Reference my previous post the following has just been released:Special Announcement: Union Says NMB Mediation Has Failed – Proffer Requested
Fellow Kalitta Crew Members,
Our current collective bargaining agreement took effect on August 1, 2007 with an amendable date of August 1, 2011. In May of 2011, the union served Kalitta Air with a Railway Labor Act (RLA) Section 6 notice. The notice started the process of direct negotiations over a new contract. We met regularly with management for more than two years in Ypsilanti for negotiations. Unfortunately, we reached very few agreements. Disagreements over contract terms were not the only reason why negotiations dragged on without resolution.
Management’s bargaining committee was routinely unprepared for negotiations, behaved in a verbally-abusive manner towards your representatives, belittled our proposals with profane and dismissive language and repeatedly questioned whether the Teamsters legitimately represented the interests of crew members when proposing changes to the current contract. Under the circumstances, reaching an agreement with Kalitta Air through direct negotiations was impossible. As a result, we filed an application for mediation with the NMB on August 19, 2013.
The first mediation session was held on March 11, 2014. To date, we have participated in more than 15 multi-day mediation sessions. While some progress was made during mediation, we have reached an impasse. Pay and related compensation provisions, benefits and retirement, and several important working conditions remain in dispute. It’s not for lack of trying on the union’s part.
The last mediation session was held in St. Louis the week of May 10-12, 2016. On May 12, 2016, the union provided Kalitta Air with a comprehensive proposal for a new contract. The union included many of management’s past proposals in an effort to bring negotiations to an end. For example, we accepted management’s previously proposed hourly pay rates and signing bonus, and their revised employee contribution levels to insurance premiums, and previously proposed per diem rates and hostile area flying provisions. In an attempt to compromise, we also offered a modified alternative to the establishment of a trip rig, proposed to phase in industry-standard changes to duty period limitations, substantially limited the scope of our class of service for deadhead proposal and even agreed to permit Kalitta Air to continue their flawed FOQA program.
The union described our package as a final “close-out” proposal for a complete contract. We explained it in detail. We answered all of their questions. Our proposal included a deadline for acceptance of 5:00 p.m. CST on May 12. After we presented our proposal, your Negotiating Committee waited in its caucus room for the management’s reply. Management’s response is only the latest example of why our airline is in a crisis that it may not survive; company negotiators left the hotel without providing a response to the union or even notice that they were abandoning the mediation session prior to the close of business. In short, your union’s good faith compromises were arrogantly rejected without explanation. This flagrant disregard for the mediation process and your union representatives – which really comes down to disrespect for you and your families – is more of the same from the management team that is wrecking Kalitta Air.
Today, the union informed the NMB that despite their best efforts to bring about a settlement through mediation, those efforts have been unsuccessful and that further mediation would be fruitless and counterproductive. Therefore, after nearly five years of direct negotiations and mediation with no agreement between the parties and no realistic prospect of reaching one through mediation as a direct result of management’s inflexible positions, your union asked the NMB to make a proffer of arbitration to the parties.
A proffer of arbitration is an important step in the process of obtaining a release from mediation and ultimately the ability to strike Kalitta Air. If our request for a proffer of arbitration is granted, each party must inform the NMB of whether it accepts or rejects the proffer. If both parties accept it, then all disputed contract terms are submitted to binding arbitration for resolution. If either party rejects the proffer, then the NMB will place us in a 30-day cooling off period prior to releasing us for self-help. During the cooling off period, the NMB typically engages in so-called super-mediation efforts in a final attempt to avoid a work stoppage. The NMB has discretion with respect to when it acts on a request for proffer of arbitration and whether to grant it. In the coming days and weeks, we will provide you with additional information about the RLA procedures, as well as information about our strike preparation and family awareness efforts.
Your union took the step of requesting a proffer of arbitration because we have come to the conclusion that it may take a strike to secure the contract that you and your families deserve. When management walked out on us, they walked out on you and their responsibilities to the company. We have a different plan. Like you, we are 100 percent committed to securing the contract the membership deserves and protecting the airline from management. We know these recent events will only strengthen our unity and resolve. We will keep you informed of the NMB’s response and related developments. Together we will achieve our collective goals.
Fraternally,
Kalitta Air Executive Council
APA Teamsters Local 1224