ASA Sub
Technicians and Related Discussions Continue
Negotiations
for a stand-alone Technician and Related, Subsidiary ASA contract resumed this
week in Atlanta with the Union and the Company agreeing to meet outside of
Federal Mediation.
The
Company has yet to respond to the union proposal that advised the company of the
unions’ interest in accepting their offer of additional wages and work rules
with the understanding that it would only apply to the S-ASA side.
Negotiations continued with the Union making
proposals on Section 3- (Classifications), Section 7 – (Hours of Service), and
Section 10 – (Leaves of Absence). The Company provided a counter proposal on
Section 3. Although no agreements were reached it was felt that substantial
progress was made on both Sections 3 and 10.
Presently,
Tentative Agreements for the Sub ASA contract are in place for Articles 4
(Seniority), 5 (Filling of Vacancies), 6 (Reduction in Force and Recall), 13
(Training), 14 (Health and Safety), 16 (Moving Expenses), 20 (Grievance
Procedure), 21 (Board of Arbitration) and the Interim Agreement which gives the
members a process to fight Discipline and Discharge up to and including
Arbitration.
The
union has proposed additional meetings for the last week in October, and while
the company has yet to respond, talks will continue in Mediation on the Sub-XJT
side.
Sub
ASA/XJT Stock Clerks Update
Negotiations
for a combined ASA/XJT Stock Clerk contract resumed this week in Atlanta. The
Union made a passes on Section 10 (Leaves of Absence), Section 12 – (Field
Trips) and Section 19 – (Union Security and Representation), while the Company
made a pass on Section 10 – (Leaves of Absences). The parties were able to reach
a Tentative Agreement on Section 19.
To
date for combined ASA/XJT Stock Clerk contract has concluded Tentative
Agreements on Sections
3 – (Classifications), 4 – (Seniority), 5 – (Filling of Vacancies), 6 –
(Reduction in Force and Recall), 13 – (Training), 14 – (Health and Safety), 16 –
(Moving Expenses), 19 – (Union Security and Representation), 20 – (Grievance
Procedure) and, 21 – (Board of Arbitration).
The
union is awaiting response from the company on proposed dates in
October.
Franz
“Faz” Fazakas Passes Away, Union Member’s Work Touched Generations and Millions
Everywhere
Franz
"Faz" Fazakas, father of Matthew Fazakas, the former President and Principal Officer of Denver Teamsters Local
961
and
currently International Representative for the Airline Division, passed away
September 28th.
Fazakas
was a genius special effects designer and puppeteer who began working with
puppets in the 1950's. He began his puppetry career in the 1950s with Bil Baird
and his marionettes, performing in the Broadway show Flahooley (with Barbara
Cook, playing a lion) as well as 1960s off-Broadway puppet productions (often
alongside Jerry Nelson), including versions The Wizard of Oz (as the Tin
Woodsman) and Winnie the Pooh (as the title character).
He joined
Jim Henson in the 1970's and developed the mechanism to control the eye movement
of life-size Muppets like Big Bird and Sweetums as well as the wizardry needed
for the smaller characters including Rizzo the Rat and the Doozers. He worked on
many of the Muppet films as well as The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock and The Dark
Crystal.
A special
effects designer and puppeteer who contributed to many Muppet productions,
Fazakas first worked with Jim Henson as a puppeteer in the early 1970s on the
Tales from Muppetland specials. However, his primary talents lay in devising
mechanical devices to increase the range of movement and expression of the
puppets, and for many years he was head of the electro mechanical department of
the Muppet Workshop. The eye mechanisms on characters such as Big Bird and
Sweetums were his contribution, as were the rods and cable control systems used
to control tiny characters such as Rizzo the Rat and the Doozers. The latter,
however, benefited most directly from Fazakas' radio controlled mechanisms,
variations of which were also used for the faces of full-bodied characters such
as the Gorgs. The rowing scene in Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and the rat
cooking scenes in The Muppets Take Manhattan are perhaps the most direct
showcases of Fazakas' work.
In
1992, Fazakas, along with Brian Henson, Dave Housman, Peter Miller, and John
Stephenson, shared the Academy Awards' Scientific and Engineering Award for
developing the Henson Performance Control System. This system; an advancement
from the earlier radio controls, was used to create complex facial expressions
as well as detailed body movements, such as finger joints, for Dinosaurs and
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, amongst others. According to coverage of the event
by the Hollywood Reporter, Fazakas drew laughs and applause during the group's
acceptance, quipping, "The Turtles are like many of our politicians. They're all
human except for the heads." Fazakas left the company a few years later.
Speaking
of his father in a message to friends, Matt said, “In the
true FAZAKAS spirit even though he insisted on living alone at home and was
basically blind and got around with a walker or wheelchair, he scheduled eye
surgery in October so he could start driving again!!! He was always proud of my
being a true union supporter and loved the Teamsters and told stories of
protesting with them in the 30's, 40's, and 50's.
I grew up
in a Union household in NYC and remember him coming home after Union strikes and
causes in the 50's. He was an original Union television member back in the 40's
and participated in the radio/TV merger that became AFTRA, he also carried SAG
and Actors Equity cards. One of his passions in his later life was being an
ardent supporter of the Southern Poverty Law Center. During the BUSH/CHANEY era
he would send e-mails that if any of us sent them we would have received a visit
from the authorities!”
His
response to me always was "I'm right and besides what are they going to do to an
old man?"
We extend
to Matt and his family our sympathies on the loss of a fine man and proud union
member. For a brief view of Faz’s work, click on the link below:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qWAAmwzURZk
Airline
Industry News
Governmental
and Regulatory
Scott
Pruitt,
the attorney general for Oklahoma, has asked the Justice Department to drop its
antitrust case against the merger between US Airways and American Airlines.
The
Department of Justice will not
be able to delay
its antitrust case against US Airways and American Airlines because of the
government shutdown, a judge ruled. "A stay at this point would undermine this
schedule and delay the necessary speedy disposition of this matter," U.S.
District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said.
Texas
Attorney General Greg
Abbott announced on Tuesday that the state was removing itself as a plaintiff in
the Department of Justice's lawsuit to block the proposed merger between US
Airways and American.
Airlines,
Labor and Industry
Boeing reported
a
14% increase in commercial jet deliveries for the third quarter, as compared to
the same quarter last year.
Indigo Partners
has entered into a deal to buy Frontier Airlines from
Republic Holdings.