Sisters and Brothers, on the topic of: Transfer awards, how they are posted, and how they are processed continues to be a topic of frustration for many. This Article 9 Filling of Vacancies change from the Settlements and Clarifications Letters (M&R and MLS) went into effect with the first Re-Bid of 2025. This should come as no surprise but the company ‘automated transfer and bid system’ is still not fully automated. This means the “pecking order” you see on the company transfer page is often not accurate. The company and Unions are aware of this ongoing problem. Because of this continuing technical issue, all Tech Ops related transfers will continue being processed manually.
Download: EB_Admin-Dittmer_2025-02_Jan-Feb_Lookback.pdf
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.
As one of your three TWU Local 591 representatives on the Negotiations Committee, a great deal of time was also spent preparing for the 2025 contract negotiations. These preparations involved examining all of the contract language proposals provided not only from Local 591 Members, but the other Locals and Lodges as well. We 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.
Download: EB_Admin-Dittmer_2024_Year-End_Lookback.pdf
Sisters and Brothers,
With the hectic contract negotiations preparations schedule, and then the announcement of a possible economic contract extension, I thought it best to wait until after the dust had settled to send out a mid-year Lookback this time.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer 2024 Q2-3 Lookback.pdf
I mentioned in previous lookbacks that my goal is/was to provide you with information on my activities on a monthly basis. At this time, with my work/travel schedule, I realized that I simply don’t have enough hours in the day to write a monthly update, so I am focusing on giving you a quarterly lookback of my activities. In addition to these lookbacks, I also strive to attend the Quarterly Membership Meetings in as many Regions as I possibly can. As a reminder, if you can’t attend the Quarterly Membership Meetings, they are available to you on-line as well, by registering in advance.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer 2024 Q1Lookback.pdf
I feel that it’s important to keep the Membership apprised of my activities as your Administrative Executive Board Member. My continuing goal is/was to provide you with that information on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, with the frenzy of activity and changes within Local 591 this year, I simply have not always had the time to write each month like I had hoped. Because of this, I am writing you a sort of ‘year in review’. In the future, I will continue to strive to write monthly updates when possible.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer 2023 Year-End Lookback.pdf
Local 591 was invited by Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy to speak as a roundtable panelist at the National Transportation Safety Board on the topic of runway incursions. President Schaible asked me to attend and represent the AMTs who perform aircraft movement functions, whether by taxi, TLTV tow, or conventional towbar tow, on various controlled airfields. The discussion explored Human Factors, Just Culture, operational priorities, improving airport design, emerging technologies, training issues, among other causes and processes. The goal of this NTSB Roundtable was to bring together the major stakeholders (FAA, NTSB, Airport Authorities, Pilot Unions, Airlines, Airport operations, Aircraft Mechanics for the first time!, etc.) to continue to work to find solutions with the goal of eliminating, or at least further reducing dangerous and potentially catastrophic runway incursion incidents. Our two Local 591 primary goals were to highlight the need for improved aircraft movement training, and also to promote the policy of only using licensed airmen to move aircraft at controlled airports. I am proud that my participation on behalf of Local 591 in this high-level venue brought valuable Aircraft Mechanic worker-focused perspectives, and also provided examples of the unique challenges of moving aircraft on airports from the vantage point of Aircraft Mechanics, at this critical NTSB safety discussion.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2023-05 Activities.pdf
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 by 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.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2023-04 Activities.pdf
OSHA Hearing tests and required documents is another topic that came up recently. OSHA Standard 1910.95, in Subpart G, covers the regulatory requirements for hearing conservation programs. While many find the process to be a nuisance, the reality is, this is a critical piece of regulation to protect you, protect your hearing, and to properly document any hearing loss as a result of your exposure to noise in the workplace. The critical part of this is that any deterioration in hearing which can be attributed to noise in the workplace means that you can make a worker’s compensation claim for hearing loss that results from excessive noise level at work. Since States have different Workers Compensation laws, they also have different processes on how and when you need to file those claims. If you suspect, or have seen from the annual tests, hearing loss and want to know what your options are, please contact one of our EAP/Benefits Coordinators.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2023-03 Activities.pdf
I want to take the time to focus on a topic few of us are actually comfortable thinking about, let alone talking about – death. The emotional grief is obvious, and the closer we are to someone, the more difficult that process of grieving and internally saying farewell often is. That said, as our Local 591 EAP & Benefit Coordinators Tony Lepore and Ken Morse have talked about in past videos everyone grieves differently, and everyone grieves on their own timeline. Add to that, the grieving process is often different each time we lose someone as well. If you find yourself in a place where you don’t know what to do, you feel like you are sinking, or simply struggling to cope with the stress and challenges of life, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Local 591 EAP Representatives in your station, or call one of our Coordinators or Peer Coordinators directly. These are experienced Members who have amazing resources they can recommend for helping not only you, but also your families to get the assistance you or they might need or want to help navigate the challenges of life.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2023-02 Activities.pdf
This month, I want to spend some time focusing on the ASAP program. The ASAP Program (Aviation Safety Action Program) has had a lot of misconceptions over the time this program has been in place. In this message, I hope to clear up some of those misconceptions and also help Members better understand what the program is, what the duties and responsibilities for the company, the F.A.A., the Union Representatives, and our Members are.
