christian castro
Negotiation Update 5/26/23

The meeting started on May 23 with a review of the previous ratification process. We talked about what went well and what didn't during that time. We had a good discussion where everyone shared their thoughts and ideas. Here are a few of the important things we talked about:

Negotiation Update 5/26/23
Mechanics' Dispatch
christian castro
Negotiations Update July 13, 2022

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.

Negotiations Update July 13, 2022

Tentative Agreement

Tentative Agreement

As you all know by now, your rank-and-file committee has accepted the Agreement in Principle which now turns the AIP into a Tentative Agreement (TA) and is ready for ratification by the membership. 

Now it is to you to make a choice. The TA is economically focused and includes a couple of minor, economically speaking, language changes. We urge you to look at all the information and consider the outcome carefully prior to deciding. As with every negotiation, this proposal will satisfy the expectations of some, while falling short for others. Ultimately, the decision is yours whether to ratify this offer or not, and we will stand by your choice. 

AIP Reached on an Extension

AIP Reached on an Extension

We write to update you on the recent meeting of your UAL IBT negotiating Committee, which took place in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 15, 2024. During this meeting, we were able to reach an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on a new extension to our JCBA. It is exceedingly rare to achieve an agreement prior to the amendable date under the RLA, and if ratified by you, this would become the first seamless contract we’ve seen at this company.

Negotiation Update

Negotiation Update

The company invited Joe Ferreira, Bob Fisher, Angel Cantu, and I to a meeting in Houston on Wednesday the 24th. At that meeting, the company informed us that they were interested in another extension. We told them the rank-and-file committee would evaluate any offer they might propose. We also relayed that Southwest was the industry leader for wages, and we would need to beat them in any extension offer.

Mechanics Dispatch: United's Transition to Smart-Choice

Mechanics Dispatch: United's Transition to Smart-Choice

The IBT Benefits Committee would like to make sure you are aware of the changes United is making to your HRA/VEBA reimbursement debit card. United announced the transition from Alight’s Your Spending Account (YSA) to their Smart-Choice account toward the end of last year via company email. The final email announcement was made on December 12, 2023, and it contains a link to the Smart-Choice website.

Negotiations Update: December 6

Negotiation Committee Members:

  • Mitch Hunt - DEN

  • Dave Mahood - EWR

  • Blake Silverstein - IAD

  • Dexter Thomas - IAH

  • Scott Stoddart - LAX

  • Mike Blomquist - MCO

  • Mike Pecoraro - ORD

  • Joseph Prisco - SFO

  • John Laurin - SFO

Your IBT Negotiating Committee met at Local 769 in Miami the week of December 4, 2023.

We started the week with your Benefits Committee to discuss Article 16 and how we can reduce benefit costs to our members across the board. As discussed at several system meetings, it is our fiduciary responsibility to determine whether TeamCare is an option that we should explore as one of the ways to reduce overall benefits costs to all members.

With that in mind, TeamCare gave us a presentation as to what they can offer our members in reducing the costs of our benefits while improving the overall maintenance of benefits. They gave us a comparison of benefits and costs to give us a preliminary idea of whether they could provide the membership with the cost savings we were looking for. When they finished with their presentation, the benefit and negotiating committees discussed what was presented and then the negotiating committee voted to task the benefit committee with continuing discussions with TeamCare as an option, and to bring back a proposal to the negotiation committee. Reducing Benefits costs was one of the top issues that the members brought up in the survey that needed to be addressed in negotiations.

The afternoon of December 5, your negotiating committee discussed Article 17 “Overtime”. We discussed “will work letters” (a method to auto accept overtime) and job continuation. We also talked about overtime bypasses being an issue and solutions to keep bypasses low and to make sure the system is more constant in application with local issues being addressed by utilizing paragraph J with “Overtime” guidelines.”

Wednesday, December 6, we started with our attorneys, Josh McInnerney and Emily Pantoja, to go over Article 19, “Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures,” and Article 20, “Arbitration.”

We went line by line to change what is broken or not working the way we believe it should work to better protect our members. We went over several solutions to improve the grievance process so our member’s issues are resolved per the agreement. Our attorneys will firm up the changes and return the articles to us and add them to other articles that will be part of our full pass to the company.

We finished the week with a Zoom call with our IBT Economist Kyle Schoembs to go over our wage components and where we are now as compared with other carriers and where we all be through 2026.

Finally, the section 6 notification has been filed and acknowledged by the company. The union is looking for dates in January to meet with the company.

Your IBT Negotiating Committee

Benefits Committee Update

Benefits Committee Update

The Benefits Committee convened at Teamsters Local 856 on September 20th and 21st to discuss proposals related to Article 16.

 

During these two-day meetings, several crucial discussions took place regarding potential changes and enhancements to Article 16. The committee worked diligently to ensure that any proposed changes align with the best interests of our members.

UAL Mechanics Dispatch - 7.17.2023

UAL Mechanics Dispatch - 7.17.2023

The IBT Rank and File Negotiating Committee convened in Boston, Massachusetts at Local 25, the week of July 10, 2023.

The Committee started the week discussing the need for another survey to ensure the committee is still on the same page as the membership’s priorities. In the end, it was agreed that a survey was necessary due to the time since the last survey has been over a year and the memberships dynamics have changed (due to new members being hired since the last survey). The Committee formulated a survey, agreed upon its contents, and it will be electronically sent out to membership.

Force majeure Update

Force majeure Update

We have recently received inquiries from two Chief Stewards in San Francisco regarding the applicability of force majeure provisions outlined in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Given that there are several new members who may not be familiar with these provisions, it is prudent to provide a concise explanation.

ALPA Requesting Our Assistance

ALPA Requesting Our Assistance

The leadership of ALPA reached out to the Airline Division requesting assistance for their National Day of Picketing on Friday, May 12th. As you know, we have pledged our support to the Labor Coalition at United and I’d like to ask as many of you to attend as possible.  As a reminder, support for this event will need to be done off the clock.

March 2023 CARP Announcement

March 2023 CARP Announcement

The new interest rates for the Continental Retirement Plan (CARP) are now available on Your Benefits Resources (YBR). Anyone who runs an estimate with a benefit commencement date of 7/1/2023 - 12/1/2023 will have the new rates applied. 

The interest rates for lump sums payable from 7/1/2023 to 12/31/2023 are 4.99%, 5.12% and 4.96%. These are based on the IRS published three “segmented” interest rates each month. United is using the February rates published in mid-March 2023.