Last month, we posted a bulletin concerning the meeting of the negotiations committee for the joint contract talks with the merged American Airlines. As a result of that bulletin, we did receive some comments concerning the make-up of the committee, specifically, the lack of members from different groups covered by the agreement. I’d like to explain the process for the joint negotiations with the TWU/IAM Alliance and the new American Airlines.
In the Alliance documents, we established that both sides would have an equal presence at the table. The joint negotiations team will have equal numbers of representatives from the IAM and the TWU – two mechanics from Line Maintenance, two from Heavy Maintenance and one Stores representative. That team will negotiate all common language in the joint collective bargaining agreement.
While the committee that will be at the table has already been named, what hasn’t been explained is that we plan on forming sub-committees of our accreted groups to provide specific guidance to the negotiation team. These sub-committees will be formed in the coming weeks and will include members from each of the accreted groups. We will also be asking for contract proposals once we get the single carrier ruling from the NMB. Once the proposal submission period has closed, we will bring another set of members from the accreted groups to work on the screening committee. These sub-committees will help in the negotiations by letting the negotiation committee know the specific issues that are important to each group and, if needed, could be brought to the table to address work specific issues.
I hope this explanation of our plans for negotiations helps everyone understand we intend on including all groups in the next round of talks with the new American Airlines. Should you have questions regarding the process, please contact your local Grievance Rep or General Chair.
POST ON ALL IAM BULLETIN BOARDS
