Dear Members,
Late last week the Company informed the Union of its’ need to furlough 25 technicians in Bid Area 101 at EWR. The Company claims that due to current and future facility constraints and reduced Orlando heavy check requirements, Continental will be moving a Boeing 757 twenty-four hour recovery hold aircraft from Newark hangar 55 to the Orlando maintenance facility.
The reduced heavy check requirements in MCO are due to the exiting of classic aircraft from the fleet. Previous Union updates informed the membership the Company had been holding this over us in negotiations. Their previous proposals have included a no furlough clause if the Union was willing to work within the Company’s economic framework. While the Union will, to the fullest extent possible, do everything to fight and/or mitigate furloughs we previously informed the Company we were not willing to bargain in their box with a gun to our heads.
A conference call was held Friday evening, January 15, 2010 with the Company. The Union informed the Company we expect the “follow the work” provisions of the CBA to apply (Article 6.B.4). The Company initially stated they don’t believe this language applies in as much as there are no vacancies in MCO, rather a need to fill lost work in the MCO hangar where manpower already exists. They have agreed to revisit our request and reconvene this week.
The utilization of the “follow the work” provisions would require that beginning with the most senior employee in the affected Bid Area (101), technicians would have the option to exercise their seniority to follow the work that is being moved. Only after that voluntary process is complete and 25 volunteers were not obtained would a furlough, in the traditional sense, then take place. This language was bargained to mitigate the damages of a furlough for both the Company and its’ Union members. The parties have agreed to reconvene this week to further discuss the furlough situation.
We are in Phoenix, Arizona this week to begin mediated contract talks. Once we get concrete information as to the Company’s plans we will update you all accordingly. If there are any questions about any previous or future Company correspondence please contact us immediately.
While we wait to meet with CAL this is a good time for everyone to access your Bid Area Qualifications in E-bid and make sure your qualifications are up to date. Thank you for your feedback and support, updates to follow.
In Solidarity,
Local 210-IBT
973-681-2750/51 (Office)
973-681-2752 (Fax)
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