January 7, 2023
Participants for AMFA
Bret Oestreich – National President
Earl Clark – Region I Director
Tony Christner – Airline Representative
Lucas Middlebrook – Legal Counsel
Participants for Sun Country Airlines
Kristen Peterson – Sr. Director, Labor & Employment
Bobby Purzitza – Director of Maintenance
Jacki Thompson – Legal Counsel
Laurie Lofgren – Labor Consultant
The AMFA-SCA Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the Membership at Sun Country Airlines (SCA). This is the only official authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee.
The Parties held a three-day bargaining session, January 3-5 in Minneapolis to continue bargaining toward a first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for the SCA group. The Company, at the beginning of Day 1, presented a counterproposal on Article 7, Training. The Parties engaged in productive dialogue related to the Company’s counter; and thereafter, AMFA proposed a counter to Article 12, Leaves of Absence and presented the first proposal for Article 9 – Seniority. The Parties caucused at this point to review the respective proposals and prepare counters. The two sides reconvened in the afternoon and AMFA presented a counterproposal to the Company’s morning pass on Article 7, Training. The Company asked clarifying questions related to AMFA’s counter and advised AMFA it would be prepared the following morning with counterproposals and possibly a tentative agreement (TA) to Article 7, Training.
At the outset of Day 2, the Company advised AMFA it had accepted AMFA’s most recent counterproposal on Article 7, Training and the Parties were able to TA that article. The Company also presented a counterproposal on the morning of Day 2 to Article 12, Leaves of Absence. The Parties engaged in discussion regarding the various types of leaves of absence contained in the article, and following that dialogue, the Company presented a counterproposal to Article 17, Safety and Health. AMFA was disappointed with certain aspects of this counterproposal it viewed as unsupportive of the union’s safety role, and your Committee expressed this displeasure to the Company across the table. AMFA then presented its counter to Article 25, Union Representation and passed its first proposal for Article 10, Filling of Vacancies. The Parties caucused at this time, and upon reconvening in the afternoon, AMFA presented a counterproposal to Article 17, Safety and Health and Article 12, Leaves of Absence. The Company concluded Day 2 by presenting its counters to Article 25, Union Representation and Article 10, Filling of Vacancies.
AMFA requested the Parties begin Day 3 with an open dialogue intended to bridge the remaining gaps on some of the articles that had been passed across the table during this session. This discussion was productive and allowed the Parties to speak freely and to move more promptly toward resolving some of the open articles. Thereafter, AMFA presented its counterproposal to Article 10, Filling of Vacancies. The Company requested some additional time to complete certain counterproposals and returned in the afternoon with counters on Article 12, Leaves of Absence and Article 17, Safety and Health. AMFA requested a short caucus to review these counterproposals before the Parties broke for this session, and upon conclusion of that caucus informed the Company the Parties now had TA’s on two (2) more articles – Article 12, Leaves of Absence and Article 17, Safety and Health.
Your Committee was encouraged by the progress made during this session. The Parties were able to TA three (3) additional articles this session, which brings the total number of TA’s, after four (4) sessions, to eight (8). The Company and the Union will not always see eye-to-eye at the collective bargaining table, but this session showed open discussion and productive dialogue can often bridge the gaps to settle upon an agreement that rewards your hard work.
We would like to thank all the observers that took the time to attend this session and experience the negotiation process firsthand. The next negotiation session is scheduled for February 21-23 in Minneapolis. If you would like to be an observer in future negotiation sessions, please communicate with your ALR.
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,