A quick summary of major and noteworthy events since the start of negotiations.
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November 20, 2008
This week, American Airlines received a counterproposal from the Transport Workers Union representing the Mechanics and Related group. As always, we are interested in any proposal that allows us to manage costs effectively, increases our productivity and positions American to compete now and in the future. As such, we will evaluate the TWU’s proposal with these objectives in mind, and will respond when negotiations continue in January.
The Company remains committed to reaching an agreement with the TWU that will address the needs of both parties and position the Company and its employees for long-term success.
October 13-17, 2008
American Airlines and the Transport Workers Union have set a tentative date to meet Tuesday, November 18. This will be the first meeting since the company presented the union with a comprehensive contract proposal on September 19. American looks forward to continuing negotiations.
September 15-19, 2008
On Friday, September 19, American Airlines presented the TWU with a comprehensive counter proposal aimed at addressing key areas of interest identified by the union while recognizing American’s need to be competitive in today’s business environment.
The contract negotiations process is complex, but the ultimate goal is to reach an agreement that is in everyone’s long-term best interests. American is trying to balance the union’s requests for improvements in pay, holidays, sick leave and vacation with the fact it has the highest labor costs in the industry. To offset that disadvantage, American needs improvements in overall work rules to close the gap between the company and its competitors.
American values its strong partnership with the TWU and hopes further discussions lead to a contract benefiting TWU-represented employees and keeping American competitive by giving it the flexibility to respond to an evolving industry.
August 25-29, 2008
At our last session, the Transport Workers Union provided the company with a comprehensive proposal which we continue to evaluate. The next negotiating session has been set for Thursday, September 18 at 1400.
August 18-22, 2008
Last week, the TWU presented a short-term comprehensive proposal and asked that the Company respond by Wednesday, August 20. While American is still reviewing this proposal, and prior to the deadline, the negotiating teams agreed to set their next meeting time as Thursday, September 4.
August 11-15, 2008
On Friday, the TWU presented American with a short-term comprehensive proposal. The Company is currently reviewing this proposal, and the negotiating teams will establish the next steps over the next week or so.
The Company desires to find long term solutions in order to address the needs of all employees and remain competitive in light of the difficult times the airline industry is facing.
August 4-8, 2008
There are no M&R updates for this week.
July 21-25, 2008
There are no M&R updates for this week.
July 14-18, 2008
On Wednesday, American Airlines presented the Transport Workers Union with three articles including Articles 15: Reduction in Force, 36: Meal Periods and 39: Physical Exam. After discussion surrounding these articles, the TWU did not provide any counter proposals at this time.
The Company and the Union are scheduled to continue negotiations on Wednesday, August 13, 2008.
June 16-20, 2008
On Thursday, June 19, 2008 the Company and the Union continued negotiations at the Transport Workers Union Air Transport Division office in Hurst, Texas.
Both sides established the disposition of negotiations and any outstanding articles that have not been addressed since the Company withdrew its comprehensive contract proposal.
During the meeting, the TWU provided proposals on Articles 16: Recall, 17: Leaves of Absence and 26: Field Work, and tentative agreements were reached on all three articles.
The following articles remain open:
The parties are scheduled to continue discussions on July 16 and 17, 2008 at the ATD office. The Company continues to evaluate economic conditions in the marketplace and our competitive position. We are preparing new proposals based on this review.
May 26-30, 2008
This week, American Airlines sent a letter to the Transport Workers Union to formally withdraw its comprehensive contract proposal for all seven of the TWU workgroups. The specific changes included in American’s proposals were conditioned on ratification by the membership of all seven AA/TWU collective bargaining agreements and this condition was not met.
The Company and the Union will tentatively continue negotiations on Monday, June 16, 2008 with the hope of reaching an agreement that will better position American Airlines and its TWU-represented employees for long term success.
May 19-23, 2008
American and the TWU did not meet this week. The two parties are in the process of scheduling when negotiations will continue, which we anticipate will be in mid to late June. In the meantime, the Company will post updates if anything develops.
