AA and US flight attendants will now have a joint collective bargaining agreement and contract. The dispute went to arbitration and the arbitration board issued its decision.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) issued this statement about the decision:
On December 13, the seven member Arbitration Panel, established in accordance with the Negotiations Protocol Agreement, issued its decision on the terms of the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement. The JCBA will consist of the pay, work rules, and benefits outlined in the APFA arbitration proposal. Unfortunately, the award does not include the “me too” clauses for health plans and profit sharing for which APFA argued. The award also does not provide retroactive pay raises for Flight Attendants. APFA had argued for the wage increases to take effect December 2, 2014. Instead, the increases will take effect on January 1, 2015. The effective date of the JCBA is December 13, 2014.
First, APFA proposed that the value of $112 million is the amount that the arbitrators must add to our combined contracts to equal market based in the aggregate, which is the standard provided for in the NPA. AA stipulated to this value.
Second, APFA argued for a “me too” for health insurance, meaning that if the company were to offer another work group health insurance that differs from the health insurance in our JCBA, APFA would have the option of replacing our current insurance with such other health insurance beginning the following year. The company argued against a “me too” for health insurance.
Third, APFA argued for a “me too” for profit sharing, meaning that if another workgroup on AA’s property were given a profit sharing plan, APFA would have the option of reducing the wage rates by $50 million per year (the value allotted for profit sharing in our proposal) and adopting such profit sharing plan. The company argued against a “me too” for Profit Sharing.
Finally, APFA asked for pay rates retroactive to December 2, 2014. The company argued against retroactive pay rates.
A majority of the Panel denied APFA’s request that the JCBA contain “me-toos” regarding the medical plan and profit sharing. In both cases the Panel found that the inclusion of these provisions would push the added value of the JCBA beyond the market-based aggregate of $112 million.
A majority of the Panel also rejected APFA’s argument that the new wage rates of the JCBA be retroactive to December 2, 2014. It held that starting the pay increases prior to the effective date of the JCBA would result in its value exceeding the $112 million cap.
The two union-appointed members of the Arbitration Panel dissented from the Panel’s decision denying the “me-toos” and the retroactivity of the new wage rates.
The effective date of the JCBA is December 13, 2014, the day the decision was issued. A link to the updated contract language including the implementation letter will be uploaded to apfa.org in the next several days. The new pay rates will go into effect on January 1, 2015.