Teamsters conclude second round of negotiations in Denver
Today, the Teamsters concluded the second round of negotiations with United Airlines in Denver, Colorado. After initially reaching a tentative agreement to extend the Teamsters’ recall rights from six to ten years, the company has made no progress on any of the union’s other non-economic proposals.
“After three days of negotiations, it is clear that United Airlines is not interested in making meaningful progress on our issues and would rather stall than treat us as equal negotiating partners,” said Clacy Griswold, chairman of the United Airlines Teamsters National Negotiating Committee. “If United takes that position and stubbornly refuses to meet our demands, we are prepared to meet them on equal terms and play their game with them. The company thinks it can take advantage of us. But it is very wrong.”
United continues to delay guaranteeing Teamsters’ rights
During the week, the subcommittees responsible for negotiating Article 6 on layoffs and recalls, Article 18 on union protection and representation, Article 19 on grievance procedures and Article 20 on the arbitration panel met with the company to reach a tentative agreement on these issues. However, the company continues to obstruct progress on these issues and deny the Teamsters job protections.
“If the last three days have taught us anything, it’s that United is not taking this process as seriously as the Teamsters are,” said Jasmine Johnson, a Local 986 member and rank-and-file member of the Article 18 subcommittee. “We came to Denver in good faith to make progress on critical issues, but United believes they can divide us by delaying the movement. Well, the Teamsters have a message for United: We will not be divided and we will fight for all the proposals we have put forward to the company.”
Negotiations will resume on September 16. Download the Teamsters Airline Division app at http://ibt.io/AirlineDivisionApp to stay informed and get involved.
