deceive you. JetBlue management, and the management-controlled “Values Committee,” only seek to maintain the status quo. JetBlue management’s goal is to retain all the power over all the decisions that affect the lives of GO Crewmembers and their families.

They do not want GO Crewmembers to have the right to negotiate their own legally binding contract and vote on that contract. Simply put, they want control. The “Values Committee” is an extension of JetBlue management. The reason it exists is to give GO Crewmembers the impression that the interests of GO Crewmembers are represented.

While there are likely well­meanihg GO Crewmembers who serve, and have served, on the “Values Committee,” the committee has no legal standing and has no legal power to represent GO Crewmembers. JetBlue management makes ALL decisions regarding the wages, benefits and working conditions of GO Crewmembers.

If GO Crewmembers don’t like those decisions, GO Crewmembers have no recourse other than to accept those decisions or cease employment. JetBlue management even says so in Section 1.1 of the Crewmember Blue Book:

“The Crewmember Blue Book is not intended to, and does not, create a term of employment or any employment contract, promise or representation, expressed or implied, with JetBlue; and does not limit or restrict JetBlue in creating or separating employment relationships.”

Why do you think JetBlue management and the “Values Committee” are working so hard to convince GO Crewmembers that you don’t need a union? Is it because they really care about you, or is it because it benefits them if things stay the same?

Because of your unity and efforts to unionize and gain a legally binding contract, JetBlue management and the “Values Committee” are threatened. And when the power structure and the status quo are threatened, people do strange things like lie and misinform their employees and co-workers in an effort to keep their power and cushy positions.

Stay strong sisters and brothers and VOTE YES, THEN NEGOTIATE YOUR CONTRACT WHEN THE TIME COMES!

In Unity,

Richard Johnsen,
General Vice President,
International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers

Get Printable Flyer

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Tentative Deal at Southwest: Historic Pay, Overtime Protections

Tentative Deal at Southwest: Historic Pay, Overtime Protections

Oct 26, 2022 | Front Page, JetBlue, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2

Machinists Union Customer Service Workers at Soutwest are considering a Tentative Agreement that would provide historic wages and overtime protections.

Tentative Deal at Southwest: Historic Pay, Overtime Protections

Organizing
26 October 2022

Southwest Airlines has reached a new tentative agreement that would give its employees the biggest paychecks in the history of commercial aviation. The deal also tightens restrictions on mandatory overtime, a vital issue for the Machinists Union. If ratified by union members, the agreement could set a precedent for United Airlines, which is currently engaged in ongoing negotiations with multiple workgroups, all of whom are also members of the Machinists Union. It could also become a decisive factor as JetBlue Ground Operations prepares to vote on joining the Union.

The deal will give union members at Southwest a pay raise of between 16% and 25% over four years, creating the highest wages in the industry. It will also shorten the time it takes to reach the top wage. The new wage structure will include “Me Too” provisions that will ensure union members will also get whatever future raises and other pay enhancements are won by other unions for similar work at the carrier. In addition, the agreement will provide substantial bonuses. The bonuses are calculated by years at the company, with a minimum of $1,000 for newer workers with under five years of seniority and an additional $200 for each year over five.

The workgroup belongs to District 142 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Perhaps even more urgent to union members than higher pay is placing strict controls on the abusive use of mandatory overtime. This agreement will put caps on the total amount of overtime the company can demand and allow overtime to be refused under certain conditions. It will also impose double-time pay for some overtime work.

The Tentative Agreement must win the approval of a majority of the 8,300 Customer Service and related union members at Southwest Airlines, who rejected two other proposals earlier this year. The deal does not apply to other workgroups, such as ground service.

The IAM will hold tentative agreement informational meetings once all ratification vote locations and dates are confirmed.

“Our IAM negotiating team and membership has been steadfast to obtain an agreement that treats Southwest Airlines workers with the respect they’ve earned,” said IAM Airline Coordinator Tom Regan. “This agreement represents years of work, through a pandemic, to put our members at the top of the industry.”

 

Since 2008, Machinists Union Members in the commercial aviation industry have collectively bargained a series of historic milestones in the labor movement. Airline workers with the Union have won the highest-ever pay increases no fewer than five times since 2008. This includes setting new industry records for pay at United Airlines, American Airlines, and Alaskan. If Union Members at Southwest ratify the agreement, they will become the newest record-holders for highest-paid customer service workers in the airline industry.

