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Local 591 Administrative Executive Board Member Russ Dittmer
2024 Full-Year Lookback
To say that 2024 was a hectic and busy year for me, both in the volume of work and also the volume of travel, is probably an understatement. I logged 151 days on the road in 2024 to various stations and cities around our system. One of the primary reasons for my travel each year as your Administrative Executive Board Member is for the quarterly Membership Meetings in the five Local 591 Regions. These Membership Meetings are an opportunity to report directly to you, the Local 591 Members, on Local topics, projects, issues and activities that I have been involved in. If you cannot attend a quarterly Membership Meeting in person, Zoom Webinar is always an option, just register when the Membership Meeting notices get emailed and texted out.
Another major reason for my travel during the past year was working on the Contract Negotiations Committee. As one of your three TWU Local 591 representatives on the Committee, a great deal of time was spent preparing for the 2025 contract negotiations. These negotiations preparations involved examining all of the contract language proposals provided not only from Local 591 Members, but the other Locals and Lodges as well. Once organized and sorted, we then worked to build the strongest contract language in the four Collective Bargaining Agreements that we represent, the M&R, MLS, MTS, and MCT Agreements. I will say that the volume of contract proposals we received from Local 591 Members was impressive. As of this writing that number sits at 2486 proposals. It should come as no surprise that the bulk of the suggestions were economics and quality of life topics. That said, we also received quite a few contract language and grievance process proposals as well. On behalf of your three TWU Local 591 Members on the Negotiation Committee, President Schaible, MLS E-Board Mike Jezierski and myself, I want to say thank you again for your participation and all of your suggestions. As a reminder, on the bottom of this page those contract proposal pages are still active, and every submitted proposal is still being reviewed and preserved.
As I wrote in my previous lookback, when the Negotiations Committee was asked by the company if we would consider an economic extension, our response was we would consider a best pay in the industry offer. Your three TWU Local 591 representatives then went into overdrive updating and posting the industry wage comparison charts to ensure you knew what the best in industry wages were for each work group so you could make the most informed decision if/when an economic extension was offered.
Of course, once the Economic Extension proposals and the Settlement and Clarification Agreements were produced, my travel schedule shifted dramatically. From that moment on for the next five weeks or so we worked to book as many station visits and meetings as we could, including Zoom webinars where possible, to explain the details and answer questions about both the Economic Extension proposals and Settlement and Clarification Agreements With those short-term economic contract extensions now ratified, we expect that the Negotiation Committee will continue to prepare for the next round of contract negotiations in 2027, which is really not that far away.
One of the goals of the Negotiation Committee was to add a mediation process into the contractual grievance processes. I spent a week in training for the Local on advanced mediation techniques. Along with my previous formal education in conflict resolution, this course provided both a healthy refresher on negotiation and mediation concepts and techniques, as well as some new and more innovative ways to approach mediation as well as negotiation.
I was honored to have been able to travel to Osaka Japan in a supporting role for your Local 591 Peer Support/EAP Program at the International Peer Assist Aviation Coalition (IPAAC) conference. This conference, and a number of other such efforts on Peer Support, was part of a continuing effort by your Local to expand our Peer Support/EAP efforts on the international stage. Our Local 591 Peer Support Coordinators Ken Morse and Tony Lepore hosted a round table discussion with Aircraft Mechanics from around the globe on their unique Peer Support challenges. Our hope is to grow the MLS, GSE/Facilities, and other groups when Members step up and volunteer. It is important and impressive that Local 591 has grown enough to be able to send and support these types of international Peer Support efforts for our Members.
The whole Peer Support team continues doing an amazing job working to help Local 591 Members (and their families, and some friends too) navigate the challenges of life. For those who may not know, Local 591 is moving to transition the current EAP Program into a Peer Support concept. This means that, in addition to assisting our Members with EAP types of issues, the Peer Support group is working to build more structure around EAP types of issues, Benefits support issues, and Bereavement support. Like any organization, there are those within the Peer Support group who naturally gravitate more to some types of Peer Support assistance, so the decision was made to work to tailor our Local 591 Peer Support program as much as possible. When trying to explain what Unionism is, our Peer Support team really does provide an excellent example of what Unionism is, or said another way, Members helping Members.
In addition, I was able to combine some trips and meet with Members. One such event was the TWU Working Women’s Committee, which I was able to present at while also attending the West Region Quarterly Membership Meetings. It was great to listen in and learn from them about some of their particular issues and perspectives. I also attended several TWU International meetings, in DEN and FLL, where I raised a number of issues that continue to need to be solved. I was fortunate to be able to also travel for a few Region celebrations within the Local, which are always good. The Central Region had a cookout at the office in Des Plaines IL, and also a Top Golf outing in nearby Schaumberg IL. Since I don’t golf, it was probably not a pretty sight seeing me attempt to hit a golf ball. I also attended the Southeast Region annual holiday party in Miami area, which is an impressive gala. There were other social events in other Regions that I was unable to attend during this past year, but I do hope that I can attend more of them in the future. I also attended the National Safety Council convention in MCO this year, along with some Local 591 Safety Representatives. It’s a safety convention which never disappoints, with many opportunities for training breakout sessions for our Local 591 Safety Representatives, and much needed networking with many safety vendors.
Looking back, and also looking to the future, and considering all of the successes this year, I also think we need to reflect on some of the areas where we as a Local, and as a Membership, probably need to refocus our energy and work to improve. The first is one is on the compliance front, and the topic of safety being the other.
What I mean by compliance is working as professionals according to the technical documents, as well as the collective bargaining agreements, in the important work we do every day. It doesn’t matter if you work as an Aircraft Mechanic, Logistics Specialist, Ground Support Mechanic, Facilities Mechanic, Cleaner, Planner, QA Auditor, etc. We must re-dedicate ourselves to accomplishing our work professionally and in accordance with the manuals and procedures. This is an essential part of what we do every day. This means critically reading the work-cards, parts catalogs, maintenance manuals, procedure manuals, etc., and then working with an eye toward accomplishing every job both in a professional manner and by the book.
For many of us who have a few years with American, we were previously trained in “100% In Accordance With” [100% IAW] requirements. That requirement still stands today. Let’s not forget where that requirement came from. For those who hired in afterward and may not be aware, back in 2008 American experienced a very significant compliance issue with the MD-80 wiring harnesses in the wheel well. The compliance issue became so serious that the entire 280+ MD-80 fleet was temporarily grounded by the FAA. When the dust settled, and the MD-80 fleet was back in the air, then FAA fines started getting tallied up. The fines against the company were going to be substantial, in the tens of millions of dollars. In order to settle most of those fines, American Airlines agreed to a ‘new’ compliance program, a program which effectively shifted much of the compliance liability FROM American Airlines corporation and onto the individual A&P certificate holder, the licensed Aircraft Mechanic. In the settlement agreement between the FAA, American, and the bankruptcy courts, signed May 7/8, 2013, the company agreed to and was legally bound in Section I, Subsection C, paragraph 5 to “Require maintenance personnel to sign off maintenance tasks "In Accordance With" [IAW] approved technical documentation…” This legally binding 100% IAW requirement remains in effect today, and into the future. When you look at this objectively, what the company really did to avoid most of those monetary fines and penalties was to shift not all but the bulk of their compliance burden from the company and onto the licenses of the A&P Mechanics. Before this settlement, when compliance issues arose, the company used to ‘have our backs’; all that changed with this multi-million-dollar legal settlement.
Unfortunately, another area where we really need to refocus our efforts on improving is safety. This includes both personal safety as well as overall aviation safety. Preventable injuries in our ranks, and preventable aircraft damage incidents, are going way up. Let me be clear: There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you do for work at American Airlines that is worth endangering your life or limb. The only way to prevent injuries or aircraft damage is to take the time to think about the work we are doing, recognize that the work we do is usually in a very dangerous environment, and to make sure that we all focus on accomplishing that work in the safest manner possible.
We all need to support each other in being aware of the hazards around us, support each other in getting and properly using all necessary safety equipment, support each other in getting and properly using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), support each other in getting and properly using special tooling, etc. If you see an unsafe situation, or something being done in an unsafe manner, we all need to be willing to step-up and professionally work to take corrective action. That action could be reporting the safety situation to your Crew Chief, submitting a Safety Concern, submitting an ASAP Report, or approaching the employee(s) in a professional manner. That said, if you see an employee or fellow Member working in an unsafe manner, and you’re not comfortable directly working to address the issue, please contact a Local 591 Representative to assist in helping resolve the unsafe issue. Our #1 safety goal at Local 591 is Members supporting Members to work more safely, and each of us working to ensure that no one is ever expected to or influenced into working in an unsafe manner.
Two long term projects I’ve been working on for our Local 591 Members for quite some time has been compiling two types of documents and assembling them into usable lists. Both of these efforts can be accessed by logging in to our website at www.local591.com. The first project has been assembling all of the available Collective Bargaining Agreements and Contract Extensions I can find from the airline industry for any groups we represent at Local 591. The second project has been assembling and compiling a chronological list of all of the Association documents which pertain to Members of Local 591, including all of the CBAs, agreements, memorandum, letters, settlements, arbitration decisions, etc. so that all of us can find them in one convenient place. Both of these projects have been very challenging, with a great deal of research and time spent searching, verifying, and arranging the documents. While these two projects will likely never really be complete, and the lists will need updating as time moves on, I hope you find them both useful and informative.
In closing, I want to thank each of you for allowing me to work for you, to be your voice on many fronts, and to represent your interests at Local 591. I hope each of you and your loved ones had very a Merry Christmas, Hannukah, or any other holiday you celebrate. I also wish you a very safe and prosperous New Year.
Fraternally,
Russ Dittmer
Local 591 Administrative E-Board Member
russ.dittmer@local591.com
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