November 12, 2009
The State of Our Union
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
I want to begin this state of the union by giving you the latest update concerning all of our negotiations. Our Executive Board Member Vincent Argentina informed me that the Title II negotiations just concluded in Chicago, IL. On Wednesday 11/11/09 with some significant changes occurring within the committee itself as requested by the Federal Mediator Jack Kane. The Federal Mediator requested a smaller committee on both sides of the table and asked AA to ensure that the right people were at the
tahle that would be able to assist in reaching a tentative agreement. The TWU Committee held a secret ballot and the following individuals were selected by the full committee to represent in Title I and negotiations going forward S. Gilboy, R. Harp, D. Lantz, S. Luis, L. Pike, T. Woodard, and B. Zimmerman. This past week's Title II Negotiation session was totally unproductive, as the companies negotiation team responded to the proposals that was presented by your committee on June 11, 2009 with one
word NO! As a result, your M&R committee removed their proposal from the table. The next mediation session is scheduled for the week of January 11, 2009, although the parties are trying to secure an earlier date.
The Fleet service and Ground Service Negotiating Committee met on October 27th at Flagship University in Dallas, TX. The Company put on its usual gloom and doom financial presentation. The Company failed to respond to our previous proposal for the second, straight time.
To say we are frustrated is an understatement. The TWU Negotiating Committee expressed this frustration with the Federal Mediator Teri Brown, as well as the Company's negotiating team. In
response to our frustration, the Company informed your TWU Negotiating Team that their table position has not changed since September 2008. The Company went on to say that there was no need to respond to our proposal due to the fact that nothing has changed financially at American Airlines.
Your TWU Negotiating Committee informed the Federal Mediator and the Company that the status quo and the stall tactics were totally unacceptable, not only to us, but to the Membership. We made it clear, that at our next scheduled meeting in February; we were going to do all possible to change the dynamics of future negotiations and to secure an equitable agreement for our Members.
The first round of our latest RIF have just concluded in the New York Complex and our out stations effective November 7, 2009. All indications are that there won't be another RIF until April, 201.0 based on another major flight scheduled change. During this schedule change will see an increase of flight activity at JFK with 3 new domestic and 3 new international trips. This is not a guarantee that we will see any additional head count. In the past RIF there was an increase in Flight activity at LGA, yet we still lost members during this RIF.
Not only are we contending with reductions in force, the company keeps introducing new programs such as Priority Bags Service and Ramp Link each of these programs present their own unique set of problems for our membership. The first is the Priority Bag program that company has instituted to help improve our service levels to our best customers, yet the company continues to cut staff. This all revolves around what appears to be companies current business model that dictates that they keep cutting headcount until we fail, and then the company will back fill positions because they figured that we have reached the bottom.
Ramp Link on the other hand is geared at making our Crew Chiefs and Dl's more efficient with the use of these hand held units. What is the efficiency you might wonder, the company figures the Crew Chief will never have to leave the gate and can assist his crew full time. The biggest problem appears to be connectivity problems with dropped connections, which force the crew chief to leave his crew and gate anyway. There is also a programming problem that makes it difficult to use on narrow body flights. The company's goal for Ramp Link is to reduce the three man (3) crew to a two man (2) crew and a Crew Chief. The overriding goal is to do more with less.
Hot News: About a month ago I sent out an email concerning an APFA- Flight Attendant demonstration in honor of the 16thanniversary of the 1993 strike against AA. This event is scheduled for Wednesday November 18, 2009 at LGA and JFK from 11 am to 2 pm. Please show your support for our fellow unionist by attending if you can.
In closing, I just want to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication. I would also ask you to take care of one another, and work safe. Because, at the end of the day, the greatest gift is being able to go home to your family.
