Mechanic's Dispatch

Business Agents meet with Mediator Ralph Berger
The Business Agents met in Newark, NJ with representatives from the Airline Division and Arbitrator Ralph Berger to further discuss the seniority integration issues for the three subsidiary airlines. The IBT retained independent counsel from the firm of Spivak Lipton, a law firm specializing in union-side labor and employment benefits, to review the effect of the sub UA consent decree on the overall integration. After reviewing the opinion from Spivak Lipton, the BAs requested further clarifying information. An additional BA meeting is scheduled for June 12th to accomplish this goal. Following that meeting, the national seniority integration committee will meet on June 20th. Both meetings will be held in Newark. Look for updates in the Dispatch as well as from your respective Locals as the process continues.

Benefits Committee Holds Conference Call

As previously noted in past editions of the Dispatch, the IBT retained consultant Pete Hardcastle from “Cheiron,” a benefits advising firm in McLean, VA to run different pension plan scenarios so that the committee can inform the membership of available options. This important work will continue as the committee prepares for joint negotiations.

On Friday, May 18, 2012, the committee held a conference call with Mr. Hardcastle to review the requests for information made in earlier meetings. The benefits committee will meet again in DC on Tuesday June 5, 2012 to receive a briefing of different types of pension plans that could be available to the members based on Mr. Hardcastle’s recommendations.

The committee will also continue identifying the differences of the three sub companies current, Medical, Dental, Vision, Life plans and decide the best way to survey the membership to identify any problems that need to be addressed during negotiations.

Further updates will be published in the Dispatch after every meeting to keep everyone up to date on this important topic.

Sub UA Business Agents Visit IAH Facility

Last week BA’s Rich Petrovsky and Javier Lectora from Locals 986 and 856 respectively, visited the maintenance facilities in Houston and were hosted by BAs Angel Cantu, Dominic Fierro, and Chief Steward Michael Nerren of Local 19. This visit is part of a broader effort to learn the ways each subsidiary applies the provisions of their respective CBAs as well as to build solidarity. Previously, Cantu along with Chief Steward Dan Stunda of Local 19 visited the SFO facility for the same purpose. During both the IAH and the SFO visit, all Representatives were able to meet with members to discuss concerns, as well as meet with management to get a better understanding of the processes used at each subsidiary. After the visits, each of the participating Representatives expressed a desire to continue the very important work of continuing to build a network of communication that will ensure the membership is protected in the best way possible.

Contract Proposals Reminder


Locals are currently accepting proposals for the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please see your Steward or Business Agent to receive a proposal form. The Airline Division has a proposal form available online as a backup which can be accessed at http://surveygoldplus.com/s/2B85473BE6084779/33.htm. Proposals must be completed by June 15th so that the Steering Committee has time to prepare for their meeting July 9th. The System Steering Committee is scheduled to meet in SFO the week of July 9th, in IAH the week of July 16th and in DEN the week of July 30th. During these sessions, your System Steering Committee will be taking members’ proposals and incorporating them into an opening proposal format.

Recall list Exhausted for Aircraft Maintenance in LAX

Business Agent Dave Elmore reported that the recall list for sub UA aircraft mechanics in Los Angeles was recently exhausted. LAX joins a list of cities that includes Chicago, Denver, Charleston SC, and Washington Dulles. In addition many cities have exhausted the sub UA recall list for ground equipment and facilities maintenance. While there are still many more members on furlough in San Francisco, Indianapolis and New York as well as some of the smaller line stations, what Dave reported is part of an overall trend towards recall. Members on furlough are urged to keep their addresses updated as stated below.

CMI Agreement Ratified

The final stand alone CBA was ratified on May 11th when the CMI mechanics approved the new agreement with an overwhelming acceptance rate. This action allows us to take the next steps to combine all three contracts into a single collective agreement for the United Airlines mechanics and related members. Additionally, the Union will submit a petition for “Single Carrier Status” to the National Mediation Board now that all three subsidiaries have ratified their Collective Bargaining Agreements. “Single Carrier Status” will not affect your current status or CBA. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.



20% Outsourcing Audit

The sub UA draft outsourcing audit was presented to the company earlier this year. The draft has been returned to the auditor for correction. We expect a final report to be completed and released in the near future.


