News Release
Horizon Air and Pilots Enter Into Mediated Negotiations |
June 1, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The pilots of Horizon Air, Inc., represented by the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224, last week entered into mediated contact negotiations with Horizon under the oversight of the National Mediation Board. Horizon and the pilots have been in negotiations to reach a collective bargaining agreement for more than four years and have been unable to conclude negotiations thus far. Under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) mediated negotiations are the first step in resolving conflict between the two parties. Horizon is attempting to negotiate directly with the pilots and their families, which calls into question Horizon’s willingness to negotiate in good faith. Just recently, Horizon mailed information setting forth its financial condition addressed to each of its pilot’s families. In failing to include enough postage on the envelope, each pilot was responsible for the postage due. Many responded by sending the postage due letters back to Horizon, demanding the company stop sending their wives and children propaganda and bargain with the representatives on the Union’s negotiating committee. “The recent conduct by Horizon has created a toxic atmosphere where the morale of the pilot group has deteriorated,” said Teamsters Local 1224 President Joe Muckle. “This is unfortunate because these are the most experienced pilots in the regional airlines. They do not want a job action, they want a contract.” The pilots employed by Horizon have the full and complete support of Teamsters Local Union No. 1224 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and plan to fight for a contract that provides a wage and benefit package that respects the value of the pilot’s expertise and allows them to maintain an acceptable quality of life. The pilots of Horizon have not received a wage increase since 2005. Meanwhile, executive compensation at Horizon and Alaska Airlines has soared year over year as approved by the Compensation Committee of the Alaska Air Group Board of Directors. The union fully recognizes the limitations of artificially forced wage and benefit increases beyond the capability of the business to produce profits. However, a balance is necessary where Management and Labor can share in the profitability of the Company rather than inflated executive pay as a singular reward for cost cutting on the backs of labor. Horizon has earned a sound reputation in the industry for customer satisfaction, safety, security and on-time performance. A pilot’s professionalism and skill-set greatly contribute to each of these factors in the success of an airline. The pilot’s of Horizon Air are among some of the most experienced pilots in the regional airline industry. “The pilots at Horizon have always been proud to be affiliated with a strong company, and equally as proud to be an integral part of the company’s success,” said Trevor Bulger, Horizon Air Captain and Teamsters Executive Council Chairman. “Our pilots are a dedicated group, but the recent situation has really left a bitter taste in the mouths of many.” The purpose of mediation under the Railway Labor Act is to foster the resolution of collective bargaining disputes in the railroad and airline industries. In its mediatory role, the board may employ a variety of methods to resolve the dispute and uses its discretion to determine when mediation has been exhausted. If the NMB determines further mediation will not help the parties reach agreement binding arbitration is offered to the parties. If either party declines binding arbitration, the parties are released from mediation by the board and a 30-day cooling-off period begins. If no agreement is reached within the 30-day cooling off period, the parties are released to exercise self help. However, disputes rarely escalate into disruptions of passenger service. Horizon serves 48 cities throughout Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Baja California Sur (Mexico), and British Columbia and Alberta (Canada). Together, Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines serve more than 90 cities and are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK). The Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224 represents the flight deck crewmembers of cargo and passenger airlines. Its members include ABX Air, Atlas Air, Cape Air, Kalitta Air, Polar Air Cargo, Southern Air and Teamsters Local 747. Teamsters Local 747 represents the flight crewmembers of Arrow Air, Horizon Air, Gulfstream, Miami Air, Omni Air, Republic Holdings, and USA 3000. ### |
Teamsters Local 1224 & ABX Air, Inc. |