The new agreement got the attention of JetBlue ground Operations Crewmembers, who are currently awaiting a unification vote with the Machinists Union. Within minutes of its announcement, it was shared multiple times on union-themed chat boards and social media platforms. However, in a flagrant violation of labor law, JetBlue managers, who closely monitor the online pro-union discussions, swiftly removed all mention of the Southwest agreement. 

District President Mike Klemm, who is helping lead contract negotiations at United Airlines, said the possible agreement at Southwest could strengthen the Union’s hand at United. “This is where the industry is regarding pay, overtime, outsourcing… any airline has to compete for workers from a dwindling talent pool. Not everyone can pass the background checks, do incredibly hard work with absolute precision, pass the constant training requirements, all the things needed to work in this industry,” he said. “United is saying they need to hire 30,000 new workers over the next few years if they want to keep up,” he continued. “They need to invest in their workforce, or they will lose out to airlines like Alaskan and Soutwest.” 

Read the Agreement Highlights>

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is the largest transportation and aerospace union in North America. The IAM represents nearly 600,000 active and retired members in more than 200 industries, including more than 32,000 members in commercial aviation.

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Tentative Deal at Southwest: Historic Pay, Overtime Protections

26 October 2022

The new deal, which still has to win a ratification vote, will have implications for contract talks at United and Organizing efforts at JetBlue.

Southwest Airlines has reached a new tentative agreement that would give its employees the biggest paychecks in the history of commercial aviation. The deal also tightens restrictions on mandatory overtime, a vital issue for the Machinists Union. If ratified by union members, the agreement could set a precedent for United Airlines, which is currently engaged in ongoing negotiations with multiple workgroups, all of whom are also members of the Machinists Union. It could also become a decisive factor as JetBlue Ground Operations prepares to vote on joining the Union.

The deal will give union members at Southwest a pay raise of between 16% and 25% over four years, creating the highest wages in the industry. It will also shorten the time it takes to reach the top wage. The new wage structure will include “Me Too” provisions that will ensure union members will also get whatever future raises and other pay enhancements are won by other unions for similar work at the carrier. In addition, the agreement will provide substantial bonuses. The bonuses are calculated by years at the company, with a minimum of $1,000 for newer workers with under five years of seniority and an additional $200 for each year over five.

Perhaps even more urgent to union members than higher pay is placing strict controls on the abusive use of mandatory overtime. This agreement will put caps on the total amount of overtime the company can demand and allow overtime to be refused under certain conditions. It will also impose double-time pay for some overtime work.

The Tentative Agreement must win the approval of a majority of the 8,300 Customer Service and related union members at Southwest Airlines, who rejected two other proposals earlier this year. The deal does not apply to other workgroups, such as ground service.

The IAM will hold tentative agreement informational meetings once all ratification vote locations and dates are confirmed.

“Our IAM negotiating team and membership has been steadfast to obtain an agreement that treats Southwest Airlines workers with the respect they’ve earned,” said IAM Airline Coordinator Tom Regan. “This agreement represents years of work, through a pandemic, to put our members at the top of the industry.”

Since 2008, Machinists Union Members in the commercial aviation industry have collectively bargained a series of historic milestones in the labor movement. Airline workers with the Union have won the highest-ever pay increases no fewer than five times since 2008. This includes setting new industry records for pay at United Airlines, American Airlines, and Alaskan. If Union Members at Southwest ratify the agreement, they will become the newest record-holders for highest-paid customer service workers in the airline industry.

The new agreement got the attention of JetBlue ground Operations Crewmembers, who are currently awaiting a unification vote with the Machinists Union. Within minutes of its announcement, it was shared multiple times on union-themed chat boards and social media platforms. However, in a flagrant violation of labor law, JetBlue managers, who closely monitor the online pro-union discussions, swiftly removed all mention of the Southwest agreement.

