Pilots Protest Pokey Contract Negotations

Calling it "informational picketing," Air Line Pilots Association president Duane Woerth, along with pilots of Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) and other members of the union will picket Friday in front of the St. George, Utah headquarters of Skywest Airlines.

ASA is owned by Skywest flying routes as a Delta Connection carrier.  ALPA says the group plans to picket to demonstrate its frustration with the amount of time it is taking to negotiate the pilots' next collective bargaining agreement.

The union says that although ASA was sold to SkyWest by Delta in September 2005, there has been no significant change in management's apparent lack of interest in concluding negotiations. Talks have dragged on for more than four years, with 11 sections of the labor contract still under review.

The ASA pilots began negotiations with management in September 2002, when their most current contract became amendable under the terms of the Railway Labor Act. Negotiations have been conducted with the assistance of the National Mediation Board (NMB) since May 2004.

However, citing the distance between the pilot and management proposals for the remaining sections of the contract, the NMB indefinitely recessed negotiations in May 2006.

For now, matters remain in limbo.

FMI: www.alpa.org