TWU Reaches Tentative Deal With American Airlines For Mechanics, Others

Members of the Transport Workers Union at American Airlines have reached new tentative agreements with the company for workers in the Maintenance and Related (M&R) and Stores bargaining units, according to a news release from the union.

TWU International President James C. Little said the union will now present the agreements to the membership for a vote.

"These two new agreements represent an improvement from the company's previous offers and its motion to void our contracts pending before U.S. Bankruptcy Court. We will now present these tentative agreements to our membership for their final decision," Little said in the news release.

TWU Local Union representatives on the M&R and Stores negotiating committees have been negotiating with AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, over the last two weeks attempting to reach a tentative agreement.

"If ratified, these agreements would allow us to create a successful future for tens of thousands of American Airlines employees as we move through restructuring and beyond," said American Airlines Spokesman, Bruce Hicks, in a statement released Tuesday evening. "The TWU tentative agreements, along with our tentative agreement with the APA, demonstrate that we can work creatively to reach a resolution that puts our company in a position to move forward quickly and successfully. We are pleased the Mechanic & Related and Stores TWU members will have the opportunity to review and vote on these tentative agreements."

7/9/2012: Related Story: Negotiations To Resume Between Transport Workers Union, American Airlines

The union says the decision recognizes that the agreements improve the terms in the company's motion before the judge under Section 1113 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which is scheduled for a ruling on August 15.

Terms of the six-year deal:

• 3% pay raise for M&R workers
• 3.5% pay raise for Stores workers
• Health insurance coverage improved from previous company offer
• Market readjustment, based on industry compensation after 36 months and a full contract RLA Section 6 re-opener after four years.

The union says the tentative agreements will be put to TWU members for a vote that would be concluded sometime around August 8.  That means the results will be available before a ruling from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on whether to void current collective bargaining agreements for M&R and Stores workers.

AMR entered bankruptcy in November of 2011.  The company demanded major cuts from all of its unions, but the M&R and Stores workers rejected the contract offers based on those cuts in May.

Members of five other work groups represented by TWU – fleet service clerks, dispatchers, ground school instructors, maintenance control technicians and simulator technicians – voted to accept their individual agreements.

Transport Workers Union of America represents 26,000 employees at AMR and is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.