555_in_PDX
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TWU Local 555 Files for federal mediation
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555_in_PDX
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Southwest Ground Workers File for Federal Mediation
DALLAS –Transport Workers Union Local 555, representing 8,500 Southwest Airlines ramp,
operations, provisioning and freight agents, informed Southwest Airlines on September 11, 2012 of
the decision to file for federal mediation with the National Mediation Board as provided for in the
Railway Labor Act.
After 14 months of negotiations, almost no progress has been made in reaching an agreement. The
current collective bargaining agreement was amendable on July 1, 2011 and the first negotiating
session took place on July 12, 2011.
.
TWU Local 555 President Charles Cerf said, “This development in our contract negotiations is very
disappointing. Despite the highest second quarter profit in the history of Southwest Airlines,
Southwest has proposed changes in our collective bargaining agreement, which are concessionary in
nature and entirely unacceptable to our members. The changes include outsourcing jobs, increasing
part-time workers, and reducing medical and on the job injury benefits, in addition to no structural
pay increases. It appears that Southwest may be attempting to use other airlines’ bankruptcies to
bolster their need to lower costs and squeeze frontline employees. TWU Local 555 members
contribute significantly to the success of Southwest Airlines, and this new approach to labor is
appalling to many career employees who care about our customers and the success of our airline. We
are hopeful that a federal mediator can assist us in reaching a fair agreement.”
TWU Local 555 is an affiliate of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) and the AFL-CIO.
In addition to ground workers, TWU also represents flight attendants, flight dispatchers and flight
crew instructors at Southwest Airlines. Across the nation, TWU represents 200,000 workers and
retirees primarily employed in public transportation, rail and aviation.
DALLAS –Transport Workers Union Local 555, representing 8,500 Southwest Airlines ramp,
operations, provisioning and freight agents, informed Southwest Airlines on September 11, 2012 of
the decision to file for federal mediation with the National Mediation Board as provided for in the
Railway Labor Act.
After 14 months of negotiations, almost no progress has been made in reaching an agreement. The
current collective bargaining agreement was amendable on July 1, 2011 and the first negotiating
session took place on July 12, 2011.
.
TWU Local 555 President Charles Cerf said, “This development in our contract negotiations is very
disappointing. Despite the highest second quarter profit in the history of Southwest Airlines,
Southwest has proposed changes in our collective bargaining agreement, which are concessionary in
nature and entirely unacceptable to our members. The changes include outsourcing jobs, increasing
part-time workers, and reducing medical and on the job injury benefits, in addition to no structural
pay increases. It appears that Southwest may be attempting to use other airlines’ bankruptcies to
bolster their need to lower costs and squeeze frontline employees. TWU Local 555 members
contribute significantly to the success of Southwest Airlines, and this new approach to labor is
appalling to many career employees who care about our customers and the success of our airline. We
are hopeful that a federal mediator can assist us in reaching a fair agreement.”
TWU Local 555 is an affiliate of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) and the AFL-CIO.
In addition to ground workers, TWU also represents flight attendants, flight dispatchers and flight
crew instructors at Southwest Airlines. Across the nation, TWU represents 200,000 workers and
retirees primarily employed in public transportation, rail and aviation.
AvTech04
Senior
Goodluck to you guys, this is good information and thank you for keeping us in the loop with it. Hopefully the mediation will work.
SharoninSAT
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555_in_PDX
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Thanks for the support!!!
good luck guys,,, and dont accept a deal if it has No retro Pay.
Rumor has it that retro is not an option but some(or 1 person) can take millions and millions in bonuses and hand out millions of $$$ and huge quality of life changes to others and yet squeezes the original SWA people at evey turn.
