Source: ourunited.org

This week the Joint Negotiations Committee (JNC) met in Washington DC with United management and the National Mediation Board (NMB).  The meeting was presided over by Board Member Linda Puchala. The purpose of the meeting was to get a status update on our ongoing negotiations. 

The NMB spent time separately with both AFA and management to hear our respective views on how the process was working, or not working.  We then spent time together as a large group to discuss how me might move forward.  All parties agreed that the process is not moving as quickly as anyone would like and that both the AFA and management needed to implement changes to streamline the facilitated problem solving process we find ourselves in.

Linda Puchala made some very timely observations regarding our negotiations and the airline industry. The industry is going through an upswing, airlines are making record profits, oil prices are at historic lows and airline consolidation in the country is coming to an end. In her view the time is right for the parties to work towards reaching an agreement.  The JNC wholeheartedly agrees. 

The JNC will be meeting with United management next week in Houston to determine what kind of changes can be implemented to improve the output of these negotiations.

In Solidarity,