Jumpseatnews.com - United Airlines flight attendant resources

Home > News > AFA/UAL Talks Go Nowhere

AFA/UAL Talks Go Nowhere

print
Source: Archived Content

Date: Mar 02, 2001

Not very happy news to report I'm afraid.
I think I'll let the DEAR-AFA tape speak for itself in its entirety:

The Company and your Negotiating Committee met today. Not only was no progress made, the Company took a step backward by tailoring their proposal to circumvent the membership ratification process.

They increased their pay proposal by a mere 1% for a total of a 4% increase in pay rates. However, they declined to discuss AFA's job security proposal that included no furlough language, domicile protections, foreign national limitations and would not even give us the job security protections that Jim Goodwin guaranteed all US Airways employees in their transaction documents.

Your Negotiating Committee had heard enough - they left. They told the Company that any further discussions were fruitless as they simply do not understand us. Flight Attendants expect to be treated fairly, have our concerns about the merger addressed and to receive full value for any contractual changes the Company needs in order to complete its transaction. 

We didn't ask for this merger and we're certainly not willing to be treated unfairly as the merger unfolds.

United's threat to unilaterally change our contract by acquiring and operating US Airways is illegal.

If United proceeds with its purchase without a waiver from the Flight Attendants, it will be a "Major Dispute" under the law. This change in our contract would equate to United unilaterally lowering our wages, without first getting an agreement from us. In either case, United's actions would be illegal.

When the talks broke down, AFA's negotiators warned United management that if the Company insists on creating a "Major Dispute", AFA will respond in kind. That means CHAOS strikes if they go ahead with the merger without a waiver of our Scope Clause.

The MEC will formally vote this coming Thursday March 8th, to support the CHAOS actions if the Company pushes forward with the merger and creates a Major Dispute. We must now fight with our strongest weapon, CHAOS strikes. Our attorneys stand ready to file our lawsuit to prevent United from unilaterally changing our contract. Once we get to that point, it will be up to the courts to decide. In the meantime, get ready for CHAOS strike actions but DO NOT take any job actions at this time. We can only take action if United follows through with its threat to make unilateral changes to our contract. 

Remember to wear your AFA pin, look for more information about our CHAOS plans, visit the MEC website at www.unitedafa.org, sign up for E-Lines via the website and continue to call Update AFA.

Meanwhile, back WHQ, they released their own press release on the AFA discussions.  I was at a complete loss for words or rationale over their announcement.  It was released on NewsReal on Friday (Mar. 2) and once again reminded all 100,000 employees about our '5% Lump Sum Payment'.  Why that ancient contractual detail (dating back to 1997) must be tooted on NewsReal over and over like an obnoxious Real Estate Agent screaming, "Location! Location! Location!" is beyond me.

Make sure you stay on top of things---there's a lot at stake here.

< Return to Latest News


Quick Find

Travel and Safety

And now a word from...

Printed from www.jumpseatnews.com. Have a nice day!