IAM District 142 Settles Alaska Airlines Outsourcing Grievances
IAM District 142 today announced it has reached a settlement with Alaska Airlines regarding grievances filed due to the outsourcing of Ramp Service work in Seattle, WA. The resolution prohibits Alaska Airlines from exercising its current right to outsource any Customer Service and/or Ramp Service work, if such outsourcing is more cost effective than utilizing IAM members at current Alaska stations, until 2021. The settlement permits Alaska to continue to outsource Ramp work in Seattle.
“This resolution protects the work of all current Customer Service and Ramp Service IAM members at Alaska Airlines for the next five years,” said IAM District Lodge 142 President Dave Supplee. “We will be back bargaining with Alaska well before 2021 and plan to negotiate more expansive job and work protections, as well as try to bring in new work where we have the opportunity to do so.”
Multiple grievances were filed in the last 10 years, claiming that Ramp Service work in Seattle should be performed by IAM-represented Ramp Service workers. A similar grievance was filed after the original outsourcing in 2006, but the arbitrator’s decision to that grievance failed to require Alaska to return the work to IAM members.
“We looked at this long and hard, and based on our past experience and expertise, we were not confident we would get a favorable ruling by a third party arbitrator to bring this work back at all, let alone for the long term,” continued Supplee. “With the Virgin America merger and the launch of Alaska’s own ground handling company—McGee Air Services—we felt IAM-represented, dues paying members needed better work protections during this time of change. This settlement does that.”
Alaska Airlines and Virgin America announced the carriers’ intent to merge earlier this year. Also around the same time, Alaska Air Group announced it would establish a subsidiary ground handling company, McGee Air Services.
“Alaska Airlines has already announced that McGee Air Services will launch in Phoenix, handling all Ramp Service work at that location, which was formerly done by Delta Global Services,” said Supplee. “The IAM is presently in advanced talks with McGee Air Services about representing the workers there, so those workers can have a voice in their work life and future and so we can be on both sides of the equation in protecting our member’s jobs.”
Sincerely and fraternally,
David Supplee
PRESIDENT-DIRECTING
GENERAL CHAIR
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