National Steering Committee Meets
On Monday, April 23rd,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 15th. 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 9th 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:
GQ/PV Meeting Held in Chicago
On April 24th, 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 25th 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 23rd.
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 30th 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 30th.
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