May 16, 2008
This week, American Airlines presented the Transport Workers Union with a comprehensive contract proposal. Unfortunately, the TWU has rejected the company’s proposal. American sought to address the key areas of interest identified by the TWU, including pay, holidays, sick leave and vacation; and at the same time recognize the economic realities facing the industry and our company.
American Airlines, along with the entire airline industry, is facing unprecedented challenges. In addition, American’s labor costs are the highest in the industry. While we could not address structural increases at this time, the tentative agreement did include improvements in pay and paid time off for TWU-represented employees.
Regardless of the current situation, American appreciates our strong business partnership with the TWU. We recognize the commitment by these employees who have helped to save money, generate additional revenue and improve operations. Despite the many challenges facing us, we believe this would have been a responsible investment in our employees and would have reflected the company’s commitment to our continued business partnership.
Summary of Key Common Proposal Components Across all Seven Workgroups:
Duration:
Pay:
Holidays:
Sick Leave:
Vacation:
Health and Retirement Benefits/Pensions:
Profit Sharing:
Eagle ASM Cap:
In addition, there were items specific to each of the seven agreements which were proposed and discussed.
Today, the TWU advised us that the Fleet Service committee accepted their tentative agreement for ratification. The Fleet Service group is part of the larger Joint committee which also includes the Stock Clerks, Simulator Technicians and Ground School/Simulator Instructors workgroups. As a result, the Joint committee elected as a whole to take their agreements out to the membership for ratification. However, three of the included workgroups individually voted not to take the agreement for ratification.
A condition of the company’s offer in each workgroup was that all seven of the agreements had to be ratified before any of the contracts could be implemented. Therefore, since that condition cannot be met, even if the Joint groups were to ratify, the agreements could not be put into effect.
The company is in the process of re-evaluating our current situation and is considering what future course of action will be appropriate.
May 12-16, 2008
American Airlines continued discussions with the Transport Workers Union this week. The Company is seeking to address the key areas of interest the TWU has identified, while recognizing the economic realities facing the industry and company.
The TWU has worked with American over the last several years to improve processes and productivity and has helped save money, generate additional revenue and improve operations.
May 5-9, 2008
American Airlines and the TWU did not meet this week. Instead, the Company utilized the time to meet internally to continue working on any open and outstanding articles. Negotiations will continue next Monday, May 12.
April 28-May 2, 2008
The amendable date for the TWU labor contract was May 1, 2008. While we have not reached a complete Tentative Agreement, we have made lots of progress during the last eight months, and have closed out most of the non-economic sections. We are committed to continue to make progress in negotiations and to support reaching a ratifiable contract that creates a stronger, more secure future for both the airline and the TWU-represented employees in a timely manner.
This week, the Company and Union continued to work on all open items, with a particular focus on the following: Article 15: Reduction in Force, Article 17: Leaves of Absence, Article 23: Attendance at Hearings, Investigations or Training Classes and Article 26: Field Work
The Company and Union also continue to review the status of all identified letters of agreement and will resume negotiations on May 12, 2008.
April 21-25, 2008
The Company and Union reached a tentative agreement on Article 13: System Seniority List and have pledged to continue working to resolve seniority-related issues outside of this article. The Company also passed new proposals on Article 15: Reduction in Force, Article 16: Recalls, and Article 46: One Station Complex Agreements, with the Union providing a counter-proposal on Article 16. All three of these articles will be discussed again when negotiations resume next week.
Both parties also reviewed the status of all identified letters of agreement and have formed a subcommittee to determine a final disposition for these letters.
April 14-18, 2008
This week, the Company provided answers and a response to the Union’s questions on Article 12: Promotions and Jobs to be Posted. The TWU passed a new proposal on Article 13: System Seniority List that is currently under review.
American also continued working internally on proposals for Articles 15: Reduction in Force, 16: Recall and 46: One-Station Complex Agreements.
April 7-11, 2008
The Company and the Union reached tentative agreements on Articles 27: General and 43: Part Time Employees this week.
Also during meetings this week, American answered the Union’s second round of questions surrounding Article 11: Classifications & Qualifications and the Union’s first round of questions about Article 12: Promotions & Jobs to be Posted.
