November 2018 Business Agents' Report
Teamster Member Assistance Program Training held September 26th-28th
Once a year, the Teamster Member Assistance Program (TMAP) Regional Coordinators put together a training session for the TMAP volunteers from around the system. This year, the training was held at the Los Altos Jesuit Retreat Center on September 26th thru September 28th.
The event was attended by 18 volunteers representing LAX, IAH, ORD, DEN, EWR, PHX, CLE as well as our two SFO volunteers, Chris Curtis (MM) and Bryan Bartling (RQ). In preparation, our two SFO Regional Coordinators, Steve Crummey and Steve Loone worked the logistics of the event, including transportation and resource gathering, and assisted the other system Regional Coordinators, Caleb Good (ORD), Mike Brooks (DEN) and Dominic Fiero (IAH) with developing the agenda and selecting presenters for the 3-day session.
The training included discussions on Prescription Drugs in a DOT environment, including Opiates and THC, Leave of Absences and Workers Comp Guidelines as well as Ethics, Benefits, FMLA, LTD insurance and the sharing of experiences from around the system to better serve our membership.
A special thanks to the Local 986 Principal Officer Chris Griswold and Local 856 Principal Officer Peter Finn for their continued support of this extremely important program. Thanks also to the two Steves for helping put this event together and for all of the outstanding work they do for our members on a daily basis.
If you or anyone you work with is having trouble coping with a personal problem that is affecting their work or, you just want some info on FMLA, State Disability, Paid Family Leave, a benefits question or just an ear to listen. Reach out to our TMAP Coordinators Steve Crummey (Jet Shop/Backsops) 650-745-5867 or Steve Loone (Airframe/MM) 650-745-5864.
Aflac Representatives Visit SFO
Aflac representatives spent several weeks here at SFO last month and we were able to make them accessible to nearly every work area at the Base and the Line on all three shifts. These folks are providing a dynamic set of insurance products, including Whole Life Insurance, Critical Illness, Accident Insurance and Short-Term Disability, to supplement and solidify your personal insurance portfolio and plug all the gaps in your coverage. Additionally, we were able to get another round of ‘guaranteed issuance’ approved by Aflac for this year so that our folks again were able to sign up for any of the products offered without undergoing any type of physical evaluation. Overall, it was a very successful effort and we want to say ‘Thanks’ to all of the TeamstersSFO Committee members who spent long hours escorting Aflac personnel around SFO. Special thanks to Coordinator Fred Wood, who spearheaded the logistics of this Aflac visit, which was no small accomplishment.
Family Day at the Base
United Airlines held another family day at the Base on Sunday, October 7th. At the Teamster table, our TeamtersSFO Committee members were joined by reps from the Aflac team and folks from the WE Rise SF Labor Center. The team handed out TeamstersSFO water bottles and pens as well as a number of other goodies. The overwhelming favorite moment of the day occurred when one of the young visitors got a special gift from the Aflac folks. We thought that we would share the moment because it really signifies what the day is about. Thanks to Fred Wood for the fabulous photo.
SFO Grievance Update
We had an arbitration hearing in Chicago for a contract grievance (MEALP) and we are currently awaiting the decision. We also had an arbitration hearing on Wednesday, November 14th, for a terminated member.
The System Board deadlocked for another contract grievance (EFS Bypass) and it has been appealed to the 4th Step (Arbitration). We now have three contract cases (EFS Bypass, PCL closing DAT columns, and GSE Lead pay) that have been appealed to arbitration and are awaiting agreement on arbitrators/dates from the Company. Also, another contract grievance (HAS/HRA for 2017) has already been scheduled for February 21st in Miami, Florida.
We have System Boards scheduled for January 22nd and 23rd of 2019 and we intend to present three 3rd Step grievances each of those days. We have scheduled preliminary discussions with Labor Relations beginning next week to discuss about 10 current 3rd Step grievances in the pipeline to see if there is an appetite on the Company side to settle the grievances before we have to hear them. Whichever grievances are not settled will then be ranked by priority and the top six will get heard in January.
There is also ongoing settlement discussions around another contract grievance (2nd EFS Bypass) where the System Board hearing in September was suspended and the grievance remanded back to the parties for disposition. Failure to reach an agreement will mean that another System Board will have to be scheduled for the case. We are hoping that this will not be the case.
A Few Words about some Important Issues
One of the things we do in our grievance update is provide some information about termination hearings at System Board or Arbitration. You might have also noted that we do not provide any details about those terminations. That’s mainly because of our privacy obligations to our members. As a result, we generally do not announce details of our successful attempts to get our folks back to work, despite the significant amount of time we spend on termination-related issues. However, we do feel that it is important for our members to know some important information regarding some disturbing trends we are seeing. These have to do with members having confrontations and also with members signing for work that they did not complete. We should not have to say how important it is for you to not engage in either of these behaviors. But we are mentioning it because this type of stuff is happening way too much. And if you are involved in a physical or verbal confrontation that gets out of hand or you are irresponsible enough to sign for work that you have not accomplished, there is a very good chance that you are going to end up on the outside looking in, wondering how you are going to feed your family. Those folks who have been on the outside know just how hard it is to get back in and the significant time and effort it takes on the Union’s part to make that happen. But we are not always successful. And when we are not successful, there is a good chance that one of these two issues were the reason. Don’t do it. Enough said.
2019 Craft Meetings Schedules
We are always striving to have the right balance of floor time and craft meeting time every month. After receiving much feedback on the issue, we have decided that we will move the Swing shift Craft Meeting start time back to 11pm. Midnight meetings and Dayshift meetings will remain unchanged at 7am and 3pm, respectively. We will also continue our commitment of rotating monthly floor visits to Airframe, Jet Shop, Backshops, and the Line on all three shifts, but we are also going to mix up days because we got some feedback that we were missing a whole segment of the population by consistently visiting on the same days every moth. Thank you all for your feedback and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.
Happy Thanksgiving
We want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful Holiday Season! This is the time of year for us all to enjoy time with family and friends and to reflect on our achievements and to set next year’s goals for both life and work. And to try not to eat too much!
If you have an opportunity, please also do something positive for your community this season. It is good for the soul. And there are many folks out there who are in desperate need. We all have a responsibility to help in some small way.
Have a fabulous New Year and see you in 2019!
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. 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.
Additionally, the Chief Stewards hold weekly meetings 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 work 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 and members have the opportunity to ask questions.
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 the TSAP program. 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 whenever you can.
As always, stay informed!
In Solidarity
Mark DesAngles Javier Lectora
Business Agent Business Agent
Local 986 Local 856