A quick summary of major and noteworthy events since the start of negotiations.
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December 17-18, 2008
This week, American Airlines and the Transport Workers Union met for two days under the auspices of NMB mediator John Livingood.
On December 17, the two parties met in joint session throughout the day, during which time the TWU presented American with a proposal relative to an open item, which the company will respond to at the next session.
On December 18, American made presentations regarding Retiree Medical and a Defined Contribution pension plan. The TWU is reviewing information from both presentations and further discussions will occur during the next scheduled session, which is set for February 18-20, 2009.
October 28-30, 2008
This week, American Airlines and the Transport Workers Union met for three days under the auspices of NMB mediators Zachary Jones and John Livingood. During these sessions, both parties exchanged comprehensive contract proposals which addressed any open articles and letters. After reviewing and discussing the content of the proposal, several tentative agreements were reached, which included: Article 1: Scope & Recognition and all letters of memorandum with the exception of the "Operations Specialists" letter and the "Seat Miles Schedule by Commuter Air Carriers" letter. Those two (2) letters remain open.
The parties established the agenda for their next negotiating session, which will be held December 16-18, 2008 at FSU.
October 13-17, 2008
There are no Dispatch updates for this week.
August 25-29, 2008
There are no Dispatch updates for this week.
August 18-22
There are no Dispatch updates for this week.
August 11-15, 2008
There are no Dispatch updates for this week.
August 4-8, 2008
The National Mediation Board assigned John Livingood to mediate the Dispatcher negotiations between American and the TWU. Mr. Livingood has been with the NMB since 2000 and has worked on both airline and railroad cases during this time. Previously, he had 19 years of labor relations experience in the railroad industry.
The first joint meetings are scheduled to take place October 28-30. The Company looks forward to the National Mediation Board’s guidance and to working toward reaching a new agreement with the Dispatch workgroup.
July 24, 2008
Today, American Airlines and the Transport Workers Union agreed to jointly file an application with the National Mediation Board for mediation regarding the contract governing the Dispatch workgroup. The application for mediation will be submitted on Friday, July, 25. However, American and the TWU will continue direct negotiations without mediation for the other six TWU-represented workgroups.
The Company believes that the NMB’s assistance with the Dispatcher workgroup will be valuable and we look forward to their guidance as we move into formal mediation.
American hopes this process will assist the two parties in reaching a new agreement with the Dispatcher workgroup that will address both parties’ interests while recognizing the economic realities facing the industry and our company.
July 14-18, 2008
Please see the Maintenance & Related Timeline and updates page for new information regarding negotiations this week.
June 30-July 4, 2008
The Company and the Union met on Thursday, July 3 at Flagship University.
American provided proposals for Articles 3: Work Schedule and Article 16: Recall to the TWU committee. After a short break, the parties reached a tentative agreement on Article 16.
Both parties will continue to discuss open issues with the goal of reaching an agreement that will balance the interests of all the involved parties, and discussions are scheduled to continue on July 24, 2008.
May 19-23, 2008
The Company and Union met this week to exchange proposals on outstanding articles. The parties will continue to review these items prior to their next meeting, which we anticipate will be in mid- to-late June.
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 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 the Union met with the TWU Dispatch Negotiating Committee and reached Tentative Agreements on 25 articles with no changes to the current contract language. Agreements were reached on:
Article 5: Blank
Article 9: Probationary Period
Article 14: Loss of Seniority
Article 18: Military Leave
Article 19: Termination of Employment
Article 20: Bulletin Boards
Article 21: Blank
Article 22: Blank
Article 23: Attendance at Hearings, Investigations or Training Class
Article 24: Absence from Duty
Article 25: Blank
Article 28: No Discrimination, and Recognition of Rights and Compliance
Article 29: Representation
Article 30: Dismissal
Article 31: Grievance Procedures
Article 32: Boards of Adjustment
Article 33: No Strike - No Lockout
Article 35: Blank
Article 36: Blank
Article 38: Union Security
Article 39: Blank
Article 43: Blank
Article 44: Moving Expenses
Article 45: Blank
Article 46: Effect on Prior Agreements
Note: Articles marked as "blank" are used for all seven union contracts but do not apply to the Dispatch group.
April 18, 2008
The American and TWU Dispatch negotiations teams met on Thursday and Friday of this week. At this time, the Company passed Articles 10: Seniority, 13: System Seniority List and 17: Leaves of Absence. American also provided the TWU with a response to their proposal on Article 16: Recall.
March 27, 2008
The Company cancelled scheduled negotiations for this week and plans to meet with the TWU again on April 17-18, 2008.
March 6, 2008
The Company and Union met on Thursday, at which time the Company received an amended comprehensive contract proposal from the Union. American shares the desire of the Union to try to complete contract negotiations by the amendable date, but also recognizes that this will require the Union’s participation to find the best long-term choices that will benefit both of the involved parties.
February 22, 2008
The Company and the Union met on Thursday, February 21 to discuss the Dispatch negotiations. Both sides have agreed to begin discussions around articles that are not economically related. Both sides have tentatively set their next meeting dates for March 6 and 7, at which time the Company and the Union plan to pass several proposals to each other.
January 11, 2008
On Wednesday, January 9, 2008, the TWU Negotiating committtee for Dispatch presented the Company with a new proposal on Article 4: Compensation. The Company is reviewing the proposal and remains committed to finding an agreement that best serves the long-term interest of American, all employees and stakeholders. The Company and the TWU agreed to future meeting dates, which include January 28 and February 21, 2008.
