Will Arbitrate If Provoked

[AMFAMAN]

:down: In possibly the most pathetic pre-negotiations letter to his membership, twu Local 565 President, Keith Stewart has declared that if negotiations should reach an impasse; we will arbitrate. Not sure what happened to the self-help option by declining the profer of arbitration, but apparently that is not an option. :down:

February 13, 2007

TWU Local 565 Membership



Air Transport World Award



On February 21 of this month American Airlines and the Transport Workers Union will receive an award from Air Transport World Magazine based on the cooperative efforts we have engaged in with the company over the past year and a half. I have been invited and accepted the invitation to attend this award presentation on the membership’s behalf. I will also make myself available for interviews and quotes to be published in the magazine with the related article concerning the award. Incidentally this award and the article accompanying it are advertising for our fledging MRO business that is invaluable. Although I will of course be completely open and truthful I will hope to paint a positive and even prideful position this has put our membership in. For those of us that have been in the trenches of the airline industry over the past five years this will seem like pure fiction. That being said I will hope to accurately portray a work group that when prevailed upon for help did so with great reluctance but also at great heights literally ceding fifty years of negotiated gains in a matter of weeks, but one that now finds itself in the satisfying position of a debtor. Due to some of our people’s conceptual problems with these collaborative efforts, and the fact that traveling to this event will cause me to miss our February 22 membership meeting. I felt it important to make every effort to communicate to you why I will be attending this event. I will also commit to you to be out on our field the week of Feb. 26 as much as humanly possible due in part to my absence’s in recent membership meetings and to get your thoughts and concerns on these recent events. On a related note the Tulsa base recently celebrated the goals they set out to achieve last year, and yes they were financial goals that were achieved. We are indeed helping our company through these difficult times, publicly and being recognized and even awarded for it and in the face of this help they will take their Performance Stock Plan Bonus. Many will ask why we should be accepting of this stance. Let me make this perfectly clear we are in no way agreeing with or signing off on the management stock bonus plan. Their profiting from your efforts without some form of equal incentives for our membership is reprehensible.



I hope to explain why with some likely scenarios in our upcoming contract negotiations and a condition of the railway labor act, which we are bound to. The Railway Labor Act calls for an Arbitrator to enter negotiated proceedings when an impasse has been achieved. We will enter into contract negotiations with the company this fall and it will be our goal to benefit our membership to levels we were once at and hopefully even to surpass those same levels. I hope no one assumes this will be easy; there will in all likelihood be less than positive responses from the company to these early requests. However I feel your resolve and therefore I am resolved to be persistent and continue to press for our goals. I also feel this same resolve from the other presidents. Should we continue to press on all fronts and should the company continue to deny or compromise our legitimate concerns at some point in time we will reach an impasse. At this time an impartial arbitrator will be assigned to the negotiations as per the railway labor act.



It is at this time that I believe these collaborative efforts and awards will pay dividends. Many have called these efforts “deals with the devil†and although I understand those sentiments I would ask each of you if you cannot see those deals making us stronger, especially in front of a neutral arbitrator? If we were to lay out the history of our partnership that has now brought funds into the company and awards from respected outside Medias it WILL carry weight. Traditionally we have gone into negotiations with a desire to take a slice of a competitor’s contract book and perhaps a different slice of a different competitor’s contract book. Trust me this time there isn’t anything from any of our competitor’s circumstances we want. Our greatest strength in the up coming negotiations is to negotiate from this stance; it’s a position of strength. A neutral arbitrator cannot help but see our value to the company as our management has in their celebrations in Tulsa and in the awards given to us by the most respected periodical in our industry. We then should be able to take these universally accepted values we have achieved for the company and turn them into values to our membership.



Fraternally,

Keith Stewart

http://www.twu565.org/President'sMessa...ward2-13-07.htm

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

especially in front of a neutral arbitrator

No Such Thing
Never Has Been
The Arbitrator will always take the companys side
Thus the word traitor in Arbitrator

 

[FWAAA]

MLB players often agree to arbitration and some of them seem to get very favorable awards. Wonder why airline workers seem so scared of arbitration?

Although I agree that it would be stupid to claim in advance that self-help isn't even a possibility, are there any examples of RLA employee groups where the workers were clearly shafted in arbitration? Are there examples where the workers did OK?

Still - you guys pay two hours of pay each month for this? That's shameful.

 

[limit]

Maybe the guy meant to say mediator.
I do not think the labor act can force you to go to arbitration.


"I hope to explain why with some likely scenarios in our upcoming contract negotiations and a condition of the railway labor act, which we are bound to. The Railway Labor Act calls for an Arbitrator to enter negotiated proceedings when an impasse has been achieved."

