September 20, 2022

General Update

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Last week, the members of your rank-and-file negotiating committee met in Washington, DC to attend negotiation training sponsored by the Airline Division. The committee was presented an overview of the RLA, including both the steps outlined in the Act, and their roles and responsibilities under the Act. This was followed by practical suggestions on achieving solid agreements. Stephanie Spanja, IBT Staff Attorney assigned to the Division, along with Greg Unterseher, Manager of Pilot Representation, led the training session. All members were present except for Scott Stoddart who was excused.

I would like to commend each of the rank-and-file negotiators for taking on the responsibility that these positions require. It is not easy, or convenient, to bargain through long hours away from home and family. Each member of this committee is essential and their ability to work together is crucial to provide you with the best Agreement possible. All members recognize this responsibility and signed a letter of commitment to the process and each other. Working as team, I’m sure this group will lead you to an industry leading agreement, and more importantly, one you can be proud of.

In case you missed it, a short blurb on this class was posted to the main IBT Facebook page and can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/ibtatua

Prior to training each member of the committee recorded a video introduction for the membership. In keeping with earlier reporting, those videos are now posted to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHIX1xPu5nk2J3gnSnBxRdg. Please take the time to get to know your committee and subscribe to the channel for future updates.

We are currently working on developing an app to provide information but in the meantime, we launched on two other social media platforms. On Facebook we can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/ibtatua. On Instagram we can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/ibtatua/. Please like and follow for future updates. As you requested in the survey, we are attempting to provide better communication.

There is a change in the Division assignments which takes place on October 1st. Chris Moore is taking the Safety Representative position. Chris brings fifteen years of experience interacting with governmental agencies on your behalf and will excel in this role. I’d like to thank Chris for the time and passion he’s dedicated to this position and for what I know will be his outstanding service to this membership moving forward. As part of his new role Chris has been named as a permanent member on the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Ground Staff Sub-Committee which works on safety and health issues across the globe. Replacing Chris as the Central Region Rep will be Angel Cantu. Angel brings twenty years of union involvement negotiating and policing Agreements to the Division. I’m confident Angel will serve the Central Region well as he has the experience and dedication needed to achieve solid outcomes for the membership.

A Teamsters Airline Division Member update will be held on Sunday, September 25th at 11 am et. Please join General President Sean M. O'Brien and Airline Division Director Joe Ferreira for an important update on the Airline Division. To register please follow this link:   http://ibt.io/ALD09252022

Fraternally,

Vinny Graziano

International Representative, Airline Division

International Brotherhood of Teamsters