Convention

This week I am attending the 28^th Convention of the Teamsters as an elected delegate from Local 210. I will try to give updates as the Convention progresses but I will at least make a final report after its adjournment.

I look forward to this process which will nominate candidates to run for all positions of the General Executive Board. Each nominee will then be elected by the membership this fall.

EDIT: Here is the press release from the IBT on the opening of the convention. There have been several interesting aspects but one that really impressed me was the serious work being done with Unions around the globe. These Unions are thinking strategically about globalization and how best to use their respective resources to combat the world wide war on workers.

EDIT 2: The current election results can be followed here and clicking the "What's new" link

Final EDIT: Here are the results of the delegate votes for General President and General Secretary Treasurer; In order to be considered on the ballot for either position, a candidate was required to receive five percent, or 81 of the available votes. The voting for General President yielded three candidates; James P. Hoffa (1,326 votes), Sandy Pope (137 votes) and Fred Gegare (141 votes).
The balloting for the office of General Secretary/Treasurer also yielded three candidates; Ken Hall (1,269 votes), Jim Sheard (156 votes) and Gary Marquart (143 votes). In addition George Miranda our Principal Officer was nominated for and received over 1300 votes for Vice President at Large. All results can be found here and clicking on "Whats New". More information on voting will be conveyed to the membership prior to the vote, which is scheduled for later this year.

Doubt?

I received a copy of this email today. The email speaks for itself and answers the question from the company perspective for those that doubted the IBT was committed to securing a standalone United agreement prior to amalgamating. In my opinion the original author was hoping for a different answer to add fuel to his arguments. The only thing removed were the email addresses but it's interesting to note that the author of the original email included his web address (perhaps to show the company there is no solidarity which begs the question, is he an agent for the company working against the mechanics or perhaps not very bright? I leave that for you to decide). Email follows;

From: Keenan, Jim [SFOVO]
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2011 9:04 AM
To: 'GT Davis'
Subject: RE: Amalgamation Negotiations

GT,

Thanks for your note. I'm happy to help clear this up. Not only is it NOT true that I said the IBT expressed the desire to pursue amalgamated negotiations, but that is the exact OPPOSITE of what I said. The Company pushed hard from the beginning to negotiate an amalgamated contract, but the IBT held firm that we needed to first negotiate a UA-only agreement. The Company agreed but stated that if we were unsuccessful we would push to file with the NMB for mediation on an amalgamated agreement.

Jim

From: GT Davis
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 7:11 PM
To: Keenan, Jim [SFOVO]
Subject: Amalgamation Negotiations

Mr. Keenan. I am a UAL Mechanic out of Denver and I have heard you made a statement in Chicago to the affect the IBT expressed they wished to negotiate an amalgamated contract and not a single UAL contract. In order to stop false rumors I would appreciate it if you could confirm or deny this. Thank you.

The-UALMechanics.com

GT Davis

NMB Update

This was posted this morning on the Seattle Blog and it is copied here;

The Mediation Board has assigned Jim Mackenzie as the mediator for United Airlines and the IBT that represent the mechanics and related. Case number A-13605, here is MR. Mackenzie's bio.
Jock

Jim Mackenzie joined the National Mediation Board as a Mediator in March, 2009. In this capacity, he serves as a mediator in Airline and Railroad cases.
Prior to joining the NMB, Jim completed 31 years as a commercial pilot for a number of major airlines, retiring from Northwest Airlines in 2006 as an Airbus Captain. Following retirement, Jim was a Captain B-777/787 Instructor pilot for Alteon, a Boeing Company and an aviation consultant.
Jim's labor relations experience included 30 years working in various positions for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). During his career with the airlines, Jim served as Chairman of the NWA Pilot Retirement and Insurance Committee and was successful in maintaining the pilots defined benefit plan though Congressional legislation. In addition, he gained bankruptcy and workout experience serving as a member of the NWA Unsecured Creditors Committee. His extensive labor relations experience also includes being elected to the Master Executive Council of Braniff International Airlines, Co-Chairman of the Peoplexpress Pilot Merger Committee and serving on various ALPA committees at the local and national level. In addition, he served as President of the Board of Directors of the Air Line Pilots Mutual Aid Association, which provided disability benefits for all ALPA pilots.
Jim's military career with the United States Navy included 5 years flying the A-4 Skyhawk on active duty in the Western Pacific and 9 years in the Reserves as an adversary pilot.
Jim is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Source:
http://www.nmb.gov/activ-rpts/od.html#1
http://www.nmb.gov/directory/dirmed.html

