Attached is a copy of the letter I received yesterday from Doug McKeen, on behalf of UAL. As you will note, upon notice of the vote results that rejected the transition Tentative Agreement, UAL filed a request for Federal Mediation and has opted to proceed directly to mediated talks for a single, combined contract for UAL and CAL mechanics. The letter requesting mediation is also attached.
This morning we were notified that the NMB has agreed to UAL’s request and placed us in mediation. While we are disappointed that UAL has chosen to move directly to mediation instead of returning to the bargaining table, it is a reality that we have no choice but to accept mediation. Under the RLA, both the union and management have the right unilaterally to request mediation at any time in the process and based upon the rejection of the Tentative Agreement, UAL made the determination to move to that process.
I want to be perfectly clear here. We do not have the option to reject mediation; we are legally required to participate. Because mediation has no specific time limits, there is no way to determine how long the process will take to complete. This does not mean, however, that we agree with the Company’s effort to push for an immediate amalgamation of the United and Continental contracts. As we explained during the road shows, the company has pushed hard for an immediate amalgamation since the merger became effective last fall. We have resisted that effort. The fact that the company has invoked mediation, however, will make our efforts to resist an all-in-one amalgamation much more difficult and, all likelihood, time consuming.
As you know from our communications, meetings and road shows, this was the situation we wanted to avoid at all cost, because we were aware of the risk of mediation. While the goal of the tentative agreement was to provide you pay raises, job security and a higher starting point for an improved amalgamated agreement; under mediation your current agreement will remain effective until a new agreement is reached. The timeline for this process as I noted above is unknown; past history tells us we are looking at an extended period of time, possibly three to five years.
While we believe that the outcome of the vote was not in our collective best interest, we will continue to work diligently with the negotiators to craft the best contract possible for you and, in the shortest time possible.
Sincerely,
David P. Bourne, Director
Teamsters Airline Division
