United Airlines Teamsters Response to Company Lies

On February 26, United Airlines sent a communication to Teamsters technicians full of false claims. This communication is misleading and a desperate attempt to shift blame for the carrier’s inaction in negotiations and insulting contract proposal.

The proposal that United presented in Minneapolis is unacceptable. It is nowhere near what the union is demanding. United’s offer would leave Teamsters making on average 8-10 percent below American and Southwest technicians during the first 8 years of service, and up to 15-20 percent less than both carriers on several steps.

The bottom line: United’s proposed pay would keep Teamsters technicians near the bottom of the pay scale compared to Delta, American, Southwest, and Alaska.

United doesn’t want your input in this contract. The carrier is falsely accusing the national negotiating committee of delaying negotiations by taking their offensive proposal to a vote by the membership. The truth is, we wouldn’t be asking for a membership vote if the company had presented a serious proposal on February 10. We made it clear that we would not bargain until the membership’s voice was heard. As such, we will not attend the scheduled March 11-13 bargaining session in Denver while the vote is being held.

Your national negotiating committee won’t bargain against itself for the sake of rushing to reach a deal United wants to force down our throats. Teamsters won’t tolerate the lies and disrespect. If United wanted progress, they shouldn’t have insulted us with this horrific proposal.