Air Canada strike to be outlawed

Here is an article from AVweb describing the situation. And Canada is supposed to be labor friendly.

Further misinformation and insanity

The following post was sent to me this morning from a mechanic in SFO. He was reading it on GT's site. It is quite obvious that the poster knows nothing about the RLA. The fact is EITHER SIDE has the UNILATERAL RIGHT to invoke mediation. In fact during the road shows members were demanding that the Union demand mediation so we could get to a PEB. Now that, as the Union explained many times, the possibility of a PEB has been revealed to be non-existent in the near term and several years at best in the long term, this poster cries foul. Was it underhanded to explain the facts as they were on the road show? Was it underhanded to explain if this TA was rejected we would be years in negotiations given what the NMB said to the parties? At this point the NMB sending us back to the table outside the purview of mediation is as much a possibility as seeing Santa Claus in the flesh.

Here, I'll type it out, "has argued that the agency must proceed with mediation on a single contract basis involving only the UAL mechanics and related."
Of course the Teamsters deliberately ignore other possibilities, deliberately mind you, like the mediation board rejecting United's request and the mediator sending the company back to the bargaining table. Sending us back to the bargaining table is a legitimate possibility, yet the Teamsters don't even mention it. Instead they virtually support the company's request for mediation, going so far as to say "it MUST proceed" into mediation, but in a underhanded way, by saying that the issue is one contract group at this time and not amalgamation. Why is the union pushing for mediation in their statement? The union's response and letter to the mediator should say, "The company's request for mediation should be rejected at this time because they are asking for mediation on the amalgamation issue, and they haven't settled negotiations with the mechanics and related at UAL yet." That's what the Teamster's response SHOULD say, but what they actually said in fact supported the company's request for mediation. The mechanics and the company don't NEED mediation at this time. United's use of mediation is a stalling tactic. It's punitive. It's bargaining in bad faith and it is a slap in the face to the mechanics. In the old days mechanics would know how to respond to such a slap in the face.

Mediation schedule revealed

The following release is from the Airline Division and it now appears likely that there will be no finalized deal this year;

The Airline Division reached out to the NMB today and learned that the NMB has taken the Company's and the Union's positions regarding amalgamated mediation under advisement, and that it will provide the parties with an answer once it makes a decision. The Union has opposed the Company's request that the UAL mediation take place on an amalgamated basis, and has argued that the agency must proceed with the mediation on a single contract basis involving only the UAL mechanics and related.

Additionally, as Airline Division Director Captain David Bourne had predicted, the NMB has set a mediation schedule that will not commence until much later this year. The NMB has advised that it will conduct its initial conference with the parties in November, 2011, and will set formal mediation dates to start thereafter. The Airline Division is extremely disappointed but not at all surprised with the NMB's scheduling order, and will be using all means necessary to accelerate this schedule. To that end, the Airline Division and the UAL Local Union Principal Officers are establishing, an action committee to develop strategies in coordination with the membership to persuade the NMB to set an expedited mediation schedule.

Amalgamation appealed

As discussed in the previous post the Company's position to amalgamate the agreements immediately has been appealed. Here is the letter.

Face saving

I just read a flyer allegedly sent from Joe Prisco labeled TRUTH. He claims to have consulted a "well respected labor lawyer" in compiling his facts for the flyer. Of course the well respected labor lawyer does not put his name to his position.

