8.01.14 – JNC Hotline – Path to a Negotiated Agreement, T/As Exchanged

 

Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Update-August 1, 2014

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This week, your JNC concluded another round of negotiations with the Company in Chicago.

Discussion and exchanging of proposals continued in the section of:

• International Flying

The JNC continued with internal discussions in the sections of:

• Hours of Service
• Crew Rest

As mentioned in last week’s update, the JNC and the Company are working under the 150-day timeline for negotiations agreed to in the Negotiations Protocol Agreement (NPA). https://www.www.apfa.org/images/negotiations/negotiations-protocol-agreement-2014.pdf

There are 23 face-to-face meetings remaining with company management. We encourage you to visit the Negotiations page on the APFA website at www.APFA.org/negotiations for detailed information on the process.

To date, we have Tentative Agreements (T/As), on the following seven (11) sections:

• Moving Expenses
• Common Domicile / Co-Terminals
• CRAF (Civil Reserve Air Fleet)
• Probation
• Medical Examinations
• Voluntary Contributions / Flight PAC (APFA PAC)
• Hostage Benefits
• Safety and Security (SSD)
• Dispute Resolution and Grievance Procedures
• System Board of Adjustment
• Union Security

Tentative Agreement (T/A) Information Coming Soon!
The JNC and the Communications Department are in the process of finalizing a comparison table for the membership containing already-T/A’d sections of our JCBA.
The table will summarize the TA and the comparable provisions of the current CBAs at Legacy American Airlines (L-AA) and Legacy US Airways (L-US).

NOTE: We have received emails from Flight Attendants wondering why the negotiations updates are so similar from week to week. It can be difficult to articulate how much progress has been made in a given week when several nuanced proposals are passed across the table. The JNC is committed to keeping the membership as up-to-date as possible and we will continue to publish T/As as they are reached.

We will continue negotiations in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area the week of August 4, 2014.

In Unity,

Your Joint Negotiating Committee members:

Lenny Aurigemma (IOR) Vicki Balistreri (PHL)
Margaret Barnes (DFW) Alin Boswell (CLT)
Neil Fernandez (IMA) Paul Hartshorn, Jr. (PHL)
David Hone (PHX) Julie Hedrick (SFO)
Rick Knuth (CLT) George Price (CLT)
Randy Trautman (IMA) Michael Truan (DFW)

Laura Glading – APFA National President
Roger Holmin – AFA MEC President

Negotiations Counsel:
Joe Burns
Rob Clayman

REVIEW: The Path to a Joint Contract – An Update on the Process

AFA, APFA, and New American management entered into a Negotiating Protocol Agreement (NPA) that governs talks for a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) for US Airways and American Airlines Flight Attendants at the New American. The collective bargaining process governed by Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), otherwise known as “Section 6 Bargaining”, is the method of bargaining we are most familiar with in this industry. These joint negotiations do not fall under Section 6 bargaining.

The NPA governs the current bargaining process for the JCBA and contains a number of unique terms distinguishable from the RLA.

First, the NPA provides for an “adopt and go” process. “Adopt and go” means that, to the extent possible, the goal of the parties will be to adopt entire contractual articles/sections from either the AA or US Agreements. The Company has agreed to utilize the “adopt and go” methodology but is not obligated to accept all the provisions we have adopted in our opening proposal.

Second, the NPA allows for 150 days of negotiations, providing an end time for bargaining. This five-month period gives us ample time to bargain through our differences and to reach a T/A. Negotiations began on April 24, 2014, and end on or about September, 19, 2014.

Third, the NPA provides that if an agreement is not reached and/or ratified, a panel of arbitrators will decide the outstanding disputes.

Fourth, the arbitration must begin 90 days after the disputes are submitted to the panel and an award must be issued no later than 30 days after the first day of the hearing.

Finally, the arbitrators’ decision must provide a Joint Contract that is (1) “market based in the aggregate,” with the “market” defined as United, Continental and Delta; and (2) greater in aggregate value than the existing AA Agreement as applied to pre-merger American Flight Attendants and greater than the US Agreement as applied to pre-merger US Airways Flight Attendants.

Although your JNC is spearheading the process, this is a contract for all 24,000 Flight Attendants at the New American. Please stay informed by reading the APFA Hotlines, as well as the information available at www.APFA.org.