For Immediate Release - November 13, 2009 The tentative agreement between ABX Air and Teamsters Local 1224 is contingent on two key components: (1) ABX Air and DHL must reach a commercial agreement for airlift and (2) the membership’s vote to approve the contract. “The union’s leadership has worked very hard to finalize the provisions established in this contract and we believe the agreement is beneficial to our members as well as DHL and ABX Air,” said Local 1224 President Joe Muckle. “The fact is that our struggle may not be over. If ABX Air and DHL aren’t able to reach a commercial agreement, all our time and efforts will have been for naught.” The voting deadline for ratification by Teamsters Local 1224 is November 17. It is anticipated that DHL and ABX Air will reach a decision regarding a commercial agreement shortly thereafter. Local 1224 Secretary Treasurer Tim Jewell said, “Contract negotiations are always about give and take. In this case, we knew it was necessary for the pilot group to make sacrifices to help the company reduce costs so that it could survive and strive for growth. We were able to collectively find common ground on provisions which not only make this contract acceptable to our membership and ABX Air, but also make it appealing to key customers in the industry who demand the exceptional quality of service that ABX Air provides.” Most notable is the language that makes ABX Air competitive as an “ACMI Carrier”. This change aligns ABX Air with ATSG’s new business model. The agreement also reduces ABX Air’s costs while adding greater flexibility. The combination makes the company more competitive in the broader industry, which in turn will better enable ABX Air to provide jobs and potentially speed up the recall of its nearly 400 flight crewmembers on furlough. “If all of the pieces fall into place, this agreement will mark the end of an injustice for our furloughed crewmembers by releasing severance benefits that were earmarked by DHL over a year ago. The union fought hard on many fronts to create an environment that brought management to the table with an open mind,” said Muckle. “The time for fighting is over. We worked together, cooperatively and tirelessly, for the past three months to forge this agreement. Continuing this cooperative relationship is the best way to ensure long-term success for the company.” The Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224 is a multi-carrier local which specializes in representing heavy-lift airlines. It represents the flight crewmembers of ABX Air, Atlas Air, Polar Air Cargo and Kalitta Air. The union hall is located at the DHL Airpark. ### |
Teamsters Local 1224 Supports the Clinton County Youth Council |
The union has supported the Clinton County Youth Council for more than five years. In previous years it has not only provided monetary funding, but also has donated a variety of big ticket items. They include the pool tables, pool room carpet, jukebox, skate park ramps and the dolls for the Baby Think it Over program. A staff member volunteered her time to paint the pool room walls and several Teamster organizers constructed the skate park ramps. “I remember painting the walls in CCYC’s pool room several years ago, I just thought it would be nice to liven it up a little for the kids,” said Jenna Sheeley, Local 1224’s office manager. “It is so important for children in our community to have a safe place to go after school, or even something extra to do on weekends. The youth council’s hosted events like Battle of the Bands or Fun Nights at the YMCA are two that come to mind.” Giving is a part of the culture at the Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224. In fact, established in 1994, this year marks the Airline Professionals Charitable Foundation’s fifteenth anniversary. Since its inception the union has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to benefit worthy causes and organizations. The Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224 is a multi-carrier local which specializes in representing heavy-lift airlines. It represents the flight crewmembers of ABX Air, Atlas Air, Polar Air Cargo and Kalitta Air. The union hall is located at the Clinton County airpark. Pictured: Local 1224 President Joe Muckle and CCYC's Vickie Patton ### |
Teamsters Local 1224 Position: Regulatory Change Should Enhance Safety |
For Immediate Release - October 1, 2009 The FAA convened an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) in July comprised of labor, industry and government representatives and tasked the participants with conducting a comprehensive review of current flight-time and duty-time regulations. Personal experience of professional aviators, statistical fatigue science and a review of other nations’ approaches to the issue are all factors on which the ARC based its recommendations. Teamsters Local 1224 Director of Safety Russ Leighton was among the ARC’s participants. “We were aghast when we learned that these industry groups had the audacity to propose increasing flight time as a way to reduce fatigue in the wake of the Colgan crash,” stated Local 1224 President Joe Muckle. “The sole purpose in evaluating the current regulations was to create a positive impact on safety. Giving consideration to Administrator Babbitt’s long-held ‘One Level of Safety’ concept, we fully urge policymakers not to sacrifice safety by allowing an increase in flight duty to passenger or cargo carriers; as each complete extended flight over our cities, while fatigued, in overcrowded skies.” The Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224, represents nearly 2000 air cargo pilots of ABX Air, Atlas Air Worldwide, Polar Air Cargo and Kalitta Air. Local 1224 is an International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) affiliate; the IBT represents more than 1.4 million members throughout North America. ### |
