Parties Have Discussion with NMB

On Thursday August 30th, the parties met with National Mediation Board member Linda Puchala and Senior Mediator Pat Sims. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the process for moving forward with expedited negotiations. Among the items discussed were the protocol agreement and training for the negotiating committee.

Board Member Puchala emphasized the importance of tailoring the protocol agreement to fit the unique needs of the parties. Both Board member Puchala and Mediator Sims suggested the negotiating team receive training in the new process developed by the NMB. The new process is built on interest based bargaining and is designed to swiftly identify and resolve issues. Finally Board Member Puchala committed the resources of the NMB to ensure the parties successfully conclude negotiations.

The parties are expected to meet in the coming weeks to finalize the protocol agreement. Training will occur in the same time frame. An update will be provided to the membership after the finalization of the protocol agreement in the same manner as previous notifications.
In attendance for the Airline Division were attorney Ed Gleason, Airline Division Assistant Director Steven Nagrotsky and International Representatives Paul Alves and Bob Fisher. Attending on behalf of the company were Mike Bonds and Doug McKeen.

Expedited Negotiations

Expedited Negotiations under the NMB were developed after years of criticism for the lengthy and often time’s very slow process of traditional negotiations. The prolonged procedure forced the NMB to create a new avenue to accelerate the bargaining process.

One of the first steps in an expedited negotiation course of action is the Protocol Agreement. This is the agreement that will set ground rules and establish expectations and guide the expedited mediation process for our case. Items discussed can be meeting places and venues, as well as the frequency and daily schedules. The protocol agreement could also include the manner of discussing each issue, such as sub committees, or how communications are presented to the membership. The protocol agreement is simply an arrangement of the process that will be used to help in obtaining a speedy conclusion to reach a CBA. The parties each commit in advance to discuss and agree to the protocols and abide by them.

Meet the Negotiating Committee

The upcoming talks with the company to combine the two agreements in to an amalgamated CBA will be
comprised of 13 members. The Joint Rank and File Negotiating Committee will be made up of the following members.

• Bob Clever - IAH
• Michael Nerren - IAH
• Vinny Graziano - EWR
• Steve Olsen - EWR
• Paul Becerra - MCO
• Mike Moats - CLE
• Jay Koreny - IAD
• Mitch Hunt - DEN
• Mike Pecoraro - ORD
• Mark DesAngeles- SFO
• Joe Prisco - SFO
• Anthony Ybarra - LAX
• John Pangelian - GUM

Assisting this committee will be Business Agents Rudy Gonzalez, Francis Diaz, Dave Elmore, Javier Lectora, Rich Petrovsky, Dave Saucedo, John Hennelly, George Graham, Angel Cantu, Dominic Fierro, Tommy Esposito, Ralph Salzano, and Charlie Alferio.

Overseeing the process for the Airline Division will be Clacy Griswold, Paul Alves, Bob Fisher, and Legal Council Ed Gleason.

New Structure for SFO

Facilities Maintenance, also known as Trade Group 128 is providing some much needed solid support to the aircraft technicians in SFO. The project is to create and build a large motor driven working platform assembly that will facilitate the maintenance or replacement of flight deck windshields on Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.

The SFO Facilities Maintenance Department commonly takes on large projects of this caliber and depends on cooperation from its different tradesmen to complete the task at hand. This particular build requires the talents of the in house engineer to design the platform, the weld shop to take the metal and fabricate it in to a safe working structure, and the hydraulic/mechanical shop to assemble the drive motors and drive shafts that will move this oversized metal workstation. This last shop also employees a certified crane operator who is instrumental in the construction of a stand of this size. When complete, the paint shop will do the prep and paint and the electricians will wire the whole thing up.

This is just one example of the many unsung maintenance personnel working at various stations and hubs throughout the new UAL organization. These support departments which also include some aircraft maintenance groups, are all too often undervalued and as a result under compensated for the significance they add to the airline. We are happy to recognize them and appreciate the work they do as well as the safety features they create for the aircraft maintenance technicians.

Furloughed members urged to update their addresses.

Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is
predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent.

If you are in touch with a furloughed member, please forward this information to them. Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com . The ESC will provide a fax number and ask members to send the address change accompanied with a signature.

Useful links

If you would like to see a link added to this list please contact Bob Fisher at: rcfisher7@yahoo.com
Airline Mechanics Forum Airline Mechanics forum (This is a good place to discuss merger related items)
WCTPP - http://www.wctpension.org/

The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Boston Local 25
New York & Washington Local 210
Charleston & Atlanta Local 528
Miami & Orlando Local 769
Cleveland Local 964
Chicago Local 781
Houston, Dallas & New Orleans Local 19
Phoenix Local 104
Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Hawaii & Guam Local 986
San Francisco Local 856/986
Denver Local 455