ALPA Presents AMR With Negotiation Proposal

[WingNaPrayer]

Allied Pilots Assoc Presents AMR With Negotiation Proposal



The Allied Pilots Association, the collective bargaining agent for AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American Airlines' 12,000 pilots, presented the company with a proposal calling for the establishment of a protocol and timetable for ongoing contract negotiations.

The proposal calls for both parties to agree to four consecutive weeks of National Mediation Board-assisted mediation, beginning March 3. If either side finds the four weeks unsatisfactory, the pilots and company can jointly petition for 120 days of mediation under the Railway Labor Act.

If an agreement isn't reached after that period, the two parties would request a proffer of binding arbitration by the National Mediation Board.

"We are pleased that the APA today responded to American's previous requests for a protocol agreement," AMR said in a statement posted on its negotiations Web site. "We plan to review it carefully and provide our response shortly."

According to an AMR representative, the company asked the union for a protocol proposal during talks last week.

The Allied Pilots Association requested federal mediation services from the board last month, but mediators rejected the request, saying they wanted to narrow the issues before entering formal mediation. The pilots association said its proposal accommodates those wishes.

AMR said it agreed with federal mediators' recommendation that parties narrow the issues prior to entering formal mediation.

***********

Clearly, AMR doesn't want any feathers ruffled until AFTER their bonuses are paid in April.

 

[limit]

I am not surprised to see the union will settle for binding arbitration.
At this point it seems it is the only way union leadership can save face
for not delivering.
The did put themselves in a corner with all their rhetoric and demands.
In any case good luck to you guys.

 

[eolesen]

ALPA?... Freudian slip, perhaps... If AA merges with another large carrier, there's gonna be a representation election for the pilots and flight attendants unless it's Alaska or smaller. And I don't see APA surviving a representation election if there's as much discontent as I hear there is.

Binding arbitration is a risky move -- I don't see any situation that would cause an arbitrator to give snap backs when the rest of the industry lost as much as they did. But, it also gives the union an out -- they won't be able to strike, and they won't be able to blame themselves for whatever the arbitrator awards.

ON FURTHER REVIEW....


Nowhere does it say that the APA is agreeing to arbitration. Just asking the NMB to proffer it.

Both parties can agree to binding arbitration without the NMB proffering it, but turning down the NMB's offer triggers a cooling off period.

It's an election year. This calendar would put a cooling off period smack in the middle of summer.

The NMB may be slow, but they ain't dumb. There's no way they'd proffer arbitration before next February.

 

[L1011Ret]

ALPA?... Freudian slip, perhaps... If AA merges with another large carrier, there's gonna be a representation election for the pilots and flight attendants unless it's Alaska or smaller. And I don't see APA surviving a representation election if there's as much discontent as I hear there is.

Binding arbitration is a risky move -- I don't see any situation that would cause an arbitrator to give snap backs when the rest of the industry lost as much as they did. But, it also gives the union an out -- they won't be able to strike, and they won't be able to blame themselves for whatever the arbitrator awards.

ON FURTHER REVIEW....


Nowhere does it say that the APA is agreeing to arbitration. Just asking the NMB to proffer it.

Both parties can agree to binding arbitration without the NMB proffering it, but turning down the NMB's offer triggers a cooling off period.

It's an election year. This calendar would put a cooling off period smack in the middle of summer.

The NMB may be slow, but they ain't dumb. There's no way they'd proffer arbitration before next February.

 

[WingNaPrayer]

ALPA?... Freudian slip, perhaps...

Apparently a big one. My bad!

 

[mwa]

no mystery here - just another attempt to get into mediation so that an impasse and move to a strike can ocurr. amr will drag this out till the apa boys splinter on everything. apa made a fatal mistake in peaking too early. they will never be able to keep the frenzy alive for 2 to 3 years. amr knows this and has wisely delayed mediation. look for spinoff of major assets, domestic codesharing and general deleveraging moves by the parent so as to spank apa w/o mercy. imo.
you would have a better shot at negotiating with the mafia than amr. the corporation WILL survive in spite of its employees.

 

[WingNaPrayer]

The downside is, I don't think it is AMR doing the negotiating, they got that monkey off their backs. I'll bet the negotiating "team" is set up by, and comprised of "Mercer" experts.

 

[eolesen]

You'd be mostly wrong in that assumption, Wing. There might be some consultants, (or better yet, professional negotiators) involved, but the majority of the committee is made up of senior managers from the field and managing directors who are essentially assigned until they quit, die, or there's a contract.

On the TWU side, I know former MIA and ORD manager and now regional MD Trish Hollinrake is working on the fleet service contract. She knows her stuff... It was already discussed that Carmine and others were working on the maintenance & related contract. Don't really care who is working it for APA and APFA, but I am pretty sure it's not going to be a bunch of wet behind the ears MBA kiddies from Mercer, BCG, or any of the other consultants.

you would have a better shot at negotiating with the mafia than amr

I think the same could be said about negotiating with Lloyd Hill... The guy's about as loony as Ron Paul is.

 

[WingNaPrayer]

You'd be mostly wrong in that assumption, Wing. There might be some consultants, (or better yet, professional negotiators) involved, but the majority of the committee is made up of senior managers from the field and managing directors who are essentially assigned until they quit, die, or there's a contract.

On the TWU side, I know former MIA and ORD manager and now regional MD Trish Hollinrake is working on the fleet service contract. She knows her stuff... It was already discussed that Carmine and others were working on the maintenance & related contract. Don't really care who is working it for APA and APFA, but I am pretty sure it's not going to be a bunch of wet behind the ears MBA kiddies from Mercer, BCG, or any of the other consultants.

I stand corrected. My best guess was that since Mercer has taken over all of AAs HR department duties, and replaced all it's people, that they would be in on contract negotiations somehow.

I think the same could be said about negotiating with Lloyd Hill... The guy's about as loony as Ron Paul is.

Agreed. Although I'll bet his heart is in the right place, he does tend to come off a few quarts of brake fluid short of a complete stop!

 

[mwa]

not pointing fingers - just injecting some reality. the company will come out on top because they control the process.

 

[mwa]

looks like they agreed on protocol - but still open ended, though formal mediation is on the table.