Negotiation update

The official update is now posted on the Teamster Negotiations web site. The link is in red at the top of the page.

Weekly report 04-26-09

This will be another short report.

For general items, last week the first part of the station closing arbitration was held in Chicago. I really can't go into great detail at this time because the hearing is not finished. The Union had to present first because this is a language interpretation case. Our Attorney Nick Manicone did a great job of putting this case together. All the witnesses did well for our side, and Nick was able to finish the Union's side pending cross examination and potential rebuttals. The next session will be in the beginning of July.

Negotiations will start on Tuesday the 28^th. I imagine the Company will post their opener on their website in the same manner as the other Unions on the property. After our opener is presented it will be posted here.

Here is the Actuary's letter certifying the funding levels of the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund. The Fund took a big hit last year, like all of them, but it was positioned well and is still certified in the "Green" at 84.7%. In addition the Actuary saw no issues six years into the future.

The Obama Administration is seeking input from Federal Employees similar to one of United's old programs, "Let's Make it Happen". Here is a link to the article. This program was one of the few successful programs at United. Hopefully the Government won't give up on it if it produces results the way United did.

Here is another link to research how your members of Congress have voted on items important to you. It is from the Washington post and allows you to research historical votes all the way back to 1991.

In MM this week one grievance was advanced to second step.

For GQ/PV the decision on the station closings is out. Only two of the nine will close and they are BOS and HNL. I don't have any numbers but the layoffs will have an effective date of June 7^th. On Wednesday the 29^th the PV Labor/Management meeting will be held at 2pm.

That's all for this week,

Bob

Mid week items

I just returned from Chicago last night where the station closing arbitration was held. The Union was able to present the bulk of it's case over the two day period. The Company will have it's turn next, and that will be in July. In my opinion things went well for the Union.

Most of you have already heard the news on the nine GQ/PV stations so I won't go deep into that. The Seattle blog has some info if you would like to read about it.

That's all for now,
Bob

Weekly report 4-18-09

This week I took off Thursday and Friday and so there is not a lot to report.

As for general information this week Shop Steward Jay Koreny sent me this informative link on the Employee Free Choice act. While the headline describes it as the Chamber of Commerce does, calling it "Card Check", there are still articles framing both sides of the issue.

This week I continued working with our attorney Nick Manicone on the station closing arbitration. I was able to help with some technical insight as well as some logistical support for the witnesses that will attend. Going through the mountain of data that was sent from Newark and Philadelphia was arduous. Putting all this together into a presentable case is a huge task, and Nick is definitely up to the challenge. The case is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday the 22^nd and 23^rd. I let you know in next week's report how it went.

The TAMC (Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition) is starting to collect our contact information, via fill in cards, to keep us apprised of legislative items regarding our profession. This is the group currently collecting the outsourcing defect reports. Those reports will be used to further tell our story on Capitol Hill. Our local TAMC contact person, Tom Reid, will be coming around with the cards soon. The TAMC is a great tool for us and filling out these cards is a great way to show our support for them going forward.

For any of our laid-off members still looking for work MWAA is starting to hire more people. Here is a link to their jobs site. If you do apply for a position let me know.

For MM this week I received one first step for discipline that will be moved to second step. I had a meeting with Don Burbank and we discussed some small items that needed to be addressed.

For GQ/PV there was a meeting held on Thursday but there is still no outcome that I am aware of regarding the nine station closings for these shops.

That's all for this week,

Bob

Update

Negotiations will begin on April 28th. The announcement is on the IBT Negotiations website.

Negotiations info

Just wanted to let you all know that the scheduled negotiations for tomorrow have been postponed because of an emergency situation with our Chief Negotiator. When this session is rescheduled I’ll let you know.

Bob

Weekly Report 04-10-09

There is still no new information that I have on the PV/GQ outsourcing, or the 20% arbitration answer. Many people are talking about the rumor of an answer to the 20% case, but when I was with our attorney Nick Manicone this week I asked him about this. He told me that to date he has heard nothing about a resolution. As soon as I know anything about either item I will post the information to the blog and do an e-mail blast.

There was an EEOC ruling in San Francisco regarding overtime assignments on light duty. From what I understand, as far as the financial settlement is concerned, this ruling is only for the San Francisco Airport. The Company agreed they would no longer enforce a policy forbidding light duty personnel the opportunity to work overtime. Here is a copy of the EEOC press release.

