Amerijet Pilots and Flight Engineers on Strike
Despite a five year attempt to secure a contract, the pilots and flight engineers of Amerijet International (Amerijet) have now gone on strike effective at 12:01 am on Thursday morning. The crewmembers of the Ft. Lauderdale-based all-cargo airline have been attempting to negotiate for a first contract since early in 2004. Over 5-1/2 years, they have faced management-based attempts to decertify the union, unilateral wage and benefit cuts and increased pressure to remove the legally elected union from the property.
Earlier in the week, the NMB, along with the union, continued to urge management to respond in good faith and come to an agreement. Late Wednesday night Amerijet management broke off further negotiations and walked out of the NMB-sponsored contract talks.
Amerijet's insisted on a five-year contract without any raise in the last 20 months of the contract's term. The company also refused the union's demand to restore severe wage and benefit cuts that the company imposed earlier this year, during a previous NMB-directed negotiating meeting in Washington, D.C. The Amerijet pilots and flight engineers had been working at the same pay rate since 1999 and then suffered a unilateral 10 percent wage cut in March 2009. It is a pay rate that is not only at or below the poverty level, it is almost identical to the pay of the regional pilots who were killed in the crash of Colgan Air 3407 in Buffalo this year. Amerijet does not provide basic sanitary facilities on the airplanes and does not provide food and water to their pilots and flight engineers flying long, hot and exhausting duty days throughout the Caribbean and South America.
According to Daisy Gonzalas, Business Agent at Local 769, Amerijet operates an air cargo link to many Caribbean islands and nations, carrying vital goods such as perishable products not produced in the islands.
Although so far some 727 flights have been operated by management pilots and a few who have crossed the picket line, a number of pilot groups including Capital Cargo pilots, ABX pilots and Atlas and Polar pilots, as well as freight companies such as Roadways, ABF Freight, Yellow Freight and UPS, are honoring the picket lines and refusing to deliver freight to Amerijet.
Teamsters Will Fill the Position of Association Director of the Airline Customer Service Employees Association, IBT-CWA for the Next Two Year Period
On September 1, 2009 , General President Hoffa will assume the position of Association Director of the Airline Customer Service Employee Association, IBT-CWA for a two year term. In accordance with the IBT-CWA Associations Constitution, he has appointed Teamsters Airline Division International Representative Dan Smith as his designee for Association affairs. Dan shall also serve as Chairman and Chief Spokesperson of the Negotiating Committee of the Association.
The Airline Customer Service Employee Association, IBT-CWA represents 8000 employees in the craft or class of Passenger Service Employees at US Airways.
Continental Mechanics Section 6 Negotiations in Houston Makes Progress
Negotiations resumed with the Company in Houston, Texas on August 24, 25, and 26, 2009.
The committee negotiated Articles 3 – Covered Crafts, Classifications and Bid Areas, Article 14 – Safety and Health, and Article 17 - Overtime. Progress was made on all three articles and a Tentative Agreement was reached on Article 14.
Union participants were: Clacy Griswold – Chairman, Robert Rasch – Co-Chairman, Nick Manicone,IBT Attorney, Paul Alves, Airline Division Representative, Business Agents: Earl Averette, Charlie Alferio, Angel Cantu, Dave Elmore, Dominic Fierro, Bob Luciano, Bob McAllister, Justin Muraki, and Dan Stunda. Negotiation Committee Members: Chris Carouthers, Robert Clever, Dominick DiPaolo, Tommy Esposito, Vinny Graziano, Jack Harran, Craig Larson, Carl Leverson, Mike Meglich, Ralph Salzano, Audrey Scates, and Shawn Vernon.
Continental participants: Jeff Wall – Chairman, Dan Casey, Joe Ferreira, Mauricio Angel, John
Greenlee, Benny King, Dixon McKenzie, Jim Montgomery, and Randy Ramdass.
