Strong negotiating on behalf of airline mechanics and related employees at US Air cannot happen without the full input and involvement of the rank and file. At every step in the Teamsters’ bargaining process, rank-and-file members are at the center of all decisions made in negotiations.

SURVEY

• The entire mechanics and related membership is surveyed for their input into needed contract changes through their local and/or International Union via numerous mediums (i.e. mail, online, phone, person-to-person).

• Individual locals and stations create Local Committees comprised of rank-and-file members and stewards to filter through and compile local membership proposals.

COMMITTEE

• Rank-and-file members are elected and/or appointed to sit on the System Negotiating Steering Committee. The responsibilities of this committee include consolidation of all the proposals from the various locals and stations into one all-inclusive union proposal.

• Rank-and-file members are elected and/or appointed to serve on the National Negotiating Committee. This committee is comprised of membership from throughout the system of mechanics and related workers. This committee is ideally representative of the workforce, including workers from various facilities and jobs.

BARGAINING TABLE

• Actual negotiations include these rank-and-file committee members (mechanics and related from the unit) in addition to local union business agents, Airline Division representatives, Airline Division attorneys and any other needed experts (i.e. scope attorney, actuaries, benefit analysts, economists, etc.) These representatives and experts sit on the union side of the table, armed with the proposals submitted by the membership as described above.

• The rank-and-file committee members in negotiations help determine what proposals remain and what proposals are let go during the course of bargaining and determine when a tentative agreement is reached on a given subject. Rank-and-file committee members also determine if and when a total Tentative Agreement (TA) goes out for membership vote as well as what the economic bottom lines are, such as wages, retirement (pension and 401K), health and welfare benefits, and scope. Teamster experts are available to the committee members throughout the process to answer questions and give advice.

UNITED EXAMPLE

• At United, hundreds of proposals were garnered from the nationwide rank-and-file polling of the mechanics and related membership.

• 55 rank-and-file mechanics and related workers formed the initial national steering committee and created an all-inclusive proposal to present to the company.

• 13 rank-and-file mechanics formed the actual negotiation committee that sat in on all negotiations with the company. The committee was comprised of members from all parts of the country, licensed and unlicensed, from facilities large and small, and from line stations and maintenance bases.

As you can see, in the Teamsters, rank-and-file membership is involved throughout the entire negotiation process. It is our contract and we have a say in every aspect of it if we so choose. It’s time to vote out the IAM and become members of a union with the rank-and-file negotiating power to take on US Air and reverse the concessionary trend we’ve been stuck in for too long. It’s time to become Teamsters.

Let’s Make a FRESH START with the TEAMSTERS at US AIRWAYS!

For more information, visit the US Airways Fresh Start campaign website or call the campaign hotline at 1-800-786-9627.

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