General Items
I'm flying home from San Francisco where negotiations were held as I write this report. The official update can be found here. This was a productive session in my opinion.
It has been almost three weeks since the last weekly report and there has been much activity in that time.
We have all received letters from the CDU asking for support to change collective bargaining agents. I have posted my views on this issue on the blog here and here. It is incredible to me that these former leaders believe a continual change of unions is the answer to our problems.
In addition to the above paragraph there were a couple of incidents that led me to believe there may be a misunderstanding of what the Union can achieve on behalf of the membership. The biggest item was an assault on a mechanic by employees from another work group. This is an example of an item that needs to be addressed outside of the collective bargaining agreement. A grievance could be filed for the Company not providing a safe work environment and that should be sustained, but what would this truly achieve for the member? When this type of issue occurs it is a matter for the police and attorneys. There is a Teamster Privilege Legal service that can help find an attorney when needed for many different legal concerns including issues such as this. When you call you will need to provide your Locals number. If the mechanic involved buried a wrench in the skull of the perpetrators that is where the Union would step in to defend against any kind of discipline on the Company's part. I've talked to the Company about this since this is probably going to be an ongoing problem and I don't want to see our members disciplined for any defensive actions that may be taken. As I've reported previously several young employees for UAX are taking the whole "you are responsible for security and following the rules thing" to extremes. The office did work on this but not to the satisfaction of the member who informed me that I was a wimp for not achieving satisfaction on his part. In short the union is responsible for negotiating and the administration of the Agreement. We will try to help with many things, but anything outside the Agreement will be met with different levels of success depending on the issue.
The next thing needing addressed is our responsibility to each other. We are members of a very strong Labor Organization and while that is a very good thing we undermine each other when we turn in members to management, when we make deals that short change others, and generally work in a manner that ignores the CBA in order to make life easier in the short term. These actions lead to a weaker group and that leads to less influence when dealing with the Company. All I ask is that you please consider when you are dealing with the Company; how could this action affect everyone else? I've been telling the Company for a long time that their actions toward us affect their bottom line. In a way the same is true for us in dealing with them. Solidarity is more than just a word, and with it comes the political capital that can be used to achieve our goals. Those of us that were stationed at Dulles in the early and mid 90's saw firsthand what solidarity can achieve.
The health care debate continues and is intensifying. One member asked that I stop advocating my "socialistic" position on this. First if a government run insurance plan is "socialistic" then we should be advocating the elimination of Medicare. And second if I did not feel strongly that a comprehensive overhaul of the system would help us all, I would stop. However as many of you know two of my sons have special needs and I have seen firsthand that a government run health insurance plan can and does work. My sons have never been denied service or payment for such service. To illustrate a point on where our costs are headed if this system is not reformed here is an interesting article.
MM
The Cabin Crew ten hour schedule has only been approved for San Francisco and Chicago to this point. To say that I am frustrated with the Company is an understatement. To start with we were told they would give it a try and then the next day called and said all fifteen of us in the room were mistaken they really didn't say that. Then on the one hand we were told this is low skilled work that should be sent to the vendors (which it had been previously and continues to be to a degree), and then we are told that the Company is close to last in the industry in all measurable parameters dealing with the cabin. So the bottom line is their vendors were not delivering a quality product, they brought us back in to fix their problem, and then they jerk the crew around responsible for accomplishing this task. When the Manager responsible for vending this work spoke about this, within a matter of five minutes he projected both positions and I was truly astonished at his lack of understanding of the problem before us. If they want to vend this work out and remain in last place then they need to continue with their previous course of action. If they really want a quality product, then have us do the work and reward us for fixing their screw up by taking into account our quality of life. This is just another example of how the Company's actions negatively affect the bottom line.
A second step grievance in regards to discipline will be heard next week on my return.
I was told upon my return that thirty positions will now be opening on afternoon shift for the eight hour schedule. This is due to the elimination of close to half of the people from the ten hour schedule. The explanation I was given is that the Company needed to reduce overtime and there were two ways to accomplish this. The first option would be to bring in fifteen more bodies or the second option was a reallocation of manpower. Given the current state of the airline the Company chose reallocation, as there is the possibility of layoffs over the next quarter if finances do not improve. As I've stated previously there is no longer any ten hour shift protection language in the Agreement so the Company is within its right to take this action. I will meet with Ron and Stuart on Monday to discuss the process.
The vacation rules poll is over. The turnout was extremely low as it did not reach 25% of the total membership. The vote was evenly split in all areas. There was some feedback left in regards to what everyone would like to see for next year's rules and some of those cannot be implemented due to a conflict with the CBA, but there were also some very good ideas. Outside of the poll if you have any ideas for vacation rules this year please see Tony Urso, Jay Koreny, or Ken Mitchell as they are the vacation rules committee. If you have some feedback on the ballotbin system I would like to hear it. I was hoping this would be a good way to poll the membership but if it's too difficult I will discontinue its use.
GQ
A question was asked by management in OZ as to whether the shop would be moved to the point system for sick leave discipline as had the Ramp. The answer is no. For those that don't know the IAM agreed to a points system for sick leave instead of the non punitive level system. This agreement only affects members of the Machinists Union. I addressed this system earlier on the blog.
PV
There are several small issues from the afternoon shift that are currently being addressed. These deal with pay when out sick, pay for getting badged, and some personal issues.
There are several outsourcing grievances that are still outstanding. There is one grievance outstanding regarding qualifications.
If you have ideas for vacation rules please see Bruce Wade, John Jenkins, or Brian Jensen as they are the vacation rules committee.
That's all for this week,
Bob