District President Mike Klemm, who is helping lead contract negotiations at United Airlines, said the possible agreement at Southwest could strengthen the Union’s hand at United. “This is where the industry is regarding pay, overtime, outsourcing… any airline has to compete for workers from a dwindling talent pool. Not everyone can pass the background checks, do incredibly hard work with absolute precision, pass the constant training requirements, all the things needed to work in this industry,” he said. “United is saying they need to hire 30,000 new workers over the next few years if they want to keep up,” he continued. “They need to invest in their workforce, or they will lose out to airlines like Alaskan and Soutwest.” 

Read the Agreement Highlights>

Customer Service Agents at Southwest are members of District 142 of The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). The IAM is the largest transportation and aerospace union in North America. The IAM represents nearly 600,000 active and retired members in more than 200 industries, including more than 32,000 members in commercial aviation.

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IAM 141, United Continue Contract Talks Amid Massive Profit Announcement

IAM 141, United Continue Contract Talks Amid Massive Profit Announcement

Oct 24, 2022 | Front Page, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized, United

IAM 141, United Continue Contract Talks Amid Massive Profit Announcement

24 October 2022

IAM District 141 negotiators and United management met last week in Chicago. We resumed contract talks, which broke off in late July due to United management’s refusal to provide the job security and compensation necessary to move the process forward.

Negotiations focused again on job security. Both sides discussed ways to achieve the industry-best job security United IAM members prioritized. Both sides’ positions are still far apart.

It’s essential to understand the job security and scope proposals we’re making are not revolutionary. Other airlines already have similar language in their collective bargaining agreements. Our proposals are reasonable. United’s refusal to include basic job security provisions disrespects every IAM member at United.

Both sides also discussed the idea of a short, one or two-year extension of the existing Agreement. We repeat; any agreement, of whatever duration, must include the significant improvements in job security and overall compensation that IAM members deserve.

Also during the week, United reported almost a $1 billion net profit for the third quarter on nearly $13 billion in revenue, which is 13 percent higher than the same quarter of 2019, before the pandemic. CEO Kirby cheered and called this past season “by most metrics, the best operational quarter in our history.”

The 25,000 IAM-represented ground workers are the largest part of United’s operation. The mega-profits United is bragging about would not have been possible without our membership. It’s time for CEO Kirby and the rest of United management to put their money where their mouths are and do the right thing. In Solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee

Olu Ajetomobi
Joe Bartz
Victor Hernandez
Barb Martin
Andrea’ Myers
Terry Stansbury
Faysal Silwany
Erik Stenberg
Sue Weisner

Mike Klemm

President and Directing General Chair,
IAMAW District 141
Recording Secretaries: Please print and post on all Union Bulletin Boards.
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New Job Growth “Strong as Hell” After Investments, Says Secretary Of Transportation

New Job Growth “Strong as Hell” After Investments, Says Secretary Of Transportation

Oct 19, 2022 | Front Page, JetBlue, MNPL, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2

New Job Growth “Strong as Hell” After Investments, Says Secretary Of Transportation

Legislation
19 October 2022

In an appearance on CBS News’ face the Nation over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg touted the Administration’s economic and pro-union policies as helping to create a job market that he described as “strong as hell.”

Buttigieg credited the Administration’s COVID-19 recovery package and infrastructure investments as helping to set the stage for more than 10 million Americans to return to work following the Pandemic. Relevant to airline workers, these policies include longer mandatory rest periods for flight attendants and $1 billion in funding to modernize aging US airports.

The Department of Transportation will also determine if the proposed merger between JetBlue and Spirit can move forward and whether or not to permit a similar partnership between JetBlue and American to proceed. That deal, called the “Northeast Alliance,” has been compared to a “De-facto merger” by the Justice Department. If approved, the partnership would allow JetBlue and American to operate as if they were a single airline in the Boston and New York markets. However, the two carriers would use different gates and aircraft.

JetBlue Ground Operations Crewmembers are currently seeking to join the Machinists Union. The 3,000 ground workers are filing with the National Mediation Board, which will oversee a vote to determine if the organizing drive is successful.

When asked by anchor Margarett Brennan if pumping $3.6 trillion in total new spending into the economy was a trigger for runaway inflation, Buttigieg responded by pointing out that the investments were also making possible historic levels of new job openings. “We would not have had the 10 million jobs created with this president with the lowest unemployment numbers in history,” he said.