The Company passed Articles 7: Holidays, 11: Classifications and Qualifications, 12: Promotions and Jobs to be Posted to the Union. Both sides exchanged Article 13: System Seniority List and the TWU gave the Company Article 46: One-Station Complex Agreements.
March 31 - April 4, 2008
The Union had a number of questions and requests for extensive information on the Company's proposal on Article 11: Classifications & Qualifications that may require a significant amount of research to answer. The Union is also preparing additional questions on the Company's proposal for Article 12: Promotions and Jobs to be Posted. Negotiations will resume on Tuesday, April 8, 2008.
March 24-28, 2008
The Company passed new proposals for Article 46: One Station Agreements that aim to simplify the processes involving the movement of employees between stations. The Company and Union also continued to discuss Article 13: Seniority Lists and have agreed to table Article 25: Recall and Call-in, and Article 39: Physical Examination for future discussions.
The Union passed numerous questions on last week's proposal on Article 11: Classifications & Qualifications and Article 12: Promotions & Jobs to be Posted, and the Company is working to respond to these questions over the course of next week's meetings. Negotiations will resume on Tuesday, April 1, 2008.
March 17-21, 2008
This week, the Company passed Articles 11: Classifications & Qualifications and 12: Promotions & Jobs to be Posted to the Union.
The Company is proposing significant change in these articles in the interest of creating greater flexibility in order to allow the Company to more effectively compete in the airline industry, while also providing American the work rules needed to become a more attractive MRO to potential customers. The Union will respond with questions at a later date.
March 10-14, 2008
The Company and Union did not meet this week and the Company used the time to carefully review the Union's comprehensive proposal from last week. The Company is focused on balancing the TWU's interests with the need to provide greater flexibility so as to keep work in-house, preserve jobs and compete in both the MRO and airline industries. The Company will provide several proposals from outstanding Articles, such as Article 11 and 12 to the Union on Wednesday, March 19, 2008.
March 3-7, 2008
The Company and the Union met on Thursday, at which time the Company received a comprehensive contract proposal from the Union. American is committed to working diligently and thoughtfully with the Union to find solutions that address the interests of the TWU-represented employees, while also enabling the Company to compete effectively in both the airline and MRO industries.
American continues to work on Articles 11: Classifications & Qualifications and 12: Promotions & Jobs to be Posted.
The Company and the Union will continue discussions on Monday, March 17. American will use the next week to meet internally and review the Union’s comprehensive proposal.
February 25-29, 2008
The Company and Union reached tentative agreements this week on Article 19: Termination of Employment and Article 21: Work Schedules. Article 19 was agreed to with few changes to the current contract language. The agreement on Article 21 was reached after both sides had agreed to set it aside last week. A sub-committee reconvened to further discuss the article and an agreement was reached after both sides better understood key scheduling issues related to additional flexibility for aircraft drop-ins and unscheduled work. When the contract is ratified, new committees at each base will be formed to best address this issue. The Company is hopeful that this collaborative approach will continue to be effective on contested items moving forward.
The Company also passed proposals on Article 25: Recall and Call-in Work and Article 36: Meal Periods and agreed to table discussions on Article 17: Leaves of Absence, Article 23: Attendance at Hearings, Investigations or Training Classes, Article 26: Field Work and Article 27: General.
The Company is also focusing efforts on discussing Article 11: Classifications and Qualifications and Article 12: Promotions and Jobs to be Posted with the Union and will continue examining these items next week.
February 18-22, 2008
The Company and Union reached tentative agreements on the following items:
The Company and Union also discussed the following articles, and are currently making little progress on them. Both parties have agreed to shift the focus to other items, and we will revisit these articles in a few weeks. The Company is trying to incorporate the current practices in place.
There are also a few articles that are making little progress, in which the Company is trying to reflect a need to increase the flexibility that is needed to improve the Company’s productivity and to make us an attractive MRO to potential customers. Both parties have agreed to shift the focus to other items, and we will revisit these articles in a few weeks.
The Union passed us several new articles, which the Company is planning to respond to soon, including:
The Company is working on responses to the Union on Article 13: Seniority Lists, and will continue discussions with the Union next week.
