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Local 591 Administrative Executive Board Member Russ Dittmer
April 2023 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, Line Mtc & GSE Process Standards Meeting, Present at TOLS on behalf of Local 591, MTS JCBA teleconference, Seniority Protest meetings, SW Region Steward Training
Projects:
Assisting Pres. Schaible with campaigns and legislative efforts, FAA Reauthorization language, 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:
April was a fairly normal travel month for me. I started the month needing to attend/present at the Southwest Region Steward Training due to a medical issue which kept me from flying, but not from working. The next week I flew to DFW for a number of internal meetings and meetings with the company. I returned to DFW later in the month to complete a few podcasts, and work on various office related issues as well.
While it seems like this month a lot of issues were coming together to finally get resolved, and a couple podcast topics also got recorded, there’s never a shortage of new questions coming in to keep me on my toes. The two recent podcasts which got recorded are the April 2023 Local 591 Update with Local President Gary Schaible, and also an explanation on the process in the JCBA for Holidays Off, Awarding and Assigning – Scenarios.
In this message, I want to focus on a fairly common and frustrating topic, that being bypassed for either Overtime (OT) or a Field Trip (FT). First, I think we need to start laying the foundation of how the process of proffering OT and FT should work. To start, it is not the Union or the Membership who calls/approves/charges Overtime or Field Trips. The company fully owns the responsibility to first approve the OT/FT, then call/assign the OT/FT, and lastly to charge the OT/FT on the applicable Overtime List (OTL)/Field Trip List (FTL) per the contract. If your station or workgroup has management or Work Force Admin (WFA) delegating any of those OT/FT management tasks to either Crew Chiefs, Tech Crew Chiefs, or even other Union Members, please contact your Regional Vice President right away to get that resolved.
Now that we have cleared up who must approve OT, call/assign OT, and charge OT out of the way, let’s look at how solicited OT should be contractually proffered. Per the JCBA (M&R Art 18.W.2 and MLS Art 18.R.2 company provided booklets) Full Shift overtime is the standard overtime, with a few limited exceptions. The exceptions are if the company:
1) Cannot get enough employees to accept known full shift OT opportunities the company may AFTER exhausting the full shift OTL then opt to COMBINE Early Call In (ECI) with Hold Over (HLD) OT to cover the OT need.
2) Has an unforeseen need suddenly arise, then the company may seek either Early Call In (ECI) and/or Hold Over (HLD) for that unforeseen need.
We at Local 591 realize that the full-shift standard OT is a significant change from the past TWU CBAs, but the general rule is that barring unforeseen circumstances listed in the JCBAs, the company normally must call/assign OT from full-shift OTL first. If you have a particular question in your Station and/or Region on this, and/or about the exceptions, please contact your Station or Regional TWU Local 591 Representatives for assistance and/or guidance.
In addition, there is a third type of solicited Overtime exception – Job Continuity (JC) Overtime. This occurs when the company determines that an in-work task may take up to three (3) additional hours to fully accomplish. When this occasionally happens, the company may proffer those same employee(s) ALREADY WORKING THE TASK Job Continuity Overtime to complete the already in-work task. Those employees on JC OT CANNOT work more than those three (3) additional hours. In addition, Job Continuity OT MUST NOT be utilized for any other situation, nor proffered to any employee who was not already fully engaged in working the task. This is discussed in greater depth in the Local 591 podcast: Job Continuity.
For Field Trips, it can get a little more complicated, but it’s not too bad. First, like OT, the company owns the responsibility for calling/approving/charging FTs. That said, we Members have a lot more to watch for with Field Trips. The company Integrated Operations Center (IOC) through the Maintenance Control Technicians (MCTs) initially determines which station they believe can best support every FT. The Tech Ops management in that station is then contacted by the MCT and asked if their station can support the FT. If station management says no, IOC will find a different station to support the FT. If station management says yes, then either station management or WFA will pull the FTL, which typically, barring a last flight of the day departure time-limitation, will include all persons signed up, regardless of whether actively working or currently not on-the-clock.
If there are specific/special qualifications (Taxi, Run-up, LMP, hot-bond, fuel tank entry, ARA, etc.,) required, then depending on the task, at least one, though possibly more, of those accepting the FT must have the necessary qualification(s). The most common example is probably engine run-up. For this example, let’s assume the FT is determined to need three (3) AMTs and the only listed special qualification is engine run-up. This means that the FT really needs one AMT who must be at least left-seat engine run-up qualified and one AMT who must be at least right-seat qualified, and the third AMT must at least be fleet qualified. When proffering, the first AMT need only be qualified on the fleet type. That same AMT may also be left seat qualified run-up and/or right seat qualified. The rule of thumb is once the FTL gets to the minimum number of AMTs required, and hasn’t found the necessary qualification, then all AMTs who do not hold that needed qualification moving forward may be bypassed without penalty. (Example: the only fleet qualified AMT is proffered first and accepts, and the next AMT on the list is also only fleet qualified, that second AMT may be bypassed without a right to grieve the bypass because the company now needs a right seat and left seat qualification for the Field Trip). In addition, if an AMT holds multiple necessary qualifications (left seat and right seat in this example) than any AMT holding either of the qualifications after that is still eligible for that FT. (Example: the right seat qualified AMT is proffered second and accepts, then the last AMT on the list must be qualified for either left and right seat, because left seat is currently automatically right seat qualified, and any AMT who holds neither left seat or right seat may be bypassed without a right to grieve the bypass because the company now needs either a right seat or a left seat qualification for the Field Trip).
Now, to the frustrating situation where the company, for whatever reason, does not properly solicit/proffer the OT or FT. The initial reaction for many Members is to rush over to the proffering management person or WFA and plead your case. Frankly, from a contractual perspective, that is the worst thing to do. The first thing you should do if you suspect an OT or FT bypass is to contact your in-station Local 591 Representative to assist you. It is their job to assist in helping research and resolve any contract violation, and that includes OT and FT bypasses. Together, you and the in-station Local 591 Rep can research the situation, verify whether a bypass actually occurred, and if a bypass occurred then the in-station Local 591 Rep can start the grievance process.
Reality check - the company knows that Workbrain has existing glitches and is still making some eligibility determination errors. When you work with your Local 591 Reps and together can prove the error caused you to be bypassed, your Local 591 Reps are very effective in getting the Member paid for the bypass earlier in the grievance process. When you rush to attempt to get the OT or FT bypass fixed, you are often really “masking the company problem.” This is because the company is not being forced to pay the bypass, not being pressured to fix Workbrain, not being forced to fix their known flawed processes, and/or is not being forced to properly and adequately train their WFA folks (who are very often woefully underpaid, under-trained, and over-worked).
Work with your Local 591 Reps to prove the bypass, and when you can prove the bypass together, trust and support your Local 591 Reps when they advocate to get you paid for the bypass throughout the grievance process.
Fraternally
Russ Dittmer
Local 591 Administrative E-Board Member
russ.dittmer@local591.com
P.s. When I say Local 591 Representative, I realize that some of our Members are in stations where the IAM is tasked with enforcing contractual provisions. We ask that you still contact your in-station Local 591 Rep, and they can work through the grievance process with the IAM for you.
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