On Wednesday afternoon, Doug Caines again tried to “communicate” with the US based employees and only succeeded in insulting the group at large. Again. He would have you believe that there are employees who are eager to see progress in achieving an agreement that satisfies “the legitimate interest of the Company and our affected employees”. He should just speak clearly and say that he would like to see progress in “sub-contracting all remaining US based positions that are currently occupied by dedicated and loyal employees” which only adds to a bottom that consists of over a billion dollars in profit. He just cannot seem to speak that clearly.
Here is what has recently taken place. The Company met with Mediator McGuckin from the NMB and gave him half of a story to drive a meeting between the parties. The Mediator then tried to force the Union in to meet this month with little advanced notice. Because of another contract I have in mediation with the NMB, and which I had recently reached a tentative agreement with where that carrier respects their employees, I had already scheduled a ratification vote for the same week and that wasn’t going to be cancelled. After higher levels of leadership stepped in, the meeting was not scheduled, and we haven’t heard back from the Mediator as of today.
Your Negotiating Committee still stands poised and ready to come to the table and take common sense approaches to creating an agreement that keeps people employed without the needless out-sourcing of jobs. We have even met with and communicated the same to leadership from the UK, however we did not receive any reply to those discussions. This process could take a considerable amount of time with lengthy periods of little or no activity. Because of this, I again ask you to not entertain or facilitate the spread of any rumors.
Please take the time to sign up to receive communications such as this BA negotiations bulletin, and others, by going to www.iamdl142.org and clicking on the red “Join Our Email List” button in the top left-hand corner. If you have any questions, please give me a call at (859) 653-4037 or email me at ">. With best wishes, I remain
Sincerely and fraternally,
James M. Samuel
GENERAL CHAIR
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