christian castro
Negotiation Update 5/26/23

The meeting started on May 23 with a review of the previous ratification process. We talked about what went well and what didn't during that time. We had a good discussion where everyone shared their thoughts and ideas. Here are a few of the important things we talked about:

Negotiation Update 5/26/23
Mechanics' Dispatch
christian castro
Negotiations Update July 13, 2022

Business Agents from throughout the system met at Local 769 in Miami on July 6th and 7th to discuss what transpired at the Principal Officer meeting in Washington, DC on June 28th, as well as several ongoing issues that have system wide impact.

Negotiations Update July 13, 2022

Continued RLA Section 6 Contract Negotiations

Continued RLA Section 6 Contract Negotiations

As described in our last update, we’ve reached out to the company to secure new meeting dates for negotiations. At this point, they have not provided any dates that they are available. This refusal by the company to meet to resume negotiations is unacceptable, and we are reminding the company that Section 2, First of the Railway Labor Act requires the company to meet with us in order to make and maintain agreements. If the company continues to refuse to meet with us in the near future, the Teamsters are prepared to take all legal options, including but not limited to engaging in self-help, to compel the company to comply with its obligation to bargain in good faith. We will keep you updated as new developments occur.

Safety Reminder

Safety Reminder

The explosive growth at United resulted in the addition of over two thousand technicians in a brief period of time. This scenario has resulted in many of our new technicians being thrust into situations that put them in the unenviable position of having to perform tasks that they are unfamiliar with and with no experienced technicians to guide them. As dedicated technicians, you provide a safe and on-time product and the expanded fleet and workload have put a strain on all of you. For that reason, I am asking that we all take a step back and look at how we perform our work. It is our responsibility to make sure that we are following the policies and procedures. Read and follow the paperwork! Never sign for work that you have not performed without first verifying that the job has been completed properly. Make sure to follow the LOTO procedures on every job. Ensure that you have adequate manpower when moving aircraft. When using equipment around the aircraft please follow established company procedures and make sure to use the proper PPE.

Foreign Repair Testing Comments

Foreign Repair Testing Comments

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is pleased to provide comments to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) entitled Drug and Alcohol Testing of Certain Maintenance Provider Employees Located Outside of the United States. The Teamsters are proud to represent tens of thousands of members in the aviation industry who ensure, and rely on, the safety of aircraft and of our National Airspace System. This includes pilots and flight attendants for whom planes are their workplaces, and demand that aircraft be maintained safely, regardless of where the maintenance is performed. Important to this rulemaking, this also includes the world’s most highly skilled maintenance technicians, who maintain aircraft across the nation and whose work is increasingly threatened by carriers’ outsourcing schemes which place profit above safety.

Ratification Update

Ratification Update

Instructions on how to vote electronically, including Voting Credentials, on the above-referenced Tentative Agreement will be mailed to members today, Wednesday, March 27, 2024.  

 Please post the attached “Notice of Referendum” at the Local Union Hall, on all worksite bulletin boards, and any other appropriate places.

BallotPoint Election Services has been contracted to administer this election.

Mechanics Dispatch - FAA - TSAP - License Protection Program

Mechanics Dispatch - FAA - TSAP - License Protection Program

I would like to discuss the heightened FAA presence that will most likely continue for the next several months. Every one of you is dedicated to your craft and doing the job right the first time. No-one can doubt that. With that said, I'd like to encourage you to double check that you're using the proper procedures for every task you perform. If you do make an honest mistake, please file a TSAP as soon as possible. Stay alert and safe, don't become a news story. Finally, please keep in mind that we have the license protection program to defend you should you need it. 

Updated financial Power Point deck posted

Updated financial Power Point deck posted

Many members were questioning the use of the actual average hours for the group in the assumption charts. These members were asking for a straight time only version of the assumptions. I asked our economist to redo the deck showing only straight time hours at 2080 per year. The new deck is posted at https://teamster.org/united-airline-comps/ for your review.

Tentative Agreement

Tentative Agreement

As you all know by now, your rank-and-file committee has accepted the Agreement in Principle which now turns the AIP into a Tentative Agreement (TA) and is ready for ratification by the membership. 

