Board Notes No Issues Have Been Agreed Upon Yet
Sort it out for
yourselves. That's the message the National Mediation Board had for
pilots at American Airlines this week, as the board opted to stay
out of bitter contract talks now underway between airline
executives, and the Allied Pilots Association.
The Dallas Morning News reports the union received a letter from
the NMB -- which intervenes in labor relations in the railroad and
airline industries -- saying the case hasn't been placed on its
docket, or assigned a mediator. So far, neither side has come to
agreement on even a handful of issues ... and the board pointedly
noted it typically doesn't become involved in labor talks until
both parties have narrowed the topics for discussion.
The decision is a blow -- albeit, perhaps, not an unexpected one
-- for the union, whose leaders have taken a hard line with
management at American since last year's union elections. APA
leaders asked the NMB to intervene in the talks January 14... after
a failed effort to convince American to seek similar action, as ANN reported.
"We are disappointed that the NMB has not assigned a federal
mediator to our negotiations," said APA President Captain Lloyd
Hill. "We have spent the past year and a half in negotiations and
have been unable to resolve any contractual issues with management,
despite APA’s best efforts to do so."
The union said it was
American Airlines management that initiated early negotiations with
APA more than 18 months ago, by triggering the "early-opener"
provision in the pilots contract. The contract becomes officially
amendable on May 1.
So far, the union claims, the airline hasn't provided any
comprehensive contract proposals to the union; the airline counters
the union's new leaders scrapped the APA's original proposal last
year.
While it may come across as a step toward diplomacy, in reality
intervention by the NMB would have also brought the two sides
closer to a potential strike. Mediation is a necessary step towards
such action, as a pilot strike may only be called legally if the
NMB declares an impasse in mediated talks.
That declaration would also free American to impose its own
contract on pilots, similar to the action taken by the FAA against
air traffic controllers in June 2006.
American spokeswoman Sue Gordon applauded the board's
decision.
"We did not join the APA's application for NMB services because
we continue to believe that working directly with the APA is the
most expeditious course to reaching a mutually beneficial
agreement," she said.