June 23, 2014
By Neal Tepel
Fort Worth, Texas. – American Airlines and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union have reached three tentative agreements covering more than 11,000 US Airways mechanics, fleet service agents and maintenance training specialists. The three-year agreements are each subject to membership ratification.
The union leadership and negotiating committees unanimously endorsed the tentative agreements, which if ratified, will lead to joint collective bargaining negotiations with their colleagues at the Transport Workers Union (TWU) to cover more than 30,000 employees at the new American Airlines.
"We are very pleased to have reached tentative agreements covering the US Airways mechanics, fleet service and maintenance training specialist employees," said Doug Parker, chairman and CEO of American Airlines. "We want to thank the International Association of Machinists leadership and negotiators for their professionalism and hard work on behalf of their members. We would also like to express our appreciation to the National Mediation Board, Board Member Linda Puchala and Mediator Walter Darr for their assistance in reaching these agreements. We look forward to working together to reach joint collective bargaining agreements for all of the employees in these job classifications at American Airlines."
The tentative agreements announced continue progress on labor agreements at American Airlines since the merger with US Airways closed on Dec. 9, 2013. Negotiations for a joint flight attendant agreement are underway. In addition, unions for pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents have filed petitions with the National Mediation Board for single carrier status determination to resolve union representation.
