Negotiation Committee Members:
Mitch Hunt - DEN
Dave Mahood - EWR
Blake Silverstein - IAD
Dexter Thomas - IAH
Scott Stoddart - LAX
Paul Becerra - MCO
Mike Pecoraro - ORD
Joseph Prisco - SFO
John Laurin - SFO
January 9, 2023
General Update
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On Wednesday a Zoom meeting of the rank-and-file committee was convened at the request of the Airline Division. The topic of discussion was why the rates for the FST group changed after the Agreement in principle was signed. As is typical in negotiations, small errors were noted in pay scales for the GSE and FST groups. The economists from the company recognized the errors and made me aware of the required fix. As soon as I was made aware of the fixes to those rates, I provided the updated information to all Agents and the committee on December 19th that the pay tables have been changed. It is incumbent on us to ensure any error is corrected prior to sending the package to the membership for ratification, and that is exactly what happened here. The committee understands that the company recognized the error and corrected that error regarding the FST group. There were no negotiations no discussion that this group should get an additional increase or anything more than the rest of the groups. This was simply an error that was corrected and acknowledged by the parties.
As far as the timeline of ratification, it currently looks like the voting credentials will be mailed out on the 11th of this month. We have scheduled the 30th as the date of ratification to ensure the new rates of pay go into effect on January 1st if the package is ratified. There will be a process for duplicate ballot requests in case members don’t receive credentials. This usually occurs about seven days after voting opens. Look to your Local to provide guidance on who to contact, but the basics of the process are if you don’t receive a ballot in the mail around seven days after they are mailed, you contact your Local by whatever process they outline, and they notify the Division which has your new credentials sent either to your choice of email or text.
Regardless of whether the package ratifies, we are working with the company on scheduling the next grievance summit. When that meeting is finalized, I’ll notify you through the Dispatch.
Finally, there have been a few questions about how this TA affects our participation in the labor coalition at United. In short, there is no change in our participation in the coalition. We congratulate PAFCA on the recent ratification of their agreement, and we will continue to provide support, where requested, for our coalition partners to help them in securing new labor agreements.
Fraternally,
Vinny Graziano