His main assertion is that the IBT should have vigorously fought the Company's filing for amalgamated talks. Of course this is the political equivalent of "heads I win tails you lose". The well respected lawyer should have told Joe that the Union has a right to object but that's not really the point. The point here is either move the Union makes, Joe will make a claim of 1) "see the union is weak and went along with the filing", or 2) "see the Union didn't know they could object to this and I brought it to their attention". In either scenario he will attempt to save face from his previous incorrect position. This becomes more obvious when you read the entire notice from David Bourne on 6-8 after the company filing where he states "This does not mean, however, that we agree with the Company's effort to push for an immediate amalgamation of the United and Continental contracts." Ignoring this part of the release was intentional.

Of course the real reason for the flyer is that, contrary to his previous assertion, it turns out the IBT was telling the truth during the road shows. The meetings described at the road shows of first the Company, and then the Union with the NMB occurred. The outcome was entirely predictable and it happened. The bottom line here is no matter which course of action the Union ultimately takes, the members lost an opportunity, we will be in talks for multiple years, and from the calls and emails I'm receiving many voted no because they felt the Union lied to them and the Company would not go to mediation. A quick look at the talks for the American mechanics bears out the fact that we will be talking for years. They have been in mediation for four years and the most recent economic pass from American was less than their previously rejected TA. Do you know when the NMB is going to release them? I haven't seen a date announced.

The only thing that surprised me about the filing at United is that they waited three whole business days until Tuesday to do it.

As relayed at the road shows

As expected, and relayed to the membership as the most likely course of action, the Company filed for mediation this afternoon. They are seeking to amalgamate the groups. Here is the letter.

Week in Review 6-5-11

UAL Mechanics Reject TA, Negotiating Committee Prepares to Return to Table

Voting on a transition agreement that provided a substantial pay raise, a reduction of out sourcing as a result of stronger scope language, the reopening of many stations and never before agreed to recall and furlough protection that was designed to provide negotiators a better starting point in upcoming amalgamation talks, the UAL mechanics have rejected the proposed agreement in a vote counted this week.

"We respect the vote of the membership," said Division Director David Bourne. "We also understand the desire to regain the losses of their previous contracts. Our goal for the mechanics was to get them initial raises, ensure they had job protections and other improvements in the interim as we moved into the contract amalgamation; a process which would keep the company from going to mediation and dragging the discussions out for years. Once that interim step was done, we could then go immediately into the amalgamated discussions for the combined UAL/CAL group and gain even more," said Bourne. "We are now standing ready to get back to the table and negotiate the items as directed by our members.

On Friday, the following letter sent on Friday to UAL management.

June 3, 2011

P. Douglas McKeen

Senior Vice President

Labor Relations, United Airlines

77 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60601

Dear Doug:

This letter is to serve as a confirmation of our telephone discussion this morning. As I advised you, in a vote count yesterday, the UAL mechanics represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division have rejected the Tentative Agreement that was reached by the union negotiating committee and the company.

I believe it is in the best interests of our membership and the company to return to the bargaining table as soon as possible to address the outstanding concerns raised by our UAL membership. The union negotiating committee and International representatives from my office stand willing and able to meet with you and your designees immediately, beginning Monday, June 6^th and on through any dates throughout the month and beyond, if necessary. I would ask that you contact me as soon as possible with your list of all available dates so that we can begin the process of scheduling the meetings and beginning new discussions to conclude a new agreement.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 202-624-6848 or by email.

Sincerely,

/s/

David P. Bourne

Director, Airline Division

"The negotiating committee's work continues," said Clacy Griswold, Business Agent for Local 986. "We had hoped to plan our steps now for upcoming amalgamation discussions based on higher wages and improved job protections for UAL mechanics. The biggest disappointment now is that the company will now have the ability to increase outsourcing and furlough employees with no rights; something we had stopped with this agreement."

TA rejected

Here is the link.