September 6, 2012
Parties Have Discussion with NMB
On Thursday August 30th, the parties met with National Mediation Board member Linda Puchala and Senior Mediator Pat Sims. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the process for moving forward with expedited negotiations. Among the items discussed were the protocol agreement and training for the negotiating committee.
Board Member Puchala emphasized the importance of tailoring the protocol agreement to fit the unique needs of the parties. Both Board member Puchala and Mediator Sims suggested the negotiating team receive training in the new process developed by the NMB. The new process is built on interest based bargaining and is designed to swiftly identify and resolve issues. Finally Board Member Puchala committed the resources of the NMB to ensure the parties successfully conclude negotiations.
The parties are expected to meet in the coming weeks to finalize the protocol agreement. Training will occur in the same time frame. An update will be provided to the membership after the finalization of the protocol agreement in the same manner as previous notifications.
In attendance for the Airline Division were attorney Ed Gleason, Airline Division Assistant Director Steven Nagrotsky and International Representatives Paul Alves and Bob Fisher. Attending on behalf of the company were Mike Bonds and Doug McKeen.
Expedited Negotiations
Expedited Negotiations under the NMB were developed after years of criticism for the lengthy and often time’s very slow process of traditional negotiations. The prolonged procedure forced the NMB to create a new avenue to accelerate the bargaining process.
One of the first steps in an expedited negotiation course of action is the Protocol Agreement. This is the agreement that will set ground rules and establish expectations and guide the expedited mediation process for our case. Items discussed can be meeting places and venues, as well as the frequency and daily schedules. The protocol agreement could also include the manner of discussing each issue, such as sub committees, or how communications are presented to the membership. The protocol agreement is simply an arrangement of the process that will be used to help in obtaining a speedy conclusion to reach a CBA. The parties each commit in advance to discuss and agree to the protocols and abide by them.
Meet the Negotiating Committee
The upcoming talks with the company to combine the two agreements in to an amalgamated CBA will be comprised of 13 members. The Joint Rank and File Negotiating Committee will be made up of the following members.
Overseeing the process for the Airline Division will be Clacy Griswold, Paul Alves, Bob Fisher, and Legal Council Ed Gleason.
The SFO Facilities Maintenance Department commonly takes on large projects of this caliber and depends on cooperation from its different tradesmen to complete the task at hand. This particular build requires the talents of the in house engineer to design the platform, the weld shop to take the metal and fabricate it in to a safe working structure, and the hydraulic/mechanical shop to assemble the drive motors and drive shafts that will move this oversized metal workstation. This last shop also employees a certified crane operator who is instrumental in the construction of a stand of this size. When complete, the paint shop will do the prep and paint and the electricians will wire the whole thing up.
This is just one example of the many unsung maintenance personnel working at various stations and hubs throughout the new UAL organization. These support departments which also include some aircraft maintenance groups, are all too often undervalued and as a result under compensated for the significance they add to the airline. We are happy to recognize them and appreciate the work they do as well as the safety features they create for the aircraft maintenance technicians.