http://u1n.org/Lookback-RussDittmer
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2023-01 Activities.pdf
In December I arranged a meeting with Local 591 President Schaible the then new Line Maintenance VP, Evita Garces. The focus of the meeting was this Local’s concerns over the overall condition of the AMT training program from the company, with a particular focus on the reports on some new-hire issues and concerns. We’ve been receiving reports of new-hire AMTs, in their Probationary Period (or Trial Period for new AMTs transferring from other Classifications), being assigned to get Airworthiness Release (ARA) qualified and/or engine-run-up/taxi qualified. More disconcerting, we even received some reports of these new-hire AMTs being pressured to get these qualifications. We at Local 591 believe this is an unacceptable level of risk being imposed upon these new-hire AMTs, and those AMTs who are in their Trial Period.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-12 Activities.pdf
This month I want on focus on communication with you, the Members, and you being asked to provide the Local accurate and up-to-date contact information. We at the Local need and use your contact information to communicate with you regarding issues and updates that may be important to you. We strive to use either your cell phone or your email (non-aa.com email, please) so that we can keep you informed quickly and with the least amount of intrusion. Probably one of the most obvious ways we communicate is providing you status updates, via your email address, on grievances that you have filed. Another reason we need your contact information is to provide you notice of any meetings, Union activities, negotiation updates, political activities, Local 591 social outings, etc.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-11 Activities.pdf
Last month, I wrote about the various worker “Kin-Care” sick-leave laws in some States, Counties, and Municipalities. A question came up from that message, and I wanted to add on to that message here. The question was, if the employee lives in one State that has a worker “Kin-Care” sick leave law, but the employee works in a State that does not have a worker “Kin-Care” sick leave law, would that employee be eligible for those “Kin-Care” benefits?
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-10 Activities.pdf
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.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-09 Activities.pdf
I want to make this a shorter than usual message, and focus on thanking every Shop Steward, not just the newly elected Shop Stewards, for stepping up and tackling what I believe is the most important and under-appreciated Representative position in any Union. Your Shop Stewards are who see first-hand the issues, and interface with management to solve them every day on the Floor. While often Members tend to focus on those elected at the “upper” levels of their Union, it is my opinion that the Shop Steward is the most critical group of Representatives in any Union.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-08 Activities.pdf
I want to speak further about our Local 591 EAP & Benefits Coordinators. When I travelled to SAN and LAS, in both meetings I was constantly reminded of how impressive and engaged these two Local 591 Coordinators are. Tony Lepore handles most of the Benefits side, and Ken Morse handles most of the EAP/MAP side. In both meetings, it was abundantly clear how fortunate we are to have Ken and Tony in Local 591. It was impressive to observe how many other Labor Groups reached out seeking to improve or build their own Local EAP/MAP programs to the level that Tony and Ken, along with the entire Local 591 EAP/MAP/Benefits team, have done here at Local 591.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-07 Activities.pdf
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.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-06 Activities.pdf
May was a pretty busy travel month for me, mostly attending the five Regional Quarterly Membership meetings. I attended these meetings in all five Regions, though some I needed to attend virtually due to health concerns. At the beginning of the month, after the Southeast Region Quarterly Meetings, some of us on the Executive Board were also able to schedule in Floor visits to both TPA and MCO. I always look forward to the floor visits, because they provide us, as your elected representatives, the ability to talk with you in your workplace, and often see first-hand the issues you are having. It’s often difficult to schedule these, but, as time and airplane seat availability permits, we do try to add these in whenever possible.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-05 Activities.pdf
April was a fairly busy travel month for me. That travel started in DFW where I spent a great deal of time assisting with grievance and CBA administration challenges, and in my off hours took the opportunity to assist in coordinating the current efforts to internally reorganize the Association. I then flew to MIA last minute to attend the Workbrain (WB) Master Calendar beta-test and rollout. The next week, I was invited to and attended the TWU EAP Training in DFW. The last week of April I again flew to DFW to attend the MRO Convention.
Download: EB Admin-Dittmer Monthly 2022-04 Activities.pdf
Page Last Updated: Mar 07, 2025 (13:03:00)
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TWU Local 591
1905 Stone Myers Parkway
Grapevine, TX 76051 817-591-4290
EB_Admin-Dittmer_2025-02_Jan-Feb_Lookback.pdf