February 11-15, 2008
Negotiations between the Company and Union resumed this week as both sides continued to reach agreements on new articles and continue discussions on items left open from previous weeks. The Company continues to pass and respond with the goal of balancing the interests of both parties within each article.
The Company and Union reached tentative agreements on Article 29: Representation and Article 45: with no changes to the current contract language.
Both sides continue to discuss Article 21: Rotation of Shifts and Article 23: Attendance at Hearings, Investigations or Training Classes. These are key articles that the company is focused on to improve flexibility for shift times and other factors to better serve future MRO customers and the company hopes that both sides can work to find an acceptable agreement that benefits employees and the Company.
The Company and Union mutually agreed to table Article 26: Field Trips and move on to other issues. The Company looks forward to reexamining this proposal at a later date and finding a creative solution that will balance the interests of both parties.
February 4-8, 2008
The Company and TWU did not meet this week due to conflicts with the TWU International Executive Council Meeting. The Company used this week to evaluate articles that are currently open, develop responses and research other items related to negotiations. The Union met separately this week to prepare for upcoming negotiations.
Full negotiations between the company and union will resume on February 11.
January 28-February 1, 2008
Negotiations between the Company and the TWU continued this week as a number of items were passed between both sides.
The TWU returned proposals on Article 16: Recall, Article 17: Leaves of Absence, and Article 27: General. Article 16 was passed back to the Company with a proposed agreement that would incorporate the language developed in the Article 16 subcommittee meetings. The TWU specified that while this language is approved for a future tentative agreement, there are still issues within the article that need to be discussed. The Company and the TWU continue to discuss government and medical accrual rates for Article 17 as well as a number of items relating to
Article 27. These conversations will continue in the next session.
Both sides began discussing a new number of other items this week, including:
The Company and Union will not meet in direct bargaining next week due to the TWU International Executive council meeting, but will begin discussing these and other outstanding articles in detail when negotiations resume on Monday, February 11. However, the TWU negotiating committees will meet internally next week to review letters and other correspondence that have been generated between the Company and the TWU since the restructuring agreements. The purpose is to determine if the letters are still in effect, should be deleted or incorporated into the contract. Once the TWU has completed their review, the Company will meet with them to try and finalize the disposition of each letter.
January 21-25, 2008
Discussions continued this week as a number of items were passed between the company and the union. Both sides continue to pass items related to Article 27: General, which covers a large range of provisions that both sides plan to continue carefully discussing. The union gave the company a new proposal on Article 13: System Seniority List that the company is reviewing for future discussion. The company passed responses on Article 17: Leaves of Absence and Article 21: Rotation of Shifts for union review.
A subcommittee will meet next week to explore Article 46: One Station Agreements and begin defining the issues and research needed for future discussions around this item.
January 14-18, 2008
The Company and TWU discussed a number of items at the negotiating table this week. Both parties reached a tentative agreement on Article 22: Regular & Relief Assignments that preserved the previous contract language for this item. The union also made proposals on Article 8: Vacations and Article 18: Military Leave. The company is evaluating their proposals and will continue discussions next week.
Discussions also continued around Article 12: Promotions & Jobs. The company believes it is important to use this article to improve productivity and flexibility for its employees. These changes would help American to continue to grow their world-class Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul division by allowing the flexibility to take on more third-party work. Discussions will continue on this issue as well as on Article 13: System Seniority List.
American and the TWU are continuing to explore accrual and benefits under Article 17: Leaves of Absence, as well as streamlining work schedules and other productivity issues within Article 21: Work Schedules. The company believes Article 21 could provide employees with increased stability through suggestions that include fewer shift changes throughout the year.
The Company is also discussing Article 26: Field Work in order to address the need to provide consistency throughout the AA system for its employees by having unified guidelines to cover all field trips throughout the system.
Finally, a subcommittee also met to discuss Article 16: Recall and began productive discussions that will resume next week.
January 7-11, 2008
The Company and the TWU had another productive week at the negotiating table with each of the teams able to make progress on several new articles and items. The company and the TWU agreed to continue addressing Article 15: Reduction in Force and Article 16: Recall through subcommittee. They also exchanged proposals on Article 17: Leaves of Absence. The following articles will continue to be discussed when negotiations resume next week:
