August 25, 2024
Participants for AMFA
Earl Clark – Region I Director
Will Abbott – Region II Director
Jason Salazar – Airline Representative
Ernest Harris – Member at Large (by phone)
Lucas Middlebrook – Legal Counsel
Participants for Spirit Airlines
Robert Jones – Vice President, Labor Relations
Jackson Fowler – Corporate Counsel – Labor Relations
Barney Whaley – Regional Director Maintenance
Joe Harmon– Sr. Manager, Maintenance
The AMFA-Spirit Negotiating Committee (the “Committee”) is providing this update to the Membership at Spirit Airlines (“Spirit”). This is the only officially authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee.
The parties held a three-day bargaining session, August 13-15, in Philadelphia to continue bargaining toward a first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for the Spirit group. This was our third session in mediation with the National Mediation Board (“Board”).
On Day 1, Spirit passed counterproposals on three articles: Article 10 - Seniority; Article 8 - Training; and Article 25 - No Strike/No Lockout. The open issue in the Seniority article was how seniority would be handled when a covered Employee accepts a full-time supervisory/management position and what the process would be if that Employee decided to return to a position covered by a future CBA. Discussions on Training continued to center around how hotels would be handled when training away from your station and the process and amount of per diem. As to No Strike/No Lockout, the Company continued in its approach to add restrictive language not found in its other collective bargaining agreements on property. However, with the assistance of the mediator, the parties engaged in productive discussion on Day 1, designed to help bridge the gap between the respective table positions on these articles. Following receipt of these counters from the Company, AMFA presented counterproposals on Article 9 - Field Service and Article 14 - Leaves of Absence. The parties have made progress on both articles, with more open issues remaining in Field Service (such as selection process, expenses, per diem, and rate of pay) as opposed to Leaves of Absence, for which the remaining issues were bereavement leave and jury duty. The parties spent the remainder of Day 1 in caucus with the mediator preparing their respective counters.
On Day 2, AMFA returned a counter on Article 10 - Seniority, which sought to bridge the gap on the remaining open issue around Employees taking management/supervisory positions and how seniority is treated in those situations. AMFA sought to address the Company’s concerns by proposing a middle ground whereby these individuals cease to accrue but retain seniority and can only return to a covered position through a vacancy whereby Employees would not be furloughed or bumped out of their position upon such return. AMFA also returned a counter on Article 25 - No Strike/No Lockout, which sought to align this article closer to CBAs already on Spirit’s property and AMFA agreements throughout the industry. Finally, AMFA returned a counter on Article 8 - Training, which again attempted to find a solution to the issue of hotels and per diem. The parties engaged in productive on-the-record and off-the-record discussions utilizing the mediator’s assistance to find middle ground for a tentative agreement on these articles. The Company continued to prepare counters on Day 2 and finished the day working in caucus to provide such proposals on Day 3.
Prior to the commencement of Day 3, the Company sent a counterproposal on Article 25 – No Strike/No Lockout, which sought to track language closer to what exists in the AMFA-Alaska CBA. AMFA worked to clean up the language, make edits, and remove certain provisions we found inapplicable. Thereafter, Spirit presented a counterproposal to Article 14 - Leaves of Absence, which made movement on the remaining issues of bereavement leave and jury duty. The parties then engaged in a productive off-the-record discussion related to Article 5 - Hours of Service. Each side returned to their caucus rooms, and with the assistance of the mediator who engaged in shuttle diplomacy, the parties were able to reach tentative agreements on Article 10 – Seniority, Article 14 – Leaves of Absence, and Article 25 – No Strike/No Lockout.
The parties have scheduled bargaining for October 8-10 at a location to be determined, with the possibility of an additional virtual session in September. Remember – stay engaged, remain informed, and continue to support the Negotiating Committee as that support increases the ability to bargain a CBA your hard work deserves.
Fraternally,
AMFA-Spirit Negotiating Committee