Work continues on the station closing grievance. Nick Manicone has been putting a lot of effort into this, and I was able to meet with him on Wednesday to give some technical input. As I said last week this is definitely the right guy to represent us and it still appears to me that the Union has a very good case. Nick took a little time out of his schedule to introduce me to David Bourne the Airline Division Director. I was impressed with David's grasp of our issues, and found him to be an intelligent man with a purpose driven direction. David told me about all of the work being done on the Hill and he feels confident we will succeed in getting legislation to help us moving forward. He asked that we all continue to fill out the outsourcing surveys. This is important because members of Congress are considering hearings on this matter and we want our message to be heard, and also because the ARSA is lobbying hard against us telling Congress there are no problems with outsourcing. David also shared a video with me he found regarding what the public knows about outsourcing. It can be found here.

This week in MM a couple of things were reported to me. The first issue was nothing new but it is starting to get worse. That is the foremen doing our work in the form of creating deferred items for us then calling to tell us to put stickers or placards on the plane to finish the item. This would not be a problem if it was mechanics asking for help, but that does not appear to be the case. The next item was along the same lines, and that is the constant calling of mechanics to get updates. I think we all understand getting calls for updates but it was reported that this is getting much worse to the point where it is getting in the way of accomplishing our jobs. I brought both of these issues to management and was told they would work on this. Please let me know if this does not subside because while the second issue is not a contract violation the first one certainly is as this is both leading and directing and performing hourly rated work. The next thing that was brought to my attention was our role in removing pornography from aircraft cockpits. I informed management that it was very possible that many of our members may be offended by having to accomplish this task. Management told me they would make this a briefing item and inform all of you of your right not to participate in this exercise.

In PV there was a serious discussion regarding time reporting. The company was asking for specific reporting encompassing only seven hours every day. You don't have to be a great strategist or mind reader to figure out the reason for this. If the company knows exactly what you do and how long each job takes, then it would be easier to have an outside vendor accurately bid on this work. I spoke with several people in both shops and it is my very strong opinion that you need to account for nine hours each day in a much less specific manner. I also met with Dave Hunter to express my outrage at this obvious first step toward eliminating work from this shop. Dave informed me that there was a management meeting scheduled for Tuesday the 14^th and he would express my position to those in attendance. On another note, I met with Steve Loughman and we have decided that the last Wednesday of each month at 2pm will be designated as the time for Labor – Management meetings. Any open issues will be discussed as well as any Second Step grievances.

I met with several dayshift members in GQ this week and I have nothing new to report from this shop. However the EEOC story at the top of the page came from Eric Harger.

The jackets have been ordered. If you had not paid already you will be included in the next order.

Negotiations will begin on Tuesday in Chicago. I'm certain I will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement, but I promise to give you all the information I am legally allowed to divulge.

That's all for this week,

Bob

Weekly report 04-05-09

The question I was asked most this week was what is happening in regards to the outsourcing of GQ/PV work in the nine stations. Unfortunately all I know is that there will be further meetings to discuss this item and that so far nothing has been determined. When I do get solid information I'll let each of you know.

In MM this week I was asked if the Arbitrator had answered the twenty percent outsourcing case. As of last Friday he had not issued a ruling. Also there was some question about who should be selected for the temporary assignment in Denver. The answer is found in Art XI, I and LOA 84-7M, which provides for who shall be chosen for these assignments and what the Company's responsibility is in awarding them. Essentially people who have been laid off from a point would have first right of refusal of temporary work at that point. We are attempting to schedule the outstanding second steps, but everyone involved is currently very busy, however we should have these heard within two weeks. It is now more than three months into the year and it is a very good time to start planning vacation rules. If you have an idea to improve the vacation rules please see Tony Urso on dayshift, Jay Koreny on swings or Jim Forner on mids as these are the members of the vacation rules committee. On Friday I met with our Attorney to discuss the upcoming station shutdown arbitration case, and we will be meeting again next week. While not getting into the specifics of it I feel very confident that, first the right person is handling it, and second that the Union has a very strong case.

For PV I was informed that they will be posting a lead position, but I have not withdrawn the second step because there are pay and seniority implications which need to be resolved. Also after talking to Steve Loughman, we decided it would be in everyone's interest to have monthly Labor/Management meetings again. These meetings will be held on the last Wednesday of each month at 2pm. After the meetings any open second steps will be heard. This is a good mechanism for resolving issues in this shop and it has worked well in the past. As for vacation items Larry informed me that he met with Shop Steward John Jenkins and they reviewed the manpower and workload and opened the normal compliment of DAT's for Easter week.

For GQ not much happened this week but I talked with Brian McNichols and Greg Pinelli about a budget issue that they addressed last week. They were able to adjust the budget to meet the current manpower requirements in the shop. I was asked by a couple of members about the Air Serv contract. There is a feeling that the mechanics are being run around to fix Air Serv's equipment which is in need of repair and they are eating into time spent on United's equipment. My thought on this is to make sure that the sales and service slips are filled out each time you do one of these calls so that we can show the need for additional manpower.

The last blog post was about the terrible shape the PBGC fund is currently in, and here is another article on the matter.

That's all for this week

Bob