Negotiations will resume on August 31st, September 1st, and 2nd 2009 in Houston, Texas
Atlas Air World Wide Negotiations Update
The Negotiating Committee met in suburban Chicago, August 10 thru 12, to resume formal bargaining with the Company. Tentative agreements were reached on Section 15-Physical Standards, Medical Examinations, Drug and Alcohol Testing and Related Provisions and Section 17- Missing, Internment, Prisoner or Hostage Benefits.
In February the parties signed an LOA establishing an ambitious 6-month negotiating schedule through August 2009 to merge the Atlas and Polar CBAs. If negotiations proved unsuccessful, any open issues would be submitted to a neutral arbitrator for binding resolution. The LOA also allowed the parties to extend the timeline by mutual agreement. The August "deadline" was moved—initially into September to accommodate scheduling conflicts, and more recently into November due to the change in the Company's negotiations counsel. The parties have now further agreed to extend negotiations into February 2010 by scheduling two sessions during each intervening month, except for October and December when there is only one scheduled session per month. We expect to add additional bargaining dates for the month of March 2010.
At this time the Union believes the Crewmembers' best interests are served by continuing to negotiate towards a completely merged CBA. If we conclude that further bargaining is not likely to lead to an agreement that advances the goals of all Crewmembers, we will not hesitate to submit our dispute to binding arbitration at the end of the extension period.
The next regular bargaining session is scheduled for September 22 thru 24 in Chicago, followed by a Scope bargaining session on September 29 in Washington, DC.
Week in Review News Items
Labor Developments
Unions seeking to represent more than 30,000 workers at Delta Air Lines and its Northwest subsidiary could face an uphill battle in elections that could open the door for more collective bargaining. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA recently asked the National Mediation Board to rule that the 2008 merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines created a single carrier, a move that would require union elections for various workers.
Regulatory & Safety
Southwest Airlines and FAA officials met Wednesday to discuss an agency inspector's recent discovery that SWA is operating more than 40 737s with parts produced by an uncertified vendor. In response, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division called on Congress to redouble its commitment to move forward with language in proposed FAA reauthorization legislation that would harmonize and strengthen oversight of domestic and foreign repair stations that perform services for U.S. airlines. And NTSB is recommending major changes to air traffic over the Hudson River — including having helicopters and planes fly at separate altitudes.
Airline Industry Finances
This must-read analysis looks at the unprecedented number of airlines flying today with badly broken business models. Airfares in America have sunk to their lowest level since 2005, the latest American Express Business Travel Monitor has revealed. Figures for the second quarter show they slumped year on year, 18% on domestic flights and 19% on international services. And as airlines cut fares to get more passengers on planes and salvage the summer travel season, their job gets harder heading into the slower fall and winter months.
Airline Industry Impact on the Environment
Every year, the global livestock industry emits 18% of the world's total carbon emissions. In fact, bovines are one of the biggest CO2 offenders. Despite that, few, if any, corporations, restaurants, supermarkets or fast food outlets have announced cutting back on beef to become more environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, the airline industry isn't as lucky. Accounting for a mere 2% of the world's global carbon emissions, airlines have unjustifiably been labeled as one of the worst CO2 perpetrators, prompting many corporations and leisure travellers to reduce air travel. Interestingly, there are few plans to reduce tools like cell phones and computers - elements of an IT industry that also produce 2% of the world's global carbon emissions.
Miscellaneous
Deregulating the airline industry was a major legislative achievement for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who pushed the issue even though he didn't have jurisdiction over aviation and used his substantial charm and persuasiveness to change the way America travels?the first test flight of Boeing's long-delayed 787 Dreamliner passenger plane will happen by the end of 2009, some two years behind schedule, the company said on Thursday?the six-hour-long stranding of passengers aboard two different flights this month—a Continental Express regional jet diverted to Rochester, Minn., by thunderstorms and a Sun Country Airlines delay on Aug. 21 at New York's JFK International Airport—has thrust the issue of torturous takeoff delays back into the headlines and may have improved the odds for a "passenger bill of rights" bill pending in Congress.
