Meeting With NPA Ends Without Agreement
For years, about 1,600 pilots at low-cost carrier AirTran
Airways have been represented by the National Pilots Association, a
relatively small independent union that has seen its share of
difficulties. In a bid to strengthen its ranks and carry more clout
into ongoing contract negotiations, the union recently reached out
to two prominent labor organizations to explore a possible
partnership.
However, we may strike -- so to speak -- at least one of those
organizations from consideration.
On Wednesday, Capt. David Bourne, director of the Teamsters
Airline Division, met with the board of directors of the NPA... and
announced shortly thereafter the Teamsters aren't interested in
adding AirTran pilots to their ranks at this time.
"Given the current volatility of the airline industry, and the
tendency toward continued consolidation, it is to everyone's
benefit that the pilots at AirTran strengthen their own
organization before entertaining any other representational
possibilities," Bourne said. "We remain in solidarity with our
union brothers and sisters at AirTran, and are ready to assist them
in their endeavors. However, we are not planning to pursue a more
official relationship at this time."
NPA officials also have meetings planned with representatives of
the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents pilots at most of
the nation's major airlines.
As ANN has reported, the NPA has been locked
in contract talks with AirTran for years, with little success. Both
sides reached a tentative agreement in May 2007, but AirTran later
withdrew the offer. Since that time, neither side has budged from
their position -- pilots want more pay, while the airline wants to
trim its pilot-related costs by 12.5 percent.
The NPA and AirTran have since entered mediation... while union
members recalled their former president and vice-president.
"The NPA leadership desires nothing but the best for our pilots
as far as representation and we are, at the request of our pilots,
exploring all options to strengthen their representational
bargaining agents," National Pilots Association president Mike Best
told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week, ahead of the
Teamsters talks.
Predictably, AirTran executives are steering clear of the
matter. "If there's going to be a change, when that change happens,
we'll bargain with the replacement union," said Stephen Kolski,
AirTran's Executive VP of Operations and Corporate Affairs.