The Truth About The SWA/ATA agreement
• Following the merger of AirTran and Southwest in May 2011, an AirTran Merger Committee was formed. The committee consisted of 12 union stewards from various AirTran stations. This committee was charged by their fellow mechanics with negotiating the best seniority integration deal they could for AirTran mechanics. The committee was also provided expert
and legal assistance by the IBT.
• In the course of seniority integration negotiations with the Southwest Mechanics, the AirTran Committee had two overarching and, at times, competing goals. The first goal was to negotiate a seniority integration that protected AirTran mechanics’ jobs and seniority status at their stations. The second goal was to have a seniority integration agreement ratified by AirTran and Southwest mechanics as quickly as possible so that AirTran Mechanics could be brought under the Southwest Mechanic pay rates that are approximately 35 percent higher than those at AirTran. Both of these goals were achieved on behalf of the AirTran mechanics by their committee.
• With respect to seniority integration, AirTran mechanics will be integrated on a date-of-hire basis with Southwest mechanics at all AirTran stations if in fact any Southwest mechanics choose to transfer to those AirTran Stations. Moreover, if there are any furloughs at any AirTran stations, Southwest mechanics who have transferred to those stations will be the first to
go regardless of seniority. For example, if an AMFA-represented Southwest Mechanic with 25 years of seniority transfers to Atlanta (an AirTran station), that Southwest mechanic would be furloughed prior to an AirTran mechanic with two years of seniority.
• At Baltimore and Orlando, the only two stations containing both AirTran and Southwest mechanics, the parties obtained an agreement from the company to protect not only the jobs of the AirTran mechanics, but also to maintain the same number of day, evening, and overnight positions with the same days off that existed for both groups of mechanics at the time of the merger. Even if these “protected slots” are vacated, they are first to be offered to AirTran Mechanics if the slot was vacated by an AirTran Mechanic. In Southwest stations, Southwest mechanics will receive a seniority increase; however, there is no indication that any AirTran Mechanics desire to transfer to those stations and, therefore, this seniority increase is meaningless.
• With respect to the AirTran Committee’s second goal of securing a 35-percent wage increase for their co-workers, the committee was able to negotiate a five percent wage increase on January 1, 2012 and an additional 30 percent wage increase on March 1 along with significant other work rule and benefit improvements (e.g., improvement in vacation and sick accrual, increase in holidays, participation in the Southwest Productivity Performance Bonus Plan, etc.) that are to be implemented if the seniority integration agreement is ratified.
• Make no mistake about it. Negotiations were contentious at best with AMFA demanding unreasonable seniority integration provisions, which time and time again were rejected. In fact, several positions taken by AMFA could very well have driven the seniority integration process into arbitration, which could easily have taken a year or more in which to resolve itself. In the meantime, AirTran Mechanics would have remained outside the Southwest pay and benefits system for an extended period of
time.
• While the Teamsters are dedicated to achieving fair and equitable seniority integrations in the airline industry, the unique facts of the AirTran and Southwest merger, not the least of which is the vast difference in mechanic pay at the two carriers, created a situation in which the AirTran Merger Committee had many hard decisions to make. True to their mission
and acting on the wishes of their co-workers, however, the Merger Committee was able to secure agreements that, while granting Southwest mechanics meaningless seniority increases at Southwest stations only, still protect AirTran mechanics’ seniority at current AirTran stations and delivers them significant pay and benefit increases beginning on January 1, 2012 with a complete transition to Southwest pay and benefits by March 1, 2012. That is Teamster ingenuity and dedication at its best.
http://www.teamster.org/content/airtransouthwest-merger-updates
On June 21, the IBT-represented Mechanics at AirTran Airways voted 262 to 65 in favor of ratifying a seniority integration agreement that will serve as the basis for integrating the AirTran and Southwest mechanic seniority lists as these carriers move toward total operational integration. Along with ratifying the seniority integration agreement, the AirTran mechanics also ratified, as part of the single ratification vote, a transition agreement between the IBT and Southwest/AirTran that will give them enhanced wages and benefits along with station protection at BWI and MCO.
After months of contentious negotiations, the Airtran seniority integration committee was able to satisfy the wishes of the membership and reach an agreement with the SWA mechanics that both work groups were able to ratify. While the agreement falls outside the Teamsters philosophy of straight date of hire entry into classification the committee made the decision to proceed to a vote.
The next step in the process will be a joint filing for a single carrier finding by the National Mediation Board. Upon such finding, the AirTran mechanics will transition to the Southwest agreement. Until that time, the Teamsters will continue to provide AirTran mechanics with the superior representation they have come to expect.