November 8, 2024

Participants for AMFA
Bret Oestreich – National President
Will Abbott – Region II Director
Tony Christner – Airline Representative
Lucas Middlebrook – Legal Counsel
Peter Manikowski – Economist

Participants for Sun Country Airlines
Kristen Peterson – Sr. Director, Labor & Employment
Jacki Thompson – Legal Counsel
Roy Fan – Financial Planning & Analysis

The AMFA-SCA Negotiating Committee (“Committee”) is providing this update to the Sun Country Airlines (“Sun Country”) membership. This is the only officially authorized source of communications by the Committee.

The parties met in Chicago last week (Oct. 15-17) for a three-day mediated bargaining session. This was our sixth session in mediation (2 virtual) under the National Mediation Board (NMB). On Day 1, the parties continued discussions on the Hours of Service and Field Service articles. One important issue within Hours of Service is the manner and extent to which you can be “cross-utilized” by the Company into another classification. The Company’s approach to topics such as shift start times and the use of Part-Time Employees on the day shift are also very concerning. The Company made presentations on these articles and discussion occurred. The Committee advised the Company that we remain very concerned, from a safety and regulatory standpoint, about the Company’s continued push to cross-utilize Inspectors and AMTs thereby blurring the lines between inspection and production. AMFA feels such a practice compromises safety and we implore the Company, if safety is a priority, to reevaluate its approach on this issue.

The Company also made another proposal on Status of Agreement that moved the parties closer on several open items; however, the Company continues to stubbornly strike language that provides your protection if Sun Country acquired another carrier with no intention to merge and, thereafter, attempted to transfer you or your work between those two companies. In frustrating fashion, Sun Country negotiators failed, yet again, to provide any substantive response as to why they continue to strike this provision. There is no reason for the repeated strike of this language unless the Company has nefarious plans to avoid a future CBA or transfer your work to an acquired, non-merged carrier.

On Day 2, the parties began in caucus and AMFA commenced the day with a reply on Hours of Service and the suggestion that the scheduling of “Traveling AMTs” be addressed in an appendix to the CBA, because of the unique way those Employees are scheduled as compared with others. AMFA pushed back on the concept that the Company could continue to change shift start times without agreement of the ALR. We also made another proposal on cross-utilization in hopes of closing out that Article. In our presentation, we included yet another pass on language on the Status of Agreement article.

Thereafter, the parties had a heated exchange in the afternoon of Day 2 about the productivity (or lack thereof) of negotiations and the Company’s seemingly unwillingness to provide stability and progress toward a CBA. It is AMFA’s opinion that the Company, at times, seems focused more on delay of the process than a genuine desire to reach an agreement that rewards you for your hard work and dedication to Sun Country. In addition, the Company often needs excessive caucus time to communicate with operations or the c-suite executives. We cordially invite the individuals on the other end of those calls, especially the executives, to come to the table with sufficient bargaining authority to accelerate this negotiation process. Or, is it that those executives somehow feel they are too important to engage in bargaining that is focused on rewarding your valuable contributions to the Company?

Upon reconvening, AMFA made a counterproposal on Field Service, which was designed to close out the non-economic items of Field Service and hold the economic items for comprehensive financial discussion. The Company agreed to this, and the parties were able to reach tentative agreement (TA) on the Field Service article, conditioned on future agreement to the economic items in that article. AMFA then passed articles the Company had earlier refused to talk about: Union Representation, AMFA PAC, and Union Security. We asked the Company to not just re-strike the language and pass it back, but either counter or tell us they wanted to table the articles. Ultimately, the Company failed to respond to these issues. Company negotiators are under the mistaken belief that refusing to discuss these articles somehow will produce leverage later in the negotiation process. They are wrong and should decide whether they want to continue playing games or engage in a meaningful attempt to reach a CBA.

At the outset of Day 3, at the request of AMFA Legal, the Mediator held a discussion with the parties’ respective legal counsel to discuss the most productive path to reaching a comprehensive CBA. Upon reconvening, the Company made another counter on the Hours of Service article. The parties had off-the-record discussions on all the terms and conditions that might be different for Traveling AMTs. In addition, the Company finished its presentation with a short discussion related to missed and/or late meal periods under a new CBA.

At the close of the joint session, the parties, with the assistance of the Mediator, agreed upon the topics to be addressed at the next meeting, which is scheduled for mediated session December 3-5 at the National Mediation Board offices in Washington, D.C. After the session concluded, your AMFA representatives continued to work for several more hours to prepare for that session and research several topics. We, as always, will be fully prepared for the meeting in Washington, DC. We implore the Company negotiators to do the same and ensure the right people from Sun Country are in attendance to achieve maximum negotiating productivity.

AMFA thanks all the members for supporting the Strike Preparation Committee (SPC). We are humbled by your intense support of the Committee, and we share your frustration with the Company’s tactics in these negotiations and understand your desire to exercise your lawful right to strike in accordance with the Railway Labor Act. If and when that time comes, through the efforts of the SPC, we will be ready.

Remember - stay engaged, remain informed, and continue to support the Negotiating Committee. Our solidarity will produce a CBA that your hard work has earned.

 Fraternally,

Your AMFA–SCA Negotiating Committee