Contract Proposals

Locals are currently accepting proposals for the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please see your Steward or Business Agent to receive a proposal form. The Airline Division has a proposal form available online as a backup which can be accessed at http://surveygoldplus.com/s/2B85473BE6084779/33.htm. Proposals must be completed by June 15th so that the Steering Committee has time to prepare for their meeting July 9th. The System Steering Committee is scheduled to meet in SFO the week of July 9th, in IAH the week of July 16th and in DEN the week of July 30th. During these sessions, your System Steering Committee will be taking members’ proposals and incorporating them into an opening proposal format.


Seniority Integration Committee Meeting Postponed

The meeting originally scheduled for May 16th has been postponed. Business Agents were scheduled to meet on the 11th to review a position paper from independent counsel regarding the Consent Decree that governs sub UA layoff and recall order and whether and how it may affect the combined group. The independent counsel was unable to complete the review and assessment in the short time frame they were given and were unable to be ready for the meeting on the 11th.


Joint Counseling
Don Ramsey, sub UA Chief Steward Aircraft Maintenance in Denver, reported on the Chief Steward call that the company was not correctly following the procedures laid out in the joint counseling letter in Denver. After discussion with the company, local management is now aware of the procedures and will follow them.


Life Insurance Concerns

Larry Calhoun, sub UA Chief Steward JFK, reported on the Chief Steward call that most issues with employee life insurance should be resolved. Larry encourages each member to verify that the correct amounts of life insurance are reflected in their profiles.

Mechanic's Weekly Update

National Steering Committee Meets

On Monday, April 23^rd,the members of the rank and file steering committee held their first meeting. Committee members discussed the process for achieving a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement. The goal is to set the groundwork for what will become an acceptable agreement for the 8,800 active and 3,300 furloughed members.

To begin the process, a call for proposals has begun in many Locals and will begin soon from the Airline Division.  Members are encouraged to participate and share their thoughts regarding sections of the contract they would like to see addressed.

Proposals will be accepted on every aspect of the Agreement for the opener with the company. Currently it is unknown how seniority will be applied, (i.e., for positions such as Lead and Inspector) and once the committee makes its recommendation it will most likely require a reassessment of the membership’s goals for those sections dealing with seniority. For that reason, the proposal gathering process may repeat in the near future after the report from the seniority integration committee.

Locals and the Airline Division will stop taking proposals on June 15^th. Afterthat date, Local Steering Committees will begin the task of vetting the proposals in order to bring them to the national rank and file steering committee. The national committee will convene again on July 9^th and meet for two straight weeks. Then a third session is scheduled for the last week of July. It is hoped that a comprehensive proposal will then be ready to present to the company.

Here is a link to the Airline Division proposal form:

 http://surveygoldplus.com/s/2B85473BE6084779/33.htm

GQ/PV Meeting Held in Chicago

On April 24^th, members of the sub United GQ/PV (GSE and Facilities) groups met with leadership of the company to discuss system wide issues for those shops. There were several updates from the company on the expansion of different shops and the work that is currently being accomplished.

As a result of previous meetings, the bid area 108 and 109 positions were discussed further. Since the current CBA was based off the sub Continental Agreement and there was no direct correlation between GQ/PV (only welders and machinists), it was determined that it would be appropriate to develop an MOU outlining the duties and responsibilities for these two bid areas within the shops.

In attendance for the union were Airline Division Representatives Clacy Griswold and Bob Fisher, Local 986 Business Agent Dave Elmore, Local 781Business Agent Kevin Giegoldt, and Rank and File members Ken Meidinger (Local 455), Scott Baroni (Local 781), Dion Cornelious, Greg Sullivan (Local 986) and Allen Codsides (Local 210).

Joint Board of Adjustment held in Chicago

On Wednesday the 25^th a sub United joint board session (known as “System Board” in the sub Continental Agreement) was held in Chicago. Three cases were heard and decisions have been sent to the Business Agents. The next Board will convene in San Francisco on May 23^rd.

Implementation Items

Work by the company continues to progress towards the full implementation of the sub United CBA. A couple of issues of concern are the changeover of midnights from the first shift of the day to the third shift of the day, and the population of the BAQ list.

For the changeover of midnight shift the company added an extra day on paper to the pay period so the pay period covering the 30^th will have 15 days instead of the normal 14 days. This is a one-time transitional implementation event to compensate for the move to the new language and will be completed for the system on April 30^th.

The BAQ concerns continue as the list is established. Members are advised to print and keep copies of training records to prove eligibility for overtime in different bid areas during the transition to the new bid area qualifications. These saved records may also prove helpful if later disputes on qualifications arise.  Members should be able to begin requesting changes to their BAQ list in the near future