Negotiations with the ‘new’ United

This week begins a new chapter in District 141’s history. It is our first week working with the new United Airlines.

Negotiations will resume this week and it is unknown at this time if the new management of the combined carrier will begin to influence our talks or let us continue with the existing United management team.

Last week the IAM announced they had reached an agreement with the Continental Airlines Flight Attendants. This tentative agreement covers essential elements of their contract – wages, benefits, work rules, etc. – but also provides the IAM represented Flight Attendants job protection during this period of integration and consolidation. These issues are of major concern to all employees and have been the critical components of our talks with United.

As we resume negotiations this week that will be our goal – reach an agreement that protects our Members now, provides increased wages and benefits, and calls for a reasonable time frame for future negotiations after our work groups have been fully combined. The CAL Flight Attendants agreement demonstrates when both sides are willing to seriously talk an agreement can be reached.

The fact that this tentative agreement was reached with the people now in charge of the new United is encouraging but we realize it is not a guarantee of success. Our Negotiating Team intends to continue to press for a settlement that is acceptable to our Members and recognizes the work they have done to bring United from the depths of bankruptcy to the height of being the largest carrier in the world. But the importance of protecting our Members in the same or improved way the Continental employees are is crucial.

Industry consolidation: To hub or not to hub?

Also last week it was announced that Southwest Airlines intends to acquire AirTran. This move is a continuation of the consolidation we have witnessed in the airline industry for the past few years. It is unclear at this time if Southwest is going to abandon their business model and become another “legacy” carrier” as a result of this purchase but something is going to change. For the first time, Southwest will expand their operation using addition aircraft other than 737’s – one of the basic elements of their business strategy was to focus on a single type of aircraft in order to reduce training and maintenance costs; they also will be expanding their use of the hub-and-spoke model – Southwest’s efficiencies have come from their point-to-point schedule but they have begun relying on hub operations in recent years and with AirTran’s position in ATL appear to be increasing the scheduling model of other major carriers such as United and Delta.

Organizing ourselves

Our annual District convention was held last week with the focus on negotiations and organizing. Our newly elected Officers were sworn in to office and are now assigned station representation duties. A list of all Officers and their assignments will be published on the District 141 website this week.

Our need to organize Members throughout the industry, and especially within the airlines we represent, was a major topic of special speakers during the conference. As we move closer to the integration of the Continental work groups into our classifications we know that all employees are going to have the opportunity and responsibility of voting for their future representation. We have the possibility of becoming Members of the largest union in the industry, representing the employees of the largest airline.

On the other hand, we have the risk of losing union representation for our Public Contact Members completely and losing our Ramp & Stores Members to another union. Our organizing efforts are not going to be centered on the Continental employees but rather on our current Members on United – to energize us all to support the IAM in upcoming elections.

The District’s organizing department. is currently working on communications that will emphasize the differences between non-union and union environments and also the differences between the IAM and the Teamsters so that everyone have clear and honest information available to them.

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