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.

FMI: www.alliedpilots.org, www.aa.com