April 2023 Bargaining Round-Up

American Airlines – Passenger Service Agents

The CWA-IBT Association Bargaining Committee met with American Airlines management from April 4 to 7 and reported:

Our CWA-IBT Association Bargaining Committee met with American Airlines management last week in our seventh round of bargaining for a new contract.

The two sides exchanged proposals on the following articles:

Article 6: Overtime-Customer Service
Article 7: Overtime-Reservations
Article 9: Filling of Vacancies
Article 18: Sick Leave
Article 19: Holiday Vacation
Article 20: Vacations

The two sides reached tentative agreement on the language in Article 7: Overtime-Reservations and Article 19: Holiday Vacation, but not on the economic portions of those articles. Therefore, these two articles will now be held for the economics portion of bargaining.

The following articles are still open:

Article 3: Recognition and Scope
Article 4: Groups/Classifications
Article 5: Hours of Service
Article 6: Overtime-Customer Service
Article 9: Filling of Vacancies
Article 17: Leaves of Absence
Article 18: Sick Leave
Article 20: Vacations
Article 24: Shift Definitions and Premiums
Article 25: Grievance Procedure
Article 26: System Boards of Adjustment
Article 27: Insurance, Retirement, and Other Benefits
Article 28: Retirement Plan
Article 29: Training, Travel Pay, and Meal Per Diem
Article 31: Part-Time Employees
Article 32: Call Monitoring
Article 34: General and Miscellaneous
Article 36: Compensation
Article 37: Duration

As you can see, we have a long way to go, but our Bargaining Teams are committed to fighting for gains in every one of these articles. They need members' visible support to demonstrate to the company that we are all in this fight together. Recently, thousands of members signed the petition about the unilateral door-closing policy and hundreds of members have sent us their solidarity selfies, all of which has been noticed by management. Actions like these show the company that members are aware of what's happening in bargaining and are willing to take action to win a fair deal.

Stay Informed, Get Involved

Make sure we have your personal email address and cell phone number by filling in this form. And share this message with co-workers who may not already be on our email and text lists.
 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook.com/AmericanAgentsConnected where you can like and share our updates and other bargaining-related content. Look for and use the hashtag #FairPayAA.

Check in with your stewards or local officers to find out about mobilization actions at your station or center. And share your Solidarity Selfies and group pictures with us at info@american-agents.com. We'll post them on Facebook.com/AmericanAgentsConnected.

Our next round of bargaining will take place May 16-18.

AVAYA

From their latest newsletter, CWA Local 2108 reported on the current status of AVAYA bankruptcy:

Earlier this year, when rumors of an Avaya bankruptcy first be-came public, CWA began working with our outside legal representation to protect our members and retirees. 

After Avaya entered into bankruptcy on February 14th, CWA applied for a position on the Unsecured Creditors Committee (UCC) in order to monitor and influence the process. CWA also submitted proposed revisions to Avaya’s plan of reorganization that would clarify and confirm Avaya’s stated intent that the terms of our CBA and the benefits for active and retired members would not be impacted as a result of the bankruptcy. 

Last month, we were informed that Avaya accepted all of our proposed revisions to their reorganization plan. We believe that these changes ensure that our members and retirees will not be harmed under the current plan. With our member’s rights addressed CWA would prefer an expedited bankruptcy process. CWA will apply again to establish a UCC if the current reorganization plan changes for any reason. 

Avaya is planning for a quick bankruptcy process. The currently sched-uled date for the bankruptcy court to confirm Avaya’s plan is March 22nd. Assuming the plan is confirmed by the court, Avaya would likely emerge from bankruptcy in the following few weeks. 

CWA stands ready to fight for our members and retirees and will be engaged at every step of the reorganization process!

Comcast Alle Kiske

Negotiations with Comcast over the Alle Kiske contract opened this month. The Local 13000 Bargaining Committee reported:

The Union Bargaining Committee met with the Company the last two days April 25 and 26, 2023 in Carnegie, PA. We shared a number of proposals, based on your survey responses and the Membership meeting, with the company. Among them were proposals to limit contract labor and protection of bargaining unit work. The company also passed proposals. It is clear that the company agenda is the same as always, to strip whatever they can from your CBA. 

We are scheduled to resume bargaining May 24, 2023. We are currently developing additional proposals including economic proposals, but the process has been slowed because the company has failed to provide us with necessary answers to several of our information requests. Contact your Branch Rep or Steward to learn of upcoming Mobilizations and to get more details about progress at the bargaining table.

Frontier 142

Preparations for bargaining the Frontier 142 contract are beginning. Please reach out to your Local office for information about bargaining surveys. More to come!
 

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

A tentative agreement was reached this month with MWAA. The ratification vote will occur over the next few weeks. Reach out to your representative for the latest news.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This month, striking NewsGuild-CWA journalists and members in Locals 14827 and 14842 were joined by supporters to demonstrate outside of the residence of John Block. 

For more information on how to support the striking workers, visit cwa.org/ppg and subscribe to the strike paper at unionprogress.com. 

Thryv

On March 1, the CWA Districts 1 and 2-13 Joint Bargaining Committee reached a tentative agreement with Thryv. Potomac Thryv members ratified their CBA in April. Congratulations to the members and Locals!

ZeniMax

On April 25, ZeniMax Workers United of CWA started their first day of bargaining on their first contract with ZeniMax and Microsoft. In District 2-13, Rockville workers are represented by Local 2108 and Hunt Valley workers are represented by Local 2100. 

ZeniMax workers on the opening day of negotiations for their first contract!