Now it is to you to make a choice. The TA is economically focused and includes a couple of minor, economically speaking, language changes. We urge you to look at all the information and consider the outcome carefully prior to deciding. As with every negotiation, this proposal will satisfy the expectations of some, while falling short for others. Ultimately, the decision is yours whether to ratify this offer or not, and we will stand by your choice. 

AIP Reached on an Extension

AIP Reached on an Extension

We write to update you on the recent meeting of your UAL IBT negotiating Committee, which took place in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 15, 2024. During this meeting, we were able to reach an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on a new extension to our JCBA. It is exceedingly rare to achieve an agreement prior to the amendable date under the RLA, and if ratified by you, this would become the first seamless contract we’ve seen at this company.

Negotiation Update

Negotiation Update

The company invited Joe Ferreira, Bob Fisher, Angel Cantu, and I to a meeting in Houston on Wednesday the 24th. At that meeting, the company informed us that they were interested in another extension. We told them the rank-and-file committee would evaluate any offer they might propose. We also relayed that Southwest was the industry leader for wages, and we would need to beat them in any extension offer.

Mechanics Dispatch: United's Transition to Smart-Choice

Mechanics Dispatch: United's Transition to Smart-Choice

The IBT Benefits Committee would like to make sure you are aware of the changes United is making to your HRA/VEBA reimbursement debit card. United announced the transition from Alight’s Your Spending Account (YSA) to their Smart-Choice account toward the end of last year via company email. The final email announcement was made on December 12, 2023, and it contains a link to the Smart-Choice website.

Negotiations Update: December 6

Negotiation Committee Members:

  • Mitch Hunt - DEN

  • Dave Mahood - EWR

  • Blake Silverstein - IAD

  • Dexter Thomas - IAH

  • Scott Stoddart - LAX

  • Mike Blomquist - MCO

  • Mike Pecoraro - ORD

  • Joseph Prisco - SFO

  • John Laurin - SFO

Your IBT Negotiating Committee met at Local 769 in Miami the week of December 4, 2023.

We started the week with your Benefits Committee to discuss Article 16 and how we can reduce benefit costs to our members across the board. As discussed at several system meetings, it is our fiduciary responsibility to determine whether TeamCare is an option that we should explore as one of the ways to reduce overall benefits costs to all members.

With that in mind, TeamCare gave us a presentation as to what they can offer our members in reducing the costs of our benefits while improving the overall maintenance of benefits. They gave us a comparison of benefits and costs to give us a preliminary idea of whether they could provide the membership with the cost savings we were looking for. When they finished with their presentation, the benefit and negotiating committees discussed what was presented and then the negotiating committee voted to task the benefit committee with continuing discussions with TeamCare as an option, and to bring back a proposal to the negotiation committee. Reducing Benefits costs was one of the top issues that the members brought up in the survey that needed to be addressed in negotiations.

The afternoon of December 5, your negotiating committee discussed Article 17 “Overtime”. We discussed “will work letters” (a method to auto accept overtime) and job continuation. We also talked about overtime bypasses being an issue and solutions to keep bypasses low and to make sure the system is more constant in application with local issues being addressed by utilizing paragraph J with “Overtime” guidelines.”

Wednesday, December 6, we started with our attorneys, Josh McInnerney and Emily Pantoja, to go over Article 19, “Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures,” and Article 20, “Arbitration.”

We went line by line to change what is broken or not working the way we believe it should work to better protect our members. We went over several solutions to improve the grievance process so our member’s issues are resolved per the agreement. Our attorneys will firm up the changes and return the articles to us and add them to other articles that will be part of our full pass to the company.

We finished the week with a Zoom call with our IBT Economist Kyle Schoembs to go over our wage components and where we are now as compared with other carriers and where we all be through 2026.

Finally, the section 6 notification has been filed and acknowledged by the company. The union is looking for dates in January to meet with the company.

Your IBT Negotiating Committee

Benefits Committee Update

Benefits Committee Update

The Benefits Committee convened at Teamsters Local 856 on September 20th and 21st to discuss proposals related to Article 16.

 

During these two-day meetings, several crucial discussions took place regarding potential changes and enhancements to Article 16. The committee worked diligently to ensure that any proposed changes align with the best interests of our members.