Punitive Attendance Policies at Regional Air Carriers |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 24, 2009 The Regional Airline Association (RAA) testified that none of the regional airlines comprising the RAA have a punitive sick or fatigue policy. The first-hand experience of IBT Local 747, the union representing the Republic Airways flight crewmembers, reveals otherwise. One of the largest member airlines in the RAA – Republic Airways – comprising Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines, Shuttle America, and now Midwest Airlines – has an attendance policy that strikes fear in the employees who fly for these airlines. In practice, it is a punitive policy. Republic has an attendance policy that ignores mitigating factors as to why a pilot would notify his or her employer of fatigue. When calling in sick, a Republic pilot is considered “unavailable” regardless of the reason for being unable to fly and the absentee policy dictates the employee is automatically charged with an “occurrence”. It does not matter whether the pilot is sick with a doctor’s note, has a bona fide family emergency, or is calling in fatigued. But here’s the rub … if you tell your employer you are fatigued, the employer can then make an ad hoc determination of how many occurrences to charge you and eight occurrences will likely result in termination. Data compiled by Teamsters Local 747 demonstrates that application of this policy at Republic led to about 49 attendance disciplinary letters in 2007, about 176 attendance disciplinary letters in 2008, and about 104 attendance disciplinary letters as of the first quarter in 2009. By April 2009, following two National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations and repeated pleas by the Union to amend its fatigue and attendance policies, the carriers under Republic stopped sending copies of these disciplinary letters to the Local Union. The Union now only discovers the existence of these letters, following complaints lodged by crewmembers. Republic is currently averaging more than three attendance disciplinary letters a day among the 2,000 pilots they employ. Pilots are required by regulation to determine that they themselves and the aircraft are “fit to fly”. No one would consider firing a pilot for finding eight pre-flight discrepancies during a one year period, yet flight crewmembers are often reprimanded when an honest self-assessment is not a positive one. Title 14 CFR 61.53 and 63.19 preclude required flight crewmembers from flight duty while they have a known medical or physical deficiency. Although the regulations do not specifically cite fatigue, the FAA’s Aeronautical Information Manual discusses fatigue as a factor that pilots should evaluate as part of determining their fitness for flight. An inhuman approach to a uniquely human problem has permitted a number of carriers to place this sort of punitive attendance policy on autopilot. It is ironic that a policy implemented under the guise of reducing absenteeism resulted in a geometric increase in disciplinary attendance letters over time. Undeterred by such facts, some air carriers continue to implement these policies even though they have a chilling effect upon a flight crewmember’s regulatory responsibility for self-assessment. But don’t take our word for it. The NTSB issued a report last year on an incident involving a Republic carrier that was doing business as a major carrier. Contributing factors to that incident were (1) the Captain’s fatigue, and (2) the carrier’s failure to administer an attendance policy that permitted flight crewmembers to call in fatigued without fear of reprisals. The report said: The Safety Board … concludes that Shuttle America’s failure to administer its attendance policy as written might have discouraged some of the company’s pilots, including the accident captain, from calling in when they were sick or fatigued because of concerns about the possibility of termination. NTSB Aviation Accident Report, Runway Overrun During Landing, Shuttle America, Inc., Doing Business as Delta Connection Flight 6448, Embraer ERJ-170, N862RW, Cleveland, Ohio, February 18, 2007, AAR-08/01, PB2008-910401, April 15, 2008. Last year, fatigue management experts reported 80 percent of regional airline pilots surveyed said they had nodded off in-flight and that scheduling factors such as multiple take-offs and landings were top contributors to operational fatigue. It seems that Republic’s fatigue policy is in essence a reliability policy; and rather than properly staff the airline with sufficient pilots to cover normal and irregular operations they administer an attendance policy based upon fear and intimidation. As the aviation infrastructure shifts towards regional airlines, we need to seriously consider how these carriers operate and we must have an honest dialogue about the degree of oversight the FAA needs to exercise over these carriers. Essential to that conversation, however, is basic honesty if maintaining safety truly is the highest priority. That honesty, unfortunately, is lacking from the Regional Airline Association when it comes to discussing the issue of pilot fatigue. The IBT Airline Division in conjunction with Local 1224 worked with the FAA’s Advisory Rulemaking Committee and the House Aviation Subcommittee to improve safety regulations. Through this participation they have been instrumental in making strides to protect the safety of the flying public, as well as the working conditions for its members. Local 747, representing the flight crewmembers of Republic Airways, is concerned that the RAA’s testimony made at yesterday’s Congressional Hearing is in direct conflict with the punitive attendance practices of Republic Holdings’ carriers. ### |
Teamsters Airline Division Involvement Promotes Industry Change |
