The full negotiating committees continued to meet this week in Dallas, TX to write the remaining language needed to secure the final contract from the Agreement in Principle made with American Airlines. With a few exceptions, the bulk of that work is now done.
Our next task is to work with our attorneys to finalize the language that properly protects our industry leading 401(k) contributions, pension contributions, and profit sharing. It is important to make sure these critical elements are unambiguous. These core tenants of the new agreement are extremely valuable to members while they are working and when they retire, so we must ensure they are foundationally sound. It is our goal to get this exercise done in our meetings next week.
The final piece of the JCBA will be to reach an implementation schedule with the company. We all expect the benefits of these bargaining sessions to come to us as quickly and as reasonably as possible. This is not assured without written agreements outlining the timeframes of when the changes will start.
While it may seem to be a long process to finalize this deal, it is the intent of your negotiators that we get everything that was bargained for, that it is done right and that you know what to expect. We have spent years in a tough fight and we cannot short circuit the negotiations at the end, just to expedite the process.
Your continued patience and support is appreciated – it is what got us here. This industry best contract will prove that the time it has taken was worth it!
