Local 591 Administrative Executive Board Member Russ Dittmer
September 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, Line Mtc & GSE Process Standards Meeting

Unscheduled meetings & teleconferences:

W-Region station management and Local 591 Station Representatives meeting, Special E-Board meeting to discuss Line Maintenance outsourcing issues, Attended TOLS

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:

September started out with Labor Day.  Every year on Labor Day I am reminded that, even with all of the challenges that we faced together throughout the year, by working together as a Union of Members helping Members, we continued the proud tradition of Unionist workers.  I don’t say that to mean that Unions are perfect, far from it.  That said, frankly, if history has taught us anything, it is that we, as workers, would be far worse off without the ability to collectively bargain using both our skills and numbers to provide better lives for ourselves and our families.

I continue to field a number of calls with questions on basic navigation for Workbrain (WB).  The folks at Workbrain Center (WBC) have previously produced a few simple video walk-thru’s for understanding how to navigate various functions within WB.  The topics include Employee Terminal Manager (ETM), Shift Swaps, Field Trips, Overtime, etc.  You can access these walk-thru’s on JetNet at https://me.aa.com/training/ and then select the “Making Things Easier” link.  All of the various Workbrain walk-thru’s are listed in the Fleet column as “Workbrain”.

In the course of the last year, I have received more inquiries on specific State, County and/or Municipal sick-leave benefit legislation, and how those specific laws are supposed to be applied in each location.  They are often nicknamed “Kin-Care” laws, because they typically permit the employee to use their earned sick leave time and pay not only for themselves, but also use that earned paid sick leave for caring for specifically covered family members.

For example, in the state of Illinois for ORD, there are three - the State of Illinois sick-leave act, the Cook County sick leave ordinance, and the City of Chicago sick leave code.  Each of these legislated actions provides similar, but not exactly the same employee benefits or provisions.  Because the Illinois questions were brought to me first, I examined these three, and chose to build a chart with the specific provisions listed within the chart.  Each column and row shows where they are similar and where they differ.  After completing the research, I sent the chart to an attorney to review, and I then released the chart to the Central Region to use as a reference guide (you can click here to review that chart).  Unfortunately, there were/are gaps in each of the three legislated acts regarding certain facets and/or employee/employer authorities.  I continue to work with TWU Local 556, which represents the Southwest Airline Flight Attendants and their Illinois based Legislative Representative.  We continue our efforts to try to make the Illinois law even more worker friendly.  We still have far too many areas which the company is applying the sick leave benefits in a manner which we believe is not consistent with either the words or the spirit of the law.

Last, while the three Illinois ‘Kin-Care’ laws chart is complete (for now), there are quite a few laws which still need to be reviewed and charted out.  I plan on working through the other eighteen (as of July 2022) “Kin-Care” enacted laws in the near future.  As these charts are completed, I will send them to the applicable Local 591 Region for the TWU Local 591 EAP/Benefits Coordinators, Local 591 Representatives, and our Members to refer to when needed.  If you have questions about whether your Station is covered in some way by a “Kin-Care” type of law, here is the most recent list which I compiled in late July of 2022: