TWU/IAM Members: How Long Will Negotiations Take?
- Thread starter ChockJockey
- Start date
Read this story. No comment. If your interested in making more money and better benefits I suggest you apply. Waiting for this ASSociation to get moving will take an act of Congress or maybe a presidential executive order.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/news/economy/trash-workers-high-pay/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/news/economy/trash-workers-high-pay/index.html
bob@las-AA
Veteran
I was wondering when somebody was going to actually post something like this, the story is wonderful. So all the clerks at American airlines who are crying poverty, and are being treated unfairly, here's a suggestion! Work more hours.1AA said:
WeAAsles
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Negotiations Update
February 28, 2016
To the Membership,
As I continue to discuss and update the Local 591 members throughout the system, it is becoming more evident that our members are disgusted by what appears to be the slow pace of negotiations. The frustration most members convey, is how quickly American was able negotiate concessions and that they appear to be dragging their feet now that they are reaping record profits. Unfortunately, I cannot explain why the company is starting their proposals so far from what they know we are willing to accept, thereby continuing the process of tradition competitive negotiations versus modern day collaborative bargaining. Many of you have already heard me say, the initial proposal passed on each Article sets the tone and time necessary to reach what becomes a tentative agreement of that Article. Unfortunately, it seems like someone who is calling the shots on the negotiating committee for the American believes we are interested in concessionary bargaining, which we are not, by making proposals that include concessions or vague language. Competitive bargaining, like this, unnecessarily lengthens the amount of time it takes to negotiate and reach a tentative agreement. Also, so there is no further confusion, American has not yet delivered anything close to an industry-leading proposal on any of their first pass of an Article thus far, which is what the senior leadership committed they would be doing. Nor has their negotiating team provided us with their package of comprehensive proposals, which could also expedite the process.
So what needs to change to speed up the process and how do we get there? There are two things that I believe that American could do to speed up the process: one is to negotiate without interruption until the process is complete, and two is to pass proposals that are inline with the market. With United’s rejection of the company’s “closeout proposal,” by an overwhelming 93%, and with the lead negotiator for American, Jerry Glass, being quoted in several news articles related to the rejection, it seems Mr. Glass has a good grasp of why the offer at United failed by such a massive number. So going forward, it would seem logical for American to recognize that we have no intention of accepting anything close to what IBT members at United just rejected. American needs to start making proposals that start closer to where they know we need to be, in order to bring something back for our members to vote on that they would ratify. Just last week, David Seymour was quoted as saying, “Our effort is we want to get a quick contract - that’s the directive that our negotiating team is operating on” and yet the initial company proposals do not reflect anything close that edict. Doug Parker has also said several times in his jetnet videos, that airline workers are starting a period of pattern/leap frog bargaining, “which is good for workers;” yet it doesn’t seem that his negotiating team hears the words he is saying or they just choose to ignore him.
Speaking of Doug Parker; he has said that he has a vision for the “New American,” specifically about the way labor interacts with labor relations and employees interact with management, and yet we have seen very little change from most of his Managers and Directors. They still prefer to pound on the membership, rather than listen to them. Most of the leaders continue the methods taught at legacy American from 2003 through bankruptcy. Mr. Parker has also clearly stated, on video, that he wants to transform American, like Delta has done. To move the bar, it will take a major shift in how American’s legacy leadership manages; most members have had enough of the rhetoric about what management believes they gained in bankruptcy. It seems Mr. Parkers voice is unrecognizable to them, or they are disrespectfully brushing aside his call for change, so maybe it is time for Mr. Parker to prove he is a man of his words. Mr. Parker and the senior leadership team often make references to Delta and while it is a non-union shop, it is clear that Delta’s senior leadership has recognized that good pay, work rules, low benefit costs, and sensible front-line management create a culture of satisfied employees, which Mr. Parker claims he wants to mimic. Unfortunately, just the other day it was once again reported to me that a legacy American manager yelled at our members that: “nothing will ever make you guys happy, even if we treated you to everything that Delta enjoys you still wouldn’t perform.” It is also unfortunate that this manager’s definition of “perform” was more closely aligned with overlooking the “in accordance with” requirement and more focused an OTS aircraft making his scheduled in-service time. And no, good pay, work rules, low benefit costs, and sensible front-line management does not change our responsibility to our flight crews and passengers towards IAW; the Managers and Directors need to accept that fact and stop correlating those two things as being synonymous.
My hope is Mr. Parker and his leadership team will soon realize the only way to beat Delta is to rid this company of Managers and Directors who have such disdain for the American Airlines employees who do their work IAW policies, procedures, maintenance manuals and the CBA they have agreed to. Mr. Parker needs to actually create an environment of inclusion - not exclusion - for our members who follow the rules, and stop rewarding and disciple those who break them just to make schedule. On the front-line, we still see many of the same faces in leadership at the “New American” and unfortunately they have no interest in changing, but rather play the game of saying “this” to the leadership and doing “that” to our membership; in stark contrast to Mr. Parker’s paradigm shifting company agenda. Mr. Parker also needs to reiterate to motivate his negotiating team that they need to advance proposals that are inline with the industries best standards, not proposals that are based on traditional or concessionary bargaining. If Mr. Parker and his leadership team truly want to transform American and get this deal done, it is time for them to step up and lead, not just with his words in town hall meetings, but through actual industry leading proposals at the bargaining table.
Lastly, in the next few weeks, American will reward the Level 5 and above managers with an 18% bonus. David Seymour tried to explain to the union leadership that the bonus was, “at risk compensation for management.” I told David Seymour that our membership expected them to live up to the Gain Sharing provision of the CBA and that they should be paying us 18%. From the answer given, it seems there is no interest in giving us anything. My question for the senior leadership remains: How is the membership supposed to believe American’s new Leadership Team, when we aren’t actually seeing anything different from those who forced us into the 2003 concessions and then through bankruptcy? I am also not sure how such a bonus will resonate on the former US Airways side of American, but what I do know is that this decision alon
Garry Peterson
February 28, 2016
To the Membership,
As I continue to discuss and update the Local 591 members throughout the system, it is becoming more evident that our members are disgusted by what appears to be the slow pace of negotiations. The frustration most members convey, is how quickly American was able negotiate concessions and that they appear to be dragging their feet now that they are reaping record profits. Unfortunately, I cannot explain why the company is starting their proposals so far from what they know we are willing to accept, thereby continuing the process of tradition competitive negotiations versus modern day collaborative bargaining. Many of you have already heard me say, the initial proposal passed on each Article sets the tone and time necessary to reach what becomes a tentative agreement of that Article. Unfortunately, it seems like someone who is calling the shots on the negotiating committee for the American believes we are interested in concessionary bargaining, which we are not, by making proposals that include concessions or vague language. Competitive bargaining, like this, unnecessarily lengthens the amount of time it takes to negotiate and reach a tentative agreement. Also, so there is no further confusion, American has not yet delivered anything close to an industry-leading proposal on any of their first pass of an Article thus far, which is what the senior leadership committed they would be doing. Nor has their negotiating team provided us with their package of comprehensive proposals, which could also expedite the process.
So what needs to change to speed up the process and how do we get there? There are two things that I believe that American could do to speed up the process: one is to negotiate without interruption until the process is complete, and two is to pass proposals that are inline with the market. With United’s rejection of the company’s “closeout proposal,” by an overwhelming 93%, and with the lead negotiator for American, Jerry Glass, being quoted in several news articles related to the rejection, it seems Mr. Glass has a good grasp of why the offer at United failed by such a massive number. So going forward, it would seem logical for American to recognize that we have no intention of accepting anything close to what IBT members at United just rejected. American needs to start making proposals that start closer to where they know we need to be, in order to bring something back for our members to vote on that they would ratify. Just last week, David Seymour was quoted as saying, “Our effort is we want to get a quick contract - that’s the directive that our negotiating team is operating on” and yet the initial company proposals do not reflect anything close that edict. Doug Parker has also said several times in his jetnet videos, that airline workers are starting a period of pattern/leap frog bargaining, “which is good for workers;” yet it doesn’t seem that his negotiating team hears the words he is saying or they just choose to ignore him.
