NMB – Simple up or down vote
The three-member National Mediation Board rule change would recognize a union if a simple majority of workers who cast ballots approve of having a union. Corporate executives predict everything from higher fuel costs to heightened security to result from this ruling. full story
United negotiations
Continental merger announcement
| Video (merger) | The announcement Monday morning that United and Continental had agreed to merge set off a very active week for District 141. Conversations with United began immediately. The first issue of importance was our current negotiations and what, if any, impact the merger might have on them.
We notified United that our intention is to continue with scheduled negotiations sessions, both with and without Mediator Brown. We also agreed to resume negotiations sooner than originally planned. We will meet with the company the week of May 17th.
Goal is to settle existing issues
Our goal is to reach an agreement with United addressing the contractual issues we have previously discussed, and also addressing our future. Some areas of concern – such as job security – take on even more importance than before, in light of the merger possibility.
The reason we are focusing on our contract negotiations rather than shifting to merger concerns is the fact that the merger process can and will be a long procedure — one that presents unnecessary delay to our intent to reach an agreement that improves wages and security of our Members.
How close is a merger, really?
There are several steps that must occur before a merger of UA/CAL could become a reality and affect us.
First, the shareholders of both corporations must vote to approve or reject the plan. Since stockholders are only interested in the value of the deal, and not the impact on employees, customers, or the industry, there will be arguments raised about the per share value of the transaction. In fact, shareholders of CAL have already filed a class action suit trying to block the merger with the argument that they are not getting enough value for their shares. These types of issues must be resolved before it advances to the next stage – governmental review and determination.
Both the Transportation Dept. and the Dept. of Justice will conduct reviews of the proposal to determine if it good for the traveling public or if violates antitrust laws and policies. Again, already some Congressmen, especially Representative Oberstar, have raised concerns about the impact this merger would have on airline competition and fare levels in the future and have indicated that the airlines should not assume automatic approval of the merger. These required steps are anticipated to take at least until the end of 2010. If the necessary approvals are given at that point, the financial transaction will be finalized.
These financial and legal requirements will not have immediate affect on our contracts, our wages, or working conditions. Both United and Continental will continue to operate as separate airlines for the near future. It is anticipated that the full combination of the operations of both carriers will take at least until the early part of 2012. Until that time, our contract remains in full force.
Seniority; Union Or No Union
A significant necessary step before full integration can happen is the resolution of issues of seniority and representation.
Our seniority protection in this situation is found in two places. One, our contract which outlines the need to follow the Allegheny-Mohawk Labor Protective Provisions. Secondly, a law was passed in 2008, called the McCaskill-Bond Amendment, requiring the “fair and equitable” integration of seniority between groups involved in airlines mergers. This law was passed several years after the employees of TWA were treated so cruelly by the employees of American, after that merger. American basically stapled the TWA seniority list to the bottom of their own, placing all TWA employees in junior positions. As a result, most former TWA employees have lost their jobs with American. The IAM’s policy, adhering to the Allegheny-Mohawk LPP’s is to merge seniority lists based on Company Seniority Dates. These discussions will take place with representatives of the employees of Continental at the proper time.
The issue of union representation must also be addressed in order to get to a fully integrated airlines. Similar classifications to ours at Continental are either not represented by any union – PCE – or have just recently voted to be represented by the Teamsters (IBT) – Ramp Service. Ultimately, decisions will have to be made over whether to have a union or not, and which union that should be.
As you can see, there are a lot of barriers that must be cleared before a merger is complete. We do not intend to wait for all these thing to take place before we reach a contractual agreement with United.
Merger Update section
District 141 has established a Merger section on our website that will have current information and answers to commonly asked questions. Please visit that section and forward to us any questions you may have for future additions to the Merger Q & A page.