Source: ourcontract.org 

On the same day United Airlines announced a quarterly profit of $1.3 billion, the JNC and United Airlines management were unable to reach agreement on a joint Contract. 

You will recall when negotiations began in December 2012 the JNC’s goal was to combine the Continental, Continental Micronesia and United Airlines Contracts into a joint Contract for all Flight Attendants at the new United.  At our very first session the company told us their view was we were creating a Contract without history or precedent; a brand-new United Contract. They didn’t want a “book of rules.”  Despite the company’s unreasonable position we proceeded into a negotiations that was designed to be slow, tedious and unproductive.

In May 2014, in an effort to move negotiations forward, AFA agreed to join the company in asking the National Mediation Board to assist us in implementing a Facilitated Problem Solving process.  With the NMB’s help the parties developed a protocol for how this process would be utilized, and in it July 23, 2015 was established as the target date for concluding negotiations. Since that protocol was signed last summer we have utilized as many as six subcommittees to identify Flight Attendant and company interests, develop options to meet those interests and finally, use those options to create solutions and Contract language.  The subcommittees were productive and we were able to reach agreements in a number of areas.

In January the process and its structure were revised to make it more efficient and to speed up the pace of tentative agreements.  The JNC and the company started to implement the practice of “adopt and amend” where we took existing sections from one of our Contracts and adopted it in total, or with amendments, to meet our needs.  The pace of tentative agreements picked up and it looked like we could possibly meet the July 23rd target date. 

However, In April the company made the unilateral decision to change the process. Moving away from the interest based problem solving we had been utilizing and instead basing their positions on dollars and cents. They put forward their economic framework for what an overall Contract at United should look like and it was based solely on their view of the Flight Attendant contract at American Airlines. 

The company described what they presented as a “discussion of the economic landscape,” and that it should be used as a “benchmark.”  By definition, a benchmark is a standard against which similar things must be measured or judged.  The JNC has found these company “discussions” about “benchmarks” quickly turn into hard and fast bargaining positions that management insists Flight Attendants bargain against. 

This is why the JNC has been opposed to the dual track bargaining the company is trying to implement.  Instead of developing solutions that meet each other’s interests, United is attempting to sidetrack us into circular arguments over whose assumptions are correct, whose financial models are better, or whose bean counting is the best.  These are discussion about the cost of everything and the value of nothing.  The JNC cannot agree with a seemingly arbitrary amount of money, that was pre-determined by the company, limiting what our Contract could be.

As of today the following sections and subjects have not been resolved:

• Scope, Succesorship & Mergers (job protections)
• Compensation (which includes rates of pay and all pay factors)
• Benefits
• Retirement
• Expenses, Transportation & Hotels
• Scheduling (including Onboard Leader, LQ and base structure)
• Vacation
• Sick Leave & Occupational Injury
• Leaves of Absence
• Job Shares & Partnerships
• Filling of Vacancies
• Reduction in Personnel
• Trainings & Meetings
• Personnel Files
• Commuter Policy
• Onboard Crew Rest
• Union Activities
• Profit Sharing

The open sections and subjects listed above are not simply money issues.  These sections and subjects are also about working conditions, benefits and our lifestyle. United Airlines has failed to address these sections and subjects which clearly demonstrates their lack of value and respect for us as individuals and employees.

We are told every day to “Be the Brand.” If management doesn’t respect us, then what does that say about their respect for the Brand? 

The core problem is that the company is unwilling to put the necessary economic resources into reaching an agreement with its Flight Attendants.  American Airlines put $243 million dollars towards its Flight Attendant contract, but here – the company is only willing to put a fraction of that amount into ours.  Flight Attendants are not going to pay for this merger. This is a time of record profitability at United Airlines (did we mention the $1.3 billion profit?), and this Company can well afford the resources necessary to reach an agreement with us. 

It’s time to complete this merger. Flight Attendants have waited long enough to improve our wages, benefits and working conditions, and last week during our Day of Action, over 2000 of you made that perfectly clear.  This management is five years into a merger that has not fully delivered the synergies and efficiencies it was supposed to, and Wall Street is perfectly clear on that. Most importantly the promises made to our passengers when this merger was announced have not been fully realized and they are perfectly clear on that.

Both AFA and the company have to find a way to bridge the divide that separates us, and the JNC is committed to finding a way forward in these negotiations.  AFA and the company have agreed to jointly request a status conference with the NMB to discuss what our next steps could be.  The JNC will be conferring with our respective MECs to update them on where we are and get their input regarding a way forward in advance of this meeting.

All of us on the JNC are disappointed that we did not meet the target date, but as we’ve told you in the past, we were not going to reach a bad agreement simply to say we hit the target. 

We hear you loud and clear that you want a good Contract.  A Contract that respects you as United Flight Attendants and properly values the work you do everyday.  Thank you for your activism and support.

We hear you.

We’re with you. 

We are United.

In Solidarity,

Cindy Commander, CAL
Ken Diaz, UAL
Kathleen Domondon, CMI
Joey Guider, CAL
Jack Kande, UAL
Kevin Lum, UAL
Marcus Valentino, CAL