 

[AMFAMAN]

MLB players often agree to arbitration and some of them seem to get very favorable awards. Wonder why airline workers seem so scared of arbitration?

Although I agree that it would be stupid to claim in advance that self-help isn't even a possibility, are there any examples of RLA employee groups where the workers were clearly shafted in arbitration? Are there examples where the workers did OK?

Still - you guys pay two hours of pay each month for this? That's shameful.

Not afraid of it, just wondering why we're showing our hand prior to the fight. You are correct it is shameful we pay dues to these people.

Maybe the guy meant to say mediator.
I do not think the labor act can force you to go to arbitration.
"I hope to explain why with some likely scenarios in our upcoming contract negotiations and a condition of the railway labor act, which we are bound to. The Railway Labor Act calls for an Arbitrator to enter negotiated proceedings when an impasse has been achieved."

No, it was confirmed in a conversation that he meant exactly what he wrote. He even states in the letter, the events before the arbitrator, after the impasse.

 

[TWU informer]

As sad as it is.

We would likely fair much better from an aribtration decision than the last 20 years of sellout negotiations by the TWU.

Strange though, Gary Yingst has apparently already decided the TWU will only open the articles in the contract pertaining to compensation and wants to leave all other benefits and work rules closed to discussion. ROFL

Of course when we asked the TWU Officer spewing this fact, how that was decided since the membership surveys or input methods have not been activiated yet, it was another green faced silent follower of the dictators moment.

My guess would be that if the TWU is already planning for impasses, and given the openers are not scheduled until November, you can plan on working under this POS agreement until late 2009 or early 2010.

 

[ch53D]

If we come to an impasse, we need to go to mediation. If mediation doesn’t produce an agreement, we go to a 30 day cooling off, then burn the place to the ground if no agreement is reached.

Arbitration will take your ability for self help away.

 

[Boomer]

Stockholm Syndrome...Carty was the big push for "Baseball Arbitration", and the Union screamed like a b!tch.

Now that overhaul knows that they will be farmed out at the earliest opportunity; they are crying for an Arbitrator to do what the TWU cannot do for themselves.

 

[ch53D]

Stockholm Syndrome...Carty was the big push for "Baseball Arbitration", and the Union screamed like a b!tch.

Now that overhaul knows that they will be farmed out at the earliest opportunity; they are crying for an Arbitrator to do what the TWU cannot do for themselves.

Your right the TWU was screaming bloody murder three years ago when Carty brought it up.

Arpey must have told the TWU if you don't us arbitration overhaul will be farmed out. It's all about becoming the best company union out there.

 

[Ed Norton]

:down: In possibly the most pathetic pre-negotiations letter to his membership, twu Local 565 President, Keith Stewart has declared that if negotiations should reach an impasse; we will arbitrate. Not sure what happened to the self-help option by declining the profer of arbitration, but apparently that is not an option. :down:
http://www.twu565.org/President'sMessa...ward2-13-07.htm

Will hump your leg if provoked!

Will plagiarize the Boy Scouts if provoked! :down:

 

[Chuck Schalk]

Arbitrators rule on industry standards not setting industry standards! With all the bankruptcy carriers and the TWU voluntary bankruptcy concessions, The arbitrator will rule on the merits of the majority. This is a prelude to our future negotiations with the TWU. Like I have said "we are a company union, we can't fight the same people we collaborate with in the poor decisions the company makes upon their employees." How does the TWU argue any point if we are involoved in the decision process? Stop calling the TWU a union, we are a dues playing club with high priced non-elected officers.

FYI: In my opinion, This letter has Don Videtitch ink all over it. Nice try Keith Stewart.

 

[MCI transplant]

<_< ----- Let's hope it's not Kasher!!!!

 

[Bob Owens]

Your right the TWU was screaming bloody murder three years ago when Carty brought it up.

Arpey must have told the TWU if you don't us arbitration overhaul will be farmed out. It's all about becoming the best company union out there.

Or maybe they will threaten to cut off the $3 million!

 

[AMFAMAN]

FYI: In my opinion, This letter has Don Videtitch ink all over it. Nice try Keith Stewart.

Keith is the second coming of Donnie V., only Donnie knew how to BS the masses and everyone sees right through Keith's BS and calls him on it. I'm sure Keith would like to one day get to Donnie's level where you get paid a large union salary but never show up on a LM-2. Well he'll get his chance next year when he gets booted out of office.

 

[Wretched Wrench]

then burn the place to the ground if no agreement is reached.

Bad choice of words, there.

May I suggest an edit?