The Union Bargaining Committee came to San Francisco this week to reach an agreement with United Airlines over the last remaining and very important work-rule related items at issue in the negotiations. The two most significant remaining issues relate to classifications (including the Company’s demand to eliminate lead ratios), and hours of service (including the Company’s demand to significantly extend 7-day coverage at the San Francisco Base).
The Union Bargaining Committee has made several attempts to resolve both of these issues, but the Company has barely budged. This week, the Company rejected the Union’s latest attempt to resolve the lead ratio issue and refused to provide any assurance of job and scope protections related to the leads. The Union Bargaining Committee was extremely disappointed with the Company’s response and unanimously believes that any further attempts to bargain directly with the Company over this and the remaining contract issues will be a waste of time. The negotiations therefore ended on a sour note for the Committee.
At this point, the Union Negotiating Committee is considering its options, and will discuss whether it is time to invoke NMB mediation. Although the Union Bargaining Committee believes that the parties ultimately can still reach an agreement with the Company – and remains firmly committed to reaching such an agreement – it is not certain whether the Company’s post-bankruptcy leadership and its bargaining team can overcome the Company’s history of poisoned and regressive labor relations.