Show the company that the newly instituted PENNIES BEFORE PEOPLE program isnt the way to keep a Culture that the original 35000 people worked so hard to believe in and create
Big vote results for FA's on overwater sideletter comes out today, lets see what message will be sent.. a NO vote would be Huge.
if Swa can pay over 200,000,000$ , YEP thats $$200 million a Year in payraises bettering the lifes of 7000 new hires ,,so where are the handouts NOW
mediation seems to be the New Swa way, where is HERB, where is his kindness nd his rationale,
Rumor has it that retro is not an option but some(or 1 person) can take millions and millions in bonuses and hand out millions of $$$ and huge quality of life changes to others and yet squeezes the original SWA people at evey turn.
Show the company that the newly instituted PENNIES BEFORE PEOPLE program isnt the way to keep a Culture that the original 35000 people worked so hard to believe in and create
Big vote results for FA's on overwater sideletter comes out today, lets see what message will be sent.. a NO vote would be Huge.
if Swa can pay over 200,000,000$ , YEP thats $$200 million a Year in payraises bettering the lifes of 7000 new hires ,,so where are the handouts NOW
mediation seems to be the New Swa way, where is HERB, where is his kindness nd his rationale,
Kev3188
Veteran
Hold the line on scope; without that, nothing else matters. IMO, anything less than what you have currently should be considered a deal breaker.
Good luck to all of you in 555!
Good luck to all of you in 555!
Glenn Quagmire
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I see you are still trying to divide and drive a wedge between workers.
Who are the original 35,000?
Does that include Muse Air or Morris Air? ATA?
Were you hired after the Muse Air deal? Are they original since they were at SWA before you?
I know you will never consider any AirTran people to ever be anything but lower class employees.
- 1985 - Acquired Muse Air
- 1993 - Acquired Morris Air
- 2008 - Acquired certain assets of bankrupt ATA Airlines
- 2010 - Acquired AirTran and will retain name Southwest Airlines
I wish for the best to all of the Southwest Airlines people. Ignore people like the poster who continues to try and divide you. Stay focused on providing the great service that made you the great company that you are.
QA4Jet-A
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555_in_PDX
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Before you send a flaming message one should consider a few things:
- 35000 was our employee head count last year so the people that were as a result of those acquisitions shall be be considered "original".
- As tough as it has been merging the AirTran and SWA work groups. Personally I am glad that to have the AT employees in my work group and happy for them because the will earn a livable wage.
- What is referenced by Original Employee is not inflammatory, but more about a culture that we are losing not because of AT, but because our Execs have become number crunchers and are making poor decisions that they wouldn't have even 5 years ago.
QA4Jet-A
Veteran
Very nicely said
Yep, it passed..... I talked to an AT FA(one w/o attitude and didnt talk seniority, refreshing),,, she was actually apprecative to be here,, but unfortunately she also told me that SWA took the AT near international contract and used it. She said it was horrible except the TFP which is in SWA contract.
I dont know anything about this near international so I did something many people cant,, I shut up and listened......she actually apologized that they used the AT contract just when she thought she was done with it
My point is, the company now seems to be getting recessions from us now also. If SWA can post record profits and do this what will happen if we start losing MONEY
I am happy you guys got this to a moderator, good luck and its time to stop or slow down the Mgmts new program of PENNIES Before PEople,,
Has anyone heard if this new Program goes all the way to the top and GK is going to give back some of the Millions in Bonuses he has been receiving,, LOL 😀
Glenn Quagmire
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It was a response to this "buscador" (you will see I quoted the comment with my response post) who continually attempts to portray anyone who was not there before the AirTran merger as lower class employees.
I agree with you that airline "culture", if there is such a thing any more, is degraded when times are tough. I know they are not tough for SWA right now, but when you have the TWU over at AA who has been giving concessions for 20+ years, SWA management will be pressed by the shareholders to match them in their cost structure.
555_in_PDX
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I think the majority of us at 555 would consider concessions if the company was hurting. SWA is not hurting and the 555 membership has let their voice be known (via membership survey) that we will not accept concessions from any part of our contract.
SharoninSAT
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