Dear Sisters and Brothers:
Occurring this week was a station visit from the IAM Union representative for Signature Flight Support at the MDW Airport. During this visit, meetings occurred with the local Shop Stewards, the MDW Signature IAM members as well as with your management representatives.
The actions by the Company concerning the recent shift bid have been front and center on everyone’s minds for the last two weeks. When the issue became known, your local Union Shop Stewards reach out to their District 142 General Chairperson to discuss. The issue is two-fold as it relates to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA allows for two (2) shift bids annually (Article 3.E.) and has a system in place that allows for the filling of vacancies via a bid posting/filling process. For quite some time, the Company has been conducting bids more than twice a year. This has been due to labor market conditions and not being able to hire. The second, and more important issue, is that the company for the first time has tried to attach qualifications, in this case towing, to the shift bid. In the Unions view, this recent attempt to use qualifications in that manner is a violation of the CBA. The use of qualifications on the bid creates a direct circumvention of your seniority rights.
During the meeting with management on Wednesday of this week, your IAM Union representatives met with SFS MDW management and discussed the issue in an attempt to resolve the dispute. While we understand the number of bids needed due to staffing, you committee made it clear that we disagree with the Company’s interpretation of the CBA and will be pursuing it through the grievance procedure, including arbitration.
In the meantime, the Company intends to pursue the bid to completion. They will, however, repost the bid with a fresh timeline to implementation. All members should understand that a CBA does not prevent any company from doing things that are violations of the CBA. This is why we have grievance procedures contained in them. Please make sure that you participate in the new bid. Also please document and give to your Shop Stewards any hardships or issues created by this shift bid. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact your local Shop Stewards or General Chairperson at (859) 653-4037 or jsamuel@iamdl142.org. With best wishes we remain
Sincerely and fraternally,
| John M. Coveny Jr | James M. Samuel |
| President-Directing General Chair | General Chairperson |
CC: R. Johnsen, General Vice-President, Air Transport Territory
E. Fraser, Chief of Staff, Air Transport Territory
T. Regan, Airline Coordinator, Air Transport Territory
J. Carlson, Air Transport Coordinator
DL 142 Executive Board