Speaking of Doug Parker; he has said that he has a vision for the “New American,” specifically about the way labor interacts with labor relations and employees interact with management, and yet we have seen very little change from most of his Managers and Directors. They still prefer to pound on the membership, rather than listen to them. Most of the leaders continue the methods taught at legacy American from 2003 through bankruptcy. Mr. Parker has also clearly stated, on video, that he wants to transform American, like Delta has done. To move the bar, it will take a major shift in how American’s legacy leadership manages; most members have had enough of the rhetoric about what management believes they gained in bankruptcy. It seems Mr. Parkers voice is unrecognizable to them, or they are disrespectfully brushing aside his call for change, so maybe it is time for Mr. Parker to prove he is a man of his words. Mr. Parker and the senior leadership team often make references to Delta and while it is a non-union shop, it is clear that Delta’s senior leadership has recognized that good pay, work rules, low benefit costs, and sensible front-line management create a culture of satisfied employees, which Mr. Parker claims he wants to mimic. Unfortunately, just the other day it was once again reported to me that a legacy American manager yelled at our members that: “nothing will ever make you guys happy, even if we treated you to everything that Delta enjoys you still wouldn’t perform.” It is also unfortunate that this manager’s definition of “perform” was more closely aligned with overlooking the “in accordance with” requirement and more focused an OTS aircraft making his scheduled in-service time. And no, good pay, work rules, low benefit costs, and sensible front-line management does not change our responsibility to our flight crews and passengers towards IAW; the Managers and Directors need to accept that fact and stop correlating those two things as being synonymous.
My hope is Mr. Parker and his leadership team will soon realize the only way to beat Delta is to rid this company of Managers and Directors who have such disdain for the American Airlines employees who do their work IAW policies, procedures, maintenance manuals and the CBA they have agreed to. Mr. Parker needs to actually create an environment of inclusion - not exclusion - for our members who follow the rules, and stop rewarding and disciple those who break them just to make schedule. On the front-line, we still see many of the same faces in leadership at the “New American” and unfortunately they have no interest in changing, but rather play the game of saying “this” to the leadership and doing “that” to our membership; in stark contrast to Mr. Parker’s paradigm shifting company agenda. Mr. Parker also needs to reiterate to motivate his negotiating team that they need to advance proposals that are inline with the industries best standards, not proposals that are based on traditional or concessionary bargaining. If Mr. Parker and his leadership team truly want to transform American and get this deal done, it is time for them to step up and lead, not just with his words in town hall meetings, but through actual industry leading proposals at the bargaining table.
Lastly, in the next few weeks, American will reward the Level 5 and above managers with an 18% bonus. David Seymour tried to explain to the union leadership that the bonus was, “at risk compensation for management.” I told David Seymour that our membership expected them to live up to the Gain Sharing provision of the CBA and that they should be paying us 18%. From the answer given, it seems there is no interest in giving us anything. My question for the senior leadership remains: How is the membership supposed to believe American’s new Leadership Team, when we aren’t actually seeing anything different from those who forced us into the 2003 concessions and then through bankruptcy? I am also not sure how such a bonus will resonate on the former US Airways side of American, but what I do know is that this decision alon
Garry Peterson
JFK Fleet Service
Veteran
The beatings will continue until the morale improves.
JFK Fleet Service
Veteran
I've always expected nothing from the Ass, so when the Ass delivers ass I won't be surprised.
scorpion 2
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- May 11, 2012
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- 539
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I just wish the twu me-too meant something! Ya we had a me-too but the only purpose for it was to get these simpletons to vote yes. The twu inserts a me-too provision to ease the conscience of the weak minded and they think they can vote yes and let the other unions fight for them. It gets the contract passed and the twu can get back to collecting dues with no wasted money spent on contract negotiations.xUT said:
What these buried heads in the sand won't come to grips with is that they never get me-tood.
