June/July Business Agents' Report

Chief Steward Nominations and Elections
Nominations for Chief Steward positions for the Airframe, Jet Shop, Backshop, and Line Chief Steward positions will be accepted at the July Craft Meeting this week. The positions will run for a three-year term. The timeline for the election process is as follows: Thursday, July 27th – Nominations Friday August, 4th – Ballots mailed Monday, August 14th-Thursday, August 17th – Duplicate Ballot Request window Friday, September 1st – Ballots due by 6pm (US Mail only) Monday, September 5th – Ballot Count at 10:30am Please refer to your local Union Bulletin Boards for more information

Human Resource Meetings at Willis Tower
On Thursday, July 6th, all Business Agents from around the system met with the new HR team for United Airlines at Willis Tower in Chicago. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the Business Agents to the new HR structure and areas of responsibility and to provide contact information for the various HR personnel. In addition, the Business Agents engaged the Company as to several ongoing issues important to our members with the hope of arriving at resolution. There was a conversation about Article 5 – Filling of Vacancies with the Business Agents raising several issues that were occurring across the system. After our discussion on the topic, the Company suggested that it would be beneficial to form a process improvement team that would include the IBT in order to work out difficulties with the BAQ’s and the eBid System. The IBT will designate two Business Agents to assist this committee. Another issue discussed was in regards to the badging difficulties being experienced by members across the system and the reporting date delays that are occurring as a result. The Company agreed to put together a guideline for local administrative personnel to use for assisting our members who are successful bidders across the system in their efforts to obtain the necessary badging and so that there is a consistent application by administrative personnel at all United locations, which so far has not been the case. Another subject that was discussed was the Return-to-work process. The Business Agents raised concerns about some of the generic forms being used and some of the unnecessary delays that are occurring across the system and offered some suggestions on improving the process. No immediate solutions were reached but we expect this to be an ongoing topic of conversation with the Company going forward. After the HR meeting concluded, there was a follow-up meeting with Labor Relations representatives to discuss the existing contractual grievances across the system and to finalize plans to hold rotating SBA hearings in the West, Midwest and Eastern regions in an effort to adjudicate those existing grievances in a timely manner.

The Return to Work Process
As we touched on in our outline of the topics raised in the meeting with the new Human Resources team, the Return-to-Work process is one that is causing growing concern. While the Union continues to engage the Company with specific issues in an effort to make sure that its practices are both fair and consistent, we feel it is imperative for our members to take the necessary steps to protect their interests throughout the process. When returning from an illness, regardless of duration, it is important to make sure that doctors certificate shows that you are released to Full Duty with No Restrictions. Now, obviously, that must actually be the case. But is important to note that some of the generic forms do not include this verbiage and it can cause unnecessary delays in the process. Additionally, it is important to save copies of all Absence Certificates that you submit and Review of Medical Documentation forms that you receive from the Company throughout the process. And finally, it is important to save all emails and log all phone calls with OPCMD along with contact information and items discussed in order to properly lay out a timeline of events that can be crucial in determining whether you have been harmed by the process.

Labor History for the months of June and July
June 28th, 1938 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) into law. The FLSA applied to industries whose combined employment represented only about one-fifth of the labor force. In these industries, it banned certain types of child labor, established a minimum wage, and set a maximum workweek at 44 hours. June 4th, 1975 - Governor Jerry Brown signs the landmark California Agricultural Relations Act, establishing collective bargaining rights for the state’s farmworkers. Agricultural workers’ collective bargaining rights were excluded from the federal National Industrial Recovery Act and the National Labor Relations Act and efforts throughout the years for inclusion had been unsuccessful. July 22nd, 1887 - Brewers and brewery workers in San Francisco sign their first collective bargaining agreement, bringing to a close a strike and successful boycott which had lasted several months. The agreement included a closed shop, sick leave, a 10-hour day, minimum wages, overtime pay, and “free beer in moderation while at work.” July 31st, 1999 - The Great Shipyard Strike of 1999 ends after steelworkers at Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. ratify a breakthrough agreement which nearly doubles pensions, increases security, ends inequality, and provides the highest wage increases in company and industry history to nearly 10,000 workers. The strike lasted over 16 weeks.

Labor Quotes
The quality of employees will be directly proportional to the quality of life you maintain for them. - Charles E. Bryan

It was working men and women who made the 20th century the American century. It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label – Barack Obama

TSAP ERC Member Mike Woltjen Retires
The IBT Representative for the TSAP (formerly MSAP) Event Review Committee, Mike Woltjen, retired on July 22nd. The new IBT Representative for the ERC is Tracy MacCorkell, who has been working as the Line Safety Representative here at SFO for a number of years and has also been serving as Mike’s alternate on the ERC. The new Line Safety Representative is Line Technician Paul Dodge, who has a ton of experience on the Line both as a technician and as a Shop Steward and is very knowledgeable and well acquainted with the challenges on the Line at SFO in terms of Safety. Paul will also be training as the backup ERC with Tracy. While we are all sad to see Mike leave the SFO Committee, we are very confident that Tracy and Paul will continue serving the membership with the same level of commitment and excellence that Mike did throughout his tenure. We would like to send congratulations to Mike for his hard work the last couple of years helping to keep our TSAP program one of the more robust programs in the industry and his long commitment to Safety throughout his career both in Airframe and on the Line. Please refer to the new SFO Committee Contact list for all updated contact information.

Stay Informed
The communication process is an extremely important part of what we do to represent our folks here at SFO and, as we have been outlining for quite some time, we have been blasting out the BA Report along with any other communication we get from the Airline Division or the International to anyone who registers at the TeamstersSFO website. Additionally, there are weekly meetings held with the Shop Stewards to pass on any important informational items that may come up during the month. It is crucial to our process that every area on every shift have Shop Steward representation and that the Shop Steward give, at a minimum, weekly briefings to his/her crew so that all the information gets to our members. We feel that it is essential for all of our members to be engaged and informed at all times. Therefore, we encourage all of you to spread the word to your fellow technicians to go to the TeamstersSFO website and click on the ‘email signup’ tab to get on the list. And, most importantly, we urge you to also consider getting more involved. Every month, on the last Thursday, we hold Craft Meetings at Local 856. At these meetings, the membership hears reports from the Business Agents and other members of the SFO Committee on Grievances, Safety, Member Assistance, and TSAP. Additionally, all members have an opportunity to ask questions and to bring up topics for discussion. Check your IBT Bulletin Board for dates and times and make it a point to stop by. As always, stay informed!

In Solidarity,

Mark DesAngles                           Javier Lectora
Business Agent Local 986      Business Agent Local 856