“Look, I don’t think anybody could argue that our unemployment numbers are anything but strong as hell,” he said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US added more than 260,000 new jobs in September, pushing the unemployment rate to only 3.5%. The historic drop in unemployment is happening despite high inflation rates, lingering COVID infections, and Hurricane Ian, all of which had minimal effect on the overall economy, according to the Bureau.

Earlier this month, Secretary Buttigieg addressed the Machinists Union Convention in Las Vegas alongside Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and President Joe Biden in a video message. In the address, Buttigieg told union members that the time to end “anti union” tactics is now. “This president and this administration will always stand by the union workers who have stood by our country,” he told the hundreds of assembled Machinists Union members. “And, that means protecting and strengthening your right to organize, preventing companies from using retaliatory anti-union tactics,” he said to loud cheers.

Buttigieg also touted a multi-million dollar grant program to improve airport infrastructure and safety. The grant, part of the American Rescue Plan, will improve airport runways, taxiways, aprons, and Terminal buildings. “The president’s historic bipartisan infrastructure law creates a new generation of good union jobs,” he said. “By rebuilding our crumbling roadways, bridges, rail lines, and modernizing our airports,” he said.

In his bid to become US President in 2020, Buttigieg’s campaign staff formed a union, in part to create the precedent for other political campaigns. After organizing for a few weeks, union organizers announced the campaign had enough coworkers willing to sign Union Authorization Cards. The Buttigieg campaign then allowed the staffers to form the new union unopposed.

No Results Found

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New Job Growth “Strong as Hell” After Investments, Says Secretary Of Transportation

19 October, 2022

In an appearance on CBS News’ face the Nation over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg touted the Administration’s economic and pro-union policies as helping to create a job market that he described as “strong as hell.”

Buttigieg credited the Administration’s COVID-19 recovery package and infrastructure investments as helping to set the stage for more than 10 million Americans to return to work following the Pandemic. Relevant to airline workers, these policies include longer mandatory rest periods for flight attendants and $1 billion in funding to modernize aging US airports. The Department of Transportation will also determine if the proposed merger between JetBlue and Spirit can move forward and whether or not to permit a similar partnership between JetBlue and American to proceed. That deal, called the “Northeast Alliance,” has been compared to a “De-facto merger” by the Justice Department. If approved, the partnership would allow JetBlue and American to operate as if they were a single airline in the Boston and New York markets. However, the two carriers would use different gates and aircraft.

JetBlue Ground Operations Crewmembers are currently seeking to join the Machinists Union. The 3,000 ground workers are filing with the National Mediation Board, which will oversee a vote to determine if the organizing drive is successful.

When asked by anchor Margarett Brennan if pumping $3.6 trillion in total new spending into the economy was a trigger for runaway inflation, Buttigieg responded by pointing out that the investments were also making possible historic levels of new job openings. “We would not have had the 10 million jobs created with this president with the lowest unemployment numbers in history,” he said.

“Look, I don’t think anybody could argue that our unemployment numbers are anything but strong as hell,” he said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US added more than 260,000 new jobs in September, pushing the unemployment rate to only 3.5%. The historic drop in unemployment is happening despite high inflation rates, lingering COVID infections, and Hurricane Ian, all of which had minimal effect on the overall economy, according to the Bureau.

Earlier this month, Secretary Buttigieg addressed the Machinists Union Convention in Las Vegas alongside Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and President Joe Biden in a video message. In the address, Buttigieg told union members that the time to end “anti union” tactics is now. “This president and this administration will always stand by the union workers who have stood by our country,” he told the hundreds of assembled Machinists Union members. “And, that means protecting and strengthening your right to organize, preventing companies from using retaliatory anti-union tactics,” he said to loud cheers.

Buttigieg also touted a multi-million dollar grant program to improve airport infrastructure and safety. The grant, part of the American Rescue Plan, will improve airport runways, taxiways, aprons, and Terminal buildings. “The president’s historic bipartisan infrastructure law creates a new generation of good union jobs,” he said. “By rebuilding our crumbling roadways, bridges, rail lines, and modernizing our airports,” he said.

In his bid to become US President in 2020, Buttigieg’s campaign staff formed a union, in part to create the precedent for other political campaigns. After organizing for a few weeks, union organizers announced the campaign had enough coworkers willing to sign Union Authorization Cards. The Buttigieg campaign then allowed the staffers to form the new union unopposed.

 

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