Dear Brothers and Sisters,
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.
We discussed where the nine rank and file committee members would come from and how they would be chosen. Some Locals appoint their respective committee members, and some elect them. Selection is expected to be completed in approximately a month. We will schedule training for the committee shortly after the selections are finalized. As you’ve indicated via the survey, since the rank-and-file committee has to approve any agreement, and they speak directly for you, we will let them know that video updates from them will be a required part of the overall communications plan.
In the meantime, a protocol agreement is being drafted between the parties to discuss how and where the parties will interact during negotiations.
On the second day of the meeting, we discussed the apprenticeship program. While the program is already enshrined in the Agreement, we discussed modifications needed to ensure your contractual rights are not diminished. Since these modifications change the language in the Agreement, they will require ratification by the membership. The document with the changes will be finalized shortly and sent out to you for ratification.
We concluded the meeting discussing the need to get the Business Agents together as soon as possible to discuss the survey results with them and the rank-and-file committee. As reported in the last Dispatch the survey concluded that approximately 59% of those participating, after deleting all but the most recent of those making multiple entries, wished to engage in typical Section 6 bargaining and open the entire Agreement. That is the direction the committee will take moving forward. Look for further updates as the process continues.
Fraternally,
Vinny Graziano
Airline Division
International Brotherhood of Teamsters