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Local 591 Administrative Executive Board Member Russ Dittmer
June 2022 Activities
Quick synopsis:
Scheduled meetings, teleconferences & calls include:
Weekly Executive Board teleconference, Monthly EAP/MAP Coordinator call, Bi-weekly ASAP/Safety Call, Friday President’s Call, Monthly Executive Board Meeting, TWU COPE IL/IN State Conference
Unscheduled meetings & teleconferences:
Line Maintenance & GSE Process Standards WebEx, Meeting in DFW with Labor Relations
Projects:
Assisting Pres. Schaible with campaigns and legislative efforts, Tracking JCBA questions/answers, Compiling Executive Committee interpretation of JCBA language, Grievance tracking and management system updates and improvements, Tracking Art 33.B Presidential grievance evidence, Podcasts prep and recording.
Details:
June was a fairly light travel month for me, with me only needing to travel to our Local 591 office in Colleyville TX once and to LAX later in the month. The meetings in Colleyville spanned a number of topics, and working to get answers and updates to the numerous administrative issues we continue to work to get resolved with the company. I also had the opportunity to meet with the Workbrain Center team to get an update on the status of a number of improvement requests. While many of these Workbrain improvement requests are taking a great deal of time, it was reassuring to see the detailed list of adjustments, improvements and changes that are in works as programming time and, of course, funding come in. This Local continues to pursue a large number of these improvements which are focused on improve our Members work-lives and more fully support the JCBA provisions. Later in the month, President Schaible and I travelled to LAX, met up with Local 591 West Region Vice President Phil Jugnet for a scheduled meeting with company management to work through a number of lingering issues. That meeting went well, and most of the issues either had action taken to resolve them, or at least start the process of working to resolve them. In addition, I also attended the new Steward training the next day in LAX. It was great to see new faces stepping up to work for the Membership as Stewards. This Local already is working to make them all strong representatives, and I would ask that you please also give these new Stewards your support as they work to become strong representatives.
While it might have been a light travel month, it certainly wasn’t a light workload month for researching, drafting documents, and responding to representative and Member requests. Because of the upswing openings, one topic which continues to resurface is the TWU/Envoy Flow-Thru Agreement. That TWU/Envoy Flow Thru agreement in Letter J permits, under certain pre-transfer conditions from Envoy, an Envoy TWU Member transferring to AA to retain their company seniority. In the event the transferring Envoy TWU Member has not fully qualified for and/or has not fully completed all necessary steps as spelled out in the TWU/Envoy CBA Letter J before the Envoy to AA transfer occurs, they will not be eligible to retain their company seniority once at AA. Once the Envoy TWU Member transfers from Envoy to AA, if before that time all of the Flow Thru requirements were not fully completed and approved, there is no longer an option to retain their company seniority at AA, and there is no contractual provision to do so retroactively.
In addition, the company has taken the position that when an Envoy TWU Member transfers to AA, they may be assigned to the IAM depending on which city/station within the TWU-IAM Association Agreement they transfer to. Your Local 591 Executive Board disagrees with this company position. Additionally, under advisement of the TWU International, we contend that regardless of if a TWU Member is exercising that TWU provision at Envoy or not, those Members should retain their Membership in the TWU. Any Member who had this happen to them, please reach out to a Local 591 Representative in station to submit a grievance to protect your Union rights.
Another contractual issue which I would like to speak on is the currently imposed company ‘attendance policy’. This Local has been working with your Representatives in station to remind the Members that ANY time you use your contractual sick leave benefit for a bona-fide reason, you should not be receiving any ‘points’ and/or ‘levels’ from the company. It is and has been the position of your Local Executive Board, and also as advised by the TWU International, that the JCBA Article 24 provisions on this subject are quite clear. Because of that, this issue, and the growing group of grievances on this issue, are scheduled to be heard and presented in arbitration in late September. If you find that the company imposed and/or documented any of these attendance ‘points’ and/or ‘levels’ on you, especially if they were imposed and/or documented in their system without your knowledge, please contact a Local 591 Representative in station to file a grievance to protect your rights.
Fraternally
Russ Dittmer
Local 591 Administrative E-Board Member
russ.dittmer@local591.com
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