Monday, February 25, 2013

Negotiations Update February 24, 2013


Last week the language committee met to go over, line by line, the changes agreed to in principal by the sub committees over the last six weeks. Between the three separate agreements there were over 100 items in 24 articles and provisions that required review for Phase 1 in order to correctly draft the new language. Many of these items were small such as changing “Continental” to “United” while others were more substantive such as adding new language to capture concepts that were agreed to that had no prior agreement language. The work of the language committee will continue this week as there is still much to do in order to complete this task.
On Monday an executive committee review of the progress will take place. The negotiating committee will return on Tuesday to review work done by the language committee. In addition several sub committees will be meeting with the assistance of the NMB to attempt to finalize any remaining issues. Phase 1 is expected to be completed on time by the end of the week.
Later in the week actuaries for the parties, for the Union Peter Hardcastle (pensions), John Colberg and Gaelle Gravot (health care), will meet to discuss pension and benefit issues. They will be joined by our economist Dan Akin. The purpose of this meeting is to request information and share the vision of the IBT negotiating committee surrounding these benefits to the company. This will lay the ground work for Phase 2 economic discussions scheduled to begin in March.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Negotiations Update

 
 
 
This week the parties met in Chicago to round out Phase 1 – (non economic) reconciliation talks. We are on schedule at this point and have discussed every article in the Phase 1 agenda. Other than a few remaining reconciliation issues that may have room for some further discussion, Phase 1 of the process is nearly complete. The credit for the success of this first stage goes to the subcommittee groups of both sides who with the help of senior mediator Pat Sims and the NMB were able to outpace the language writers for this course of action.
Next week in Chicago, a small group from the Teamster committee will focus on constructing and tightening language to reflect the agreements reached in committee discussions. This language will then be available for analysis, review and edits by the entire committee the following week prior to moving forward. During this final week in February, the parties will also have the opportunity with the assistance of the NMB to attempt to reach agreements in principal on the few remaining outstanding Phase 1 issues before the process moves to Phase 2.
The process of Phase 2 is expected to begin on schedule in early March. In Phase 2, we will discuss all the components of the economic portions of the agreement including pay, job protections, and benefits such as pension and medical options. There will also be discussions on any of the Phase 1 language we could not agree on carried over in to Phase 2.
 
In anticipation of economic discussions, this week the negotiating team was introduced to economist Dan Akins. Dan has worked closely with Dr. Jim Kimball, the IBT’s Director of Economics and Research as well as the Airline Division.  He brings his 30 years of experience as an airline economist to assist the committee in the negotiating process and has built his distinguished career working primarily for organized labor. Dan has a deep appreciation and understanding how airline companies operate and negotiate. His area of expertise and assistance will come in the form of dissecting the financial data requested from the company and offer suggestions moving forward. 
 
Actuaries
 
During the week a small subcommittee met with Cheiron, to discuss health care options. Chieron is a highly regarded full-service financial analysis and actuarial consulting firm located in Chicago and has dedicated two of their top rated actuaries, John Colberg and Gaelle Gravot to assist the Teamster negotiating committee with the benefits process.

Data provided to the actuaries was created by the benefits committee.   The actuaries from Cherion will take the data along with additional data requests from the carrier and provide recommendations to the Teamster benefits subcommittee.  
 

Cheiron and others will help to ensure that the subject of our benefits do not become “incompacilated.” This made up word was created during one of our long breakout sessions that generally describes the tendency of some company officials who attempt to dilute our expectations. The committee will remain diligent to ensure a watchful eye for these types of actions and will create other words to describe them as needed.
The committee is very appreciative and would like to express our thanks for the support and guidance we have received from the various in-house and outside individuals and firms that have been brought in to assist in these discussions.
 
Committee Member Health Report
The negotiating committee is pleased to announce that the latest conversation with Allen Cosides finds him on his way to recovery. Allen suffered a heart attack recently which has him sidelined for the time being. Today, Allen and his wife were able to get outside for a bit of fresh air. We will keep him involved as much as possible while he recovers and look forward to his return as a helpful part of this committee.  Our special thanks goes out to all who offered assistance to Allen and who have kept him in your thoughts and prayers.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Negotiations Update

This week the parties met in Chicago to continue Phase 1, non-economic reconciliation talks. The focus was on Articles 3 - (Classifications), Article 17 – (Overtime) and Article 12 – (Field Trips).

The Union committee was missing a very important member due to health issues for this session. Allen Cosides suffered a heart attack last Friday, but is currently home recovering. We would like to ask you all to keep Allen and his family in your thoughts and prayers. We on the negotiating committee are looking forward to his speedy recovery and return.

The bulk of this week's work focused on Article 3 – (Classifications). Because of the difference in the way the San Francisco base has operated in the past, the transition to the new agreement has been difficult. The Union subcommittee presented a detailed report to the Company subcommittee describing what was believed to be a current view of the bid areas. The report also included what the Union committee believed was the best path forward. The Union committee would like to thank all of the stewards and members that helped to provide this useful information. While progress was made on this Article the work will continue next week.

Field Trips (Article 12) talks continued until Wednesday when an agreement in principle was reached on the Phase 1 issues. The same subcommittee then moved on to Article 17 – (Overtime) and was able to reach an agreement in principle.

A major winter storm in the northeast caused the negotiations to wrap up on Thursday evening in order to allow the Union negotiators to get home ahead of the massive flight cancellations that were instituted. The NMB will be with us next week when the parties resume talks on Monday. The Article 3 subcommittee is slated to continue its work and a review of the status of several articles will occur to determine which other sub committees will meet.
 

Friday, February 1, 2013

New Website of the Teamsters Airline Division

 A brand new website for the Teamsters Airline Division has been launched this week. This is your one-stop shop for all news and information about Teamsters in the airline industry. Check out Teamster Air online today: www.teamsterair.org

The new and improved website is designed to keep members connected and to provide you with the tools and information you need to stay informed and involved in the union.

Teamster Air features complete Airline Division information, an interactive map to Airline Division locals, an active news feed, and staff bios. You can also link to other Teamster airline campaign web pages and filter for news stories related to specific carriers and crafts in the Airline Division.