Perspectives: Archive
April 6, 2009
Opening Negotiations
The negotiations process to revise our current Collective Bargaining agreements with our six U.S. unions will officially begin with the Association of Flight Attendants today, and will continue with the other unions over the next two weeks. Per the Railway Labor Act and our domestic collective bargaining agreements, the two sides commit to sharing "written notice of intended change" when official talks begin.
Sometimes referred to as a Section 6 Opener, this document serves as the framework that defines the issues or sections of the contract that both sides intend to discuss. Some parties prefer to provide full text summaries. Some parties simply provide a letter indicating that all issues are open for change and others use the opener to frame concepts which they intend to discuss in detail at the table.
Regardless of the format, it is important to understand that the openers form the basis upon which the parties will begin to discuss issues and make detailed full text proposals in the course of negotiations.
Once we have provided our openers to all of our unions, we will post them here, in an effort to be transparent and share openly the areas we have identified for consideration. Understand there is much work to do, and we are just beginning the process. These agreements can be complex and cover some difficult issues. We look forward to beginning the discussions with our unions, and sharing both of our initial views is an important first step.
We hope you will check back here often. We will keep you apprised of the progress of our discussions and encourage you to provide feedback through this web site.
Sincerely,
Doug McKeen
Senior Vice President – Labor Relations