United negotiations – week 10
Rich Delaney, June 6, 2009 — United negotiations continued during the week and were very productive. Both the Union and the Company went into greater detail regarding the proposals concerning vacation and the grievance procedure. This expanded United negotiation discussion permitted both sides to introduce new ideas for settlement. The United negotiations dialogue also increased into areas of the contract that may be affected by these proposed changes.
United negotiations tracking to a “bigger picture” view
This phase of United negotiations will pave the way for upcoming discussions related to wages and benefits. Both sides in United negotiations want to find ways to agree on specific contract provision changes and minimize the need to return to them in the future when other articles are discussed that may have an impact on them. Since both sides in United negotiations are offering serious proposals for settlement, the need for review and research of the effects of these proposals is necessary. Our team spent a great deal of time internally discussing the new concepts that have been put forward in United negotiation. We are preparing responses, which will be discussed next week. We also intend to continue the talks concerning job classifications and job descriptions when we return to United negotiation.
Talks between District 141 and United regarding the UAX operation impacting STL and ORD continued this past week, along side of United negotiations. The Company is refining its guidelines for outside vendor bids for the work in both stations. The IAM, including economists from our International’s Strategic Resources Dept., met over several days with Company representatives to review financial components, including staffing projections, of the bid process so we can remain as competitive as possible as the procedure makes its way to a final decision. While each station is being reviewed separately and is considered unique, it is expected that decisions regarding who will perform this work in the future in both stations will be made by early July.
District officers and Local Committee members from across the system met with United Employee Service Center this past week to get an understanding of the Center deals with our members’ issues. Now that the Company has centralized the handling of employee issues such as Extended Illness and other absences we need to establish a way to address the individual problems as they arise. This meeting was the beginning of those discussions and we will continue to look for the most workable process to solve people’s problems.
Apart from United negotiations
UAL also announced this past week that they have ask both Boeing and Airbus to submit proposals for possible sale of up to 150 new aircraft to United. The Company is trying to take advantage of the terrible economy and force each aircraft manufacturer to offer its best price for their planes. The upgrading of the fleet is a welcome and necessary move by United but it is also being portrayed as a replacement program for the aging fleet rather than an expansion of the overall operation.
United negotiation continues next week.