Focus remains: improve contract

Rich Delaney, April 18, 2010 — Talks resumed between United Airlines and District 141 this past week. Even though the week was crowded with renewed merger speculation involving United and almost every other airline except Delta, our focus remained on the discussion we have been having to improve our contract.

Sub Committees

The discussions were conducted in a slightly different format this past week. We are reviewing all Letters of Agreement in all contracts to determine what modifications, if any, need to be included in these letters. Letters of Agreement are intended to give more definition to the application of our contracts’ Articles. In order to make sure each letter is serving its purpose, it was determined that the discussions of these letters would be better handled by smaller groups of negotiators from each side that could speak from real experience about these issues.

Members of our team from the PCE classifications met with the company to talk about letters that only pertained to PCE Members. Likewise, RSM & Stores Members discussed the letters that applied to those classifications. At the end of the week this format and the work they were able to accomplish was reviewed by all the negotiators from both sides. It was determined that this was a very productive way to proceed and we will continue to use the sub-committee approach for specific proposals.

Fleet Technical

Formal negotiations were begun this past week between District 141 and United Airlines covering the Fleet Technical Instructors and Related Members. The opening session was very positive and productive. The employees covered by this Agreement develop, produce, and provide training to Flight Crews and Flight Attendants covering both technical and safety subjects. The contractual issues they need to address are unique to their specific group and will be discussed between their representatives and Members of United management that deal with these issues on a daily basis. This is consistent with how we have approached all other negotiations – those from both sides that will have to live with the results of contract changes are the best suited to negotiate those changes.

Merger, sources

We could not, and did not ignore the possibility that United will aggressively look for a new partner. Although we have not received any information from any of the sources that could give us some insight into the seriousness of the reported talks among the airlines, we have relied on the existing contract language as a starting point for job protection discussions. The two carriers mentioned last week – US Airways and Continental – are not new entries in the merger sweepstakes. District 141 is not so much interested in which airlines provides the corporation or Board of Directors the maximum benefit – we are exclusively concerned about the potential affect on the security of our Members’ jobs, both at United and US Airways. Those of us that have lived through almost 20 years of merger speculation know the likelihood of failure is greater than the possibility of success. But we intend to take these developments seriously and use the tools of negotiation to protect our Members’ best interests.

Negotiations will continue next week.