Dear Brothers and Sisters,
United Airlines announced that tech ops employees who are granted exceptions from the vaccine mandate for medical or religious reasons may be required to take unpaid leaves of absence of up to twelve months and be subject to a number of other terms that were not negotiated by the parties.
The IBT does not believe these or the other terms United Airlines plans to impose are "reasonable accommodations" under the law. Other components of the company's unilateral plan may also violate the Railway Labor Act (RLA), as well as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal law governing retirement plans. The IBT is preparing a legal response and we will update you very shortly on the actions we plan to take to stop the company from implementing potentially unlawful aspects of its policy.
In Solidarity,
Capt. David Bourne
Director, IBT Airline Division