Teamsters Drive Progress While United Fails to Deliver Update

Dear United Airlines Teamsters,

The Teamsters National Negotiating Committee for United Airlines met this week in San Francisco, building on internal progress made in Denver last month. While the company fails to return its long-promised proposals on scope and economics, Teamsters at United Airlines remained focused on moving discussions forward.

Subcommittees met throughout the week to work toward agreements on critical non-economic issues so that more focus can be given to wage and scope components in the future. The committee advanced conversations on Article 2 (Definitions), Article 12 (Field Trips), and Article 17 (Overtime), passing each back to management with improvements on Qualifications and Authorizations and how they are used in the agreement.

“Despite United’s mission to keep stalling, the committee did an outstanding job of holding the company accountable and driving progress,” said Clacy Griswold, Chair of the United Airlines Teamsters National Negotiating Committee. “We aren’t letting their delay tactics derail us — we’re going to get the agreement our members deserve.”

Although no tentative agreements (TAs) were made this week, significant progress was made in discussions on GSE and facilities. The committee also met with Clay Juckett, United’s new Vice President of CASS and Quality, to discuss Article 13 (Training) and the company’s plans to train technicians now and in the future. The meeting provided a good opportunity for the committee to ask questions, but this week’s round of negotiations still left much to be desired overall.

“We’re making headway in spite of United, not because of them,” said Robert Gutierrez, a member of the negotiating committee and a technician at Local 210. “For months, they’ve promised proposals we never receive, and for months we’ve been the only reason this process moves forward. We’ve made it clear we aren’t going to solve United’s problems for them — it’s time to actually deliver.”

Bargaining will continue in Washington, D.C., on August 19.