Two Unions Certified To Represent American Airlines Mechanics

The National Mediation Board issued a ruling Tuesday affecting thousands of American Airlines employees at the overhaul base in Tulsa.

The NMB certified the TWU-IAM Association as the collective bargaining agent for workers in the company's Fleet Service, Mechanic and Related and Stores classifications.

The TWU is the Transport Workers Union, which represented American Airlines workers. The IAM is the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers which represented workers at US Airways.

Once the two airlines merged, the two unions requested to jointly represent Fleet Service, Mechanic and Related, and Stores employees at the new company instead of "engaging in a long, costly and acrimonious representation dispute," the unions wrote in a new release.

“With today's ruling, the Associations can now get down to the business of negotiating the industry's best contracts that our members deserve,” said TWU President Harry Lombardo and IAM General Vice President Sito Pantoja in a joint statement.

The two unions asked the NMB on August 16, 2014 to be allowed to represent three work groups and on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 the NMB certified that request. 

The NMB ruled on April 15 that American was operating as a single carrier. That began a 30-day period to allow for any other union to make a request to represent the groups, but no other union filed one so the NMB certified the TWU-IAM associations as the bargaining agents.

4/16/2015: Related Story: NMB Approves 'Single Carrier' Status For American, US Airways Unions

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The TWU-IAM Association says it represents approximately 30,000 ground workers at American Airlines and is the largest union at the carrier.

"We look forward to working with the TWU-IAM Alliance on a joint collective bargaining agreement," said Casey Norton, Corporate Communications Director for American Airlines.