TWU Local 556 Negotiation Update #20
On January 21-23, your Negotiating Committee met with Southwest Airlines Management for a three-day bargaining session. Both teams passed multiple counterproposals across the table, and we are happy to report this session resulted in two tentative agreements (TA’s). The TA’s are for Article 17: Medical Examinations and Article 20: Board of Adjustment.
On the first day of this session, the Company began by presenting written counterproposals to Article 17: Medical Examinations, Article 19: Grievance Procedures, Article 20: Board of Adjustment, and Article 35: Hotels and Transportation. The Company also provided verbal counterproposals to Article 32: Attendance Policy and Article 33: Commuter Policy. Unfortunately, the Company’s verbal counter offers consisted of no movement from the previous position, and were a blatant rejection of our previous proposals on these issues. The Company advised your Negotiating Committee that the verbal advisement of no movement on these issues was the only response to what we had proposed. Your Negotiating Committee expressed our deep disappointment with this tactic, as it signaled an unwillingness to work collaboratively towards solutions that would benefit our Members. The Company should reconsider its strategy of not moving from its last position simply because we did not say yes. These are negotiations and the bargaining process is not fruitful when one side refuses to move or consider unique solutions. After discussions regarding the Company’s written proposals, your Negotiating Committee provided a presentation regarding how other Fortune 500 companies administer employee leaves of absence, which highlighted how these additional benefits are now becoming the norm. This presentation was designed to demonstrate that our proposals in Article 15: Leaves of Absence are reasonable and recognized by large companies across the nation.
On day two, we presented counterproposals for Article 15: Leave of Absence, Article 16: Sick Leave/On the Job Injury, and Article 17: Medical Examinations. Your team will continue to seek improvements in these areas, such as longer insurance coverage periods when on leave, and insurance coverage for the entire duration a Flight Attendant is taking an on-the-job injury leave. We reminded the Company that Southwest Airlines continually states it has a long history of putting its employees first and this should be an area where Southwest leads the way in the aviation industry by doing the right thing for its hard-working employees. Your team also inquired if the Company had a counterproposal to our Technology proposal we made at our last session. The Company had no response. Instead, the Company committee advised that there was a lot going on within the Company regarding data privacy, and there were many different departments to consult before being in a position to provide a counterproposal on this issue. We were cautiously optimistic that the Company would have utilized the time in between bargaining sessions to have those inter-departmental discussions. Instead, that did not occur, and will further delay our discussions on this article. Your team will continue to press the Company on this issue as the necessity for contractual protections of your data privacy only increases as technology continues to expand in our work lives.
Day three of bargaining saw the teams meet to finalize Article 17: Medical Examinations and Article 20: Board of Adjustment. The Company demonstrated a modicum of reasonability and finally retreated from its misguided position of tying acceptance of proposed language in Article 20 with inapplicable language in Article 17. This welcomed reasonableness resulted in a tentative agreement on both of the Articles by the end of the session. We are happy with the progress made, especially on Article 17, which now clearly outlines a structured and confidential process when a fit for duty investigation is invoked by the Company.
Despite our frustration with the Company’s complete non-movement on certain articles, discussions continue to be productive and your team looks forward to securing continued improvements for our Members. The next bargaining session is scheduled for February 4-6.
Your Voice = Our Power
The views contained herein do not necessarily represent those of TWU Local 556 or TWU International. The purpose of this email communication is intended only to educate and inform TWU Local 556 Members. It is not intended to officially establish or clarify past practice, Contract language, or grievance/arbitration positions. It is therefore not to be utilized or relied upon by any person or party as evidence of the Union’s position on any past practices, Contract language, grievances/arbitrations, or any other disputes or issues between TWU Local 556 and Southwest Airlines.