For Immediate Release - July 29, 2009 Washington, D.C.--The Aviation Subcommittee, chaired by Congressman Jerry F. Costello, today announced recommendations included in a new aviation safety bill, the Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009. This announcement follows several private meetings with the chairman, staff and subcommittee members attended by IBT Local 1224 President Joe Muckle. “We had a voice in this process,” Muckle said. “The Aviation Subcommittee diligently listened to the concerns of safety experts and pilot union leaders and we saw our concerns echoed in today’s bill.” Muckle met with Chairman Costello, staff and subcommittee members to discuss current and potential aviation safety programs, training requirements, pilot fatigue and the bankruptcy code under the Railway Labor Act on several occasions during July. His involvement on behalf of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters was to provide input on behalf of all Teamster air carriers to be considered for potential legislation. House recommendations included in the Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009 encompass a number of safety and training initiatives including the creation of an Air Carrier Safety and Pilot Training Task Force, heightened FAA regulations, increased pilot training based on aircraft type and a new set of research-based pilot fatigue guidelines. Each issue included in the recommended legislation was discussed in detail with pilot union leaders. A major component of the bill is the increased pilot certification requirement of the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certificate to fly a transport category aircraft. In private forums every represented pilot union agreed, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division, Coalition of Airline Pilots Association (CAPA), US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) and Allied Pilots Association (APA), that ATP Certification should be required for every pilot who flies in part 121 air carrier operation. This would be an increase from the current commercial rating which requires only 250 flight hours. The ATP requires 1500 flight hours with additional flight and aviation knowledge requisites. During discussion of this issue in meetings, Muckle conveyed to the committee that the period between these ratings should be thought of as an apprenticeship, ensuring pilots gain knowledge and awareness that can only be attained through flight experience. Union leaders collectively expressed concern that Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) and Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) programs require direct union involvement for the programs to be effectively utilized by crewmembers. The subcommittee took this into consideration, providing for input from commercial airlines and their unions. Other portions of the bill which can be attributed to input from the Airline Division and other CAPA pilot unions include recommendations to: (1) Utilize current fatigue research to institute a new pilot flight and duty time rule; (2) Study current pilot academic training requirements across all accredited two-year and four-year universities, as well as foreign academic requirements; and (3) Truth in advertising disclosures which require airlines to disclose the air carrier that operates each segment of the flight.” The opportunity for the IBT Airline Division to represent the best interests of all Teamster air carriers at a national level demonstrates that our Union is about more than labor – as a united group the Union provides guidance for the betterment of the aviation industry.” said David Bourne, Teamsters Airline Division Director. “We chose Local 1224 President Joe Muckle to represent the IBT Airline Division because of his past success on Capital Hill.” Congress began to prioritize airline safety issues in the wake of the Continental Express, also know as the Colgan Air, crash near Buffalo last February. In July Muckle, U.S. Airways Captain Chesley Sullenberger and U.S. Airways First Officer Jeff Skiles participated in private meetings with Congressman Costello and members of the aviation subcommittee voicing concerns that airline safety is at risk because of the industry decline in value placed on the airline pilot profession. Concerns expressed in these meetings also had an impact on the urgency for new legislation and improvements to future safety efforts. The IBT Airline Division and Local 1224 undertook the initiative to work with the subcommittee to protect the safety of the flying public, as well as the rights of our membership. Notable aviation professionals who met with staffers and subcommittee members include Local 1224 President Joe Muckle, ALPA President John Prater, CAPA President Paul Onorato, Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles, Local 747’s Executive Council Chairman from Horizon Air Lines Trevor Bulger, APA President Lloyd Hill, and USAPA President Mike McCleary. |
IBT Local 1224 Director of Safety Leighton to Serve on FAA’s Rulemaking Committee |
For Immediate Release - July 17, 2009 Russ Leighton, IBT Local 1224 Director of Safety, was selected to represent the International Brotherhood of “It is my goal to assure that any safety and fatigue improvements produced by the ARC are applied universally to The FAA established the ARC to address pilot fatigue issues in the wake of the Continental Express, also know as The ARC is an 18 member committee which will consists of aviation industry representatives, as well as ### |
For Immediate Release - October 30, 2009
