| December 20, Rich Delenay — Contract talks with
United Airlines resumed this past week.
The week was spent addressing and discussing
issues that had been brought up in previous sessions but both sides felt
could be resolved and closed out before the end of the year. The topics
of Seniority and how it should apply during furloughs and finding ways
to have our Grievance Procedure work better for resolving complaints
were the main focus. As we have started to have more meaningful talks
with United about our future, both in terms of job security and
compensation, both sides understand the importance of reaching agreement
on other issues in order to devote full attention to the remaining
proposals.
The continual furloughing of our members has not only put great stress
on them but has also shown some of the problem areas and
misunderstandings of the contractual furlough process and its impact. We
have reviewed the original set of proposals exchanged with United in
April to verify that the topics we as a Negotiating Team are concerned
with now remain in line with the proposals submitted by our members. We
are confident we are representing the wishes of the membership by
continuing to address these issues and bring them to a conclusion.
Our Grievance Procedure fortunately affects a small portion of our total
membership but is a constant point of concern for Union Stewards and
Committees across the system. Their desire to have the process work the
most efficiently on behalf of our members generated several proposals
designed to streamline the process and get to an answer faster. We
discussed with the Company what we believe are some of the underlying
causes of delay in hearing and resolving grievances and concluded that
the contractual procedure would work well if it was reinforced by all
levels of management. We also talked about new, innovative ways other
companies and unions are addressing the same problem. We have proposed
to United that we keep our current language in tact and continue to
explore additional solutions to speed up the process and bring justice
to the workplace, including the possible inclusion of government
agencies.
As we get within a few days of the end of 2009 many questions have been
raised concerning the amendable date of our current contract. Our
Agreement officially becomes amendable on December 31, 2009. We began
negotiations earlier than historically called for but have still not
been able to reach a complete agreement with United over our wages,
benefits, and working conditions. The Railway Labor Act (RLA), the law
governing labor relations in the airline and railroad industries,
handles labor contract differently than other industries. Under the RLA
once an agreement is reached between an airline and an union it never
expires, it becomes amendable. This means that the terms and conditions
of our contract remain in full force and effect until a new replacement
contract is agreed to. While we will continue to strive for an
acceptable agreement in the shortest time possible, the knowledge that
our current contract will remain in effect allows us to make sound
decisions based on the value of the proposed agreement, not because of
time pressure.
On behalf of the entire District 141 Executive Board and the members of
the Negotiating Team I wish you all a very happy, safe, and peaceful
holiday.
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