The pilots got a better deal early on during BK talks and their concession ask went from 20% down to 17%. The twu got our concessions lowered from 20% to 17% because of the me-too but we lost 2/3rds of our profit sharing. HUH?? In other words the twu traded something to get us something. 8 months later the me-too kicked in again when the twu got its members me-too equity. The only problem was that the overall amount of equity never changed from day one. The twu was given a 4.8% equity stake originally and 8 months later it was still 4.8% but a large portion of it was labelled me-too equity. Apparently its easier to blow smoke up idiots arses and relabel equity allocations than it is to invoke a me-too provision that was never meant to be utilized to begin with.
D
Deleted member 14439
Guest
Mechanic & Related/Stores Committee Update, March 4, 2016:
The Mechanic & Related/Stores Committee met with American Airlines the week of February 29th in Fort Worth, Texas. Your Committee wants you to understand very clearly, contrary to Doug Parkers video and what other members of management have stated, your committee has NOT received a final or comprehensive proposal from the Company.
Your Negotiating Committee, during this session, has worked on the following articles:
• No Strike/No Lockout -Your Committee has reached a tentative agreement on this language.
• System Board of Adjustment - Your Committee has reached a tentative agreement on this language.
• MCT Dress Attire and Field Trip Gear - Your Committee has reached a tentative agreement on this language.
• Absence from Duty - Your Committee has made a counter proposal to the company and we are awaiting their response.
• Meal Period - Your Committee has made a counter proposal to the company and we are awaiting their response.
• Representation - This article was very difficult due to the complexity of language in both agreements, and your Committee is reviewing a counter proposal from the company, that has narrowed the issues considerably.
• Grievance Procedure - Due to the difference in contracts, your Committee has written a new grievance procedure, in order to expedite the grievance process. The company is now reviewing your Committee’s pass to them, after multiple passes between the parties
Your Committee is committed to bargaining the best contract, as quickly as possible. We will meet in Washington, D.C. next week, to continue negotiations.
The Mechanic & Related/Stores Committee met with American Airlines the week of February 29th in Fort Worth, Texas. Your Committee wants you to understand very clearly, contrary to Doug Parkers video and what other members of management have stated, your committee has NOT received a final or comprehensive proposal from the Company.
Your Negotiating Committee, during this session, has worked on the following articles:
• No Strike/No Lockout -Your Committee has reached a tentative agreement on this language.
• System Board of Adjustment - Your Committee has reached a tentative agreement on this language.
• MCT Dress Attire and Field Trip Gear - Your Committee has reached a tentative agreement on this language.
• Absence from Duty - Your Committee has made a counter proposal to the company and we are awaiting their response.
• Meal Period - Your Committee has made a counter proposal to the company and we are awaiting their response.
• Representation - This article was very difficult due to the complexity of language in both agreements, and your Committee is reviewing a counter proposal from the company, that has narrowed the issues considerably.
• Grievance Procedure - Due to the difference in contracts, your Committee has written a new grievance procedure, in order to expedite the grievance process. The company is now reviewing your Committee’s pass to them, after multiple passes between the parties
Your Committee is committed to bargaining the best contract, as quickly as possible. We will meet in Washington, D.C. next week, to continue negotiations.
Herenthesouth
Member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2015
- Messages
- 22
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- 29
Isn't it kind of ironic that there hasn't been any townhall meeting lately. Is it because Dougy and his clowns don't want to have to answer questions about the 18% bonus to his management or have to answer to their intentionally slow M&E negotiations.
D
Deleted member 14439
Guest
Yes there is a fleet update.Worldport said:
bob@las-AA
Veteran
Why don't you try sending Doug an email, just might be quicker!Herenthesouth said:
