Mechanics Update - August 14, 2015

The parties met this week in Las Vegas.  Among the items addressed were an IBT counter proposal to the Health and Welfare (Article 16), Letters of Agreement, and facilities maintenance Article 3 issues. The facilities committee is very close to agreement on language terms for this section.  Further discussions were held regarding JFK with 3 LoA’s signed, preserving as many local positions as practicable. The MSAP program was also discussed in a separate subcommittee.

The IBT Health and Welfare subcommittee met on Tuesday, in an internal caucus with IBT Legal Counsel Ed Gleason and Benefits Actuary Gaelle Gravot of Cheiron, to address language issues in the Article 16 proposal as well as developing a counter to the Company’s most recent proposal.  The amended IBT health care proposal was passed to the Company on Wednesday. A new counter proposal from the company is expected in the next round of talks.

LOA’s from all three CBA’s were discussed, resulting in some new LOA’s which were discussed to address new circumstances or clarify existing ones. In addition, some obsolete LOA’s were removed by mutual agreement.  Some existing LOA’s will be amended as changes to contract language dictate.

Articles Article 3 and Article 6 were TA’d for the body of the language. There are a few LOA’s tied to these Articles which still remain open. Article 14 was discussed through the week and great progress was made towards the finalization of this Article.

Members from the Seniority Committee were on hand again this week to continue work on merging the lists. Unfortunately, this small group is not able to work continuously due to scheduling conflicts with other meetings involving the Company’s representative to the committee or the IBT committee members. Although the meeting opportunities are limited, the committee remains on hand to take advantage of any availability to meet and continue merging the list. During this week, the committee continued to address adjustments in company seniority and put together a check list for the next meeting. The committee spent a majority of their time together resolving many outstanding seniority disputes from many sUA, sCMI, and sCO stations. We were able to resolve most of these protests to the satisfaction of the members. Some of these complaints had been several years old and we are pleased that many of these matters were settled.   

There will be sub-committee meetings scheduled, interim to the next scheduled round of formal negotiations in September, to address language on several remaining non-economic articles.  All agreements reached in these meetings will come before the full committee for review and approval prior to being signed.

Mechanics Update, July 31, 2015

The parties met in Las Vegas the week of July 27, 2015 at the direction of Mediator McGuckin. The process of working in subcommittees continued through the session. Several Articles (listed below) required adjustment/clarification prior to being TA’d. The FST negotiations committee and the Company met through the week to discuss language applying to their craft. The FST negotiation committee will meet with the company September 1^st -3^rd in IAH.

Discussions continued on Article 16 (Benefits). The Company’s Article 16 proposal was presented and meetings were held to clarify their positions on several items. The full benefits committee will be present, and briefed, on the results of those talks during the August 10^th session. This will happen before the Article is presented to the full rank and file negotiating committee. Input is required from TeamCare on costing issues prior to a full economics benefit pass. Once approved by the committee, the counter proposal will be presented to the company.

The Article 14 (Safety and Health) subcommittee had productive discussions during the week and presented the Article to the full committee for approval. This was then passed to the Company. The Company countered, and the subcommittee is in the process of review. Discussions will continue with the Company during the next session.

Article 5 (Vacancies) was TA’d late on the evening of the 30^th along with an LOA regarding how supervisors that hold seniority may return to the craft in the future. Article 6, (RIF and Recall) discussions are ongoing, but will need input from Legal prior to finalizing language for this Article.  Article 21 (General and Misc) and Article 22 (Transportation) were finalized in subcommittee. These Articles were reviewed by the negotiations committee and TA’d.

A special committee on JFK met with Company representatives in ongoing discussions regarding issues surrounding our members stationed there. It is the goal of this committee to minimize disruptions for members in the New York point.

The tenor of the talks remained positive through this session. Negotiations will resume August 10^th in Las Vegas at the direction of the Mediator.