TWU, American Airlines tentatively agree to job-saving contracts

Members of the Transport Workers Union and American Airlines reached new tentative agreements late Tuesday afternoon.

Despite the potential deal, other Tulsa-area American employees are being laid off this week.

Workers say employees have been shown the door all week and are unsure if this round of layoffs is over.

The airline confirms that layoffs of managerial and staff employees have been happening across the company for months.

American will not comment on the specific number of layoffs, but say it must shed 1400 management and support staff workers as part of the bankruptcy reorganization.

TWU representatives for maintenance and related workers and Stores bargaining units have been in difficult discussions over the last two weeks attempting to reach a deal.

“Our strategy to keep all of our options open and fight for fairness for all of our members is working,” said TWU International President James C. Little. “These two new agreements represent an improvement from the company’s previous offers and its motion to void our contracts pending before U.S. Bankruptcy Court. We will now present these tentative agreements to our membership for their final decision.”

The 6-year agreements would include:

• A 3 percent pay raise upon signing for M&R workers
• A 3.5 percent raise for 3.5 raise for Stores workers
• Improved health insurance from the previous company offer
• Market readjustment based on industry compensation after 36 months
• Full contract RLA Section 6 reopener after four years

“We made the case very aggressively to the company, and now we have tentative agreements for review and action by our members," Little said. "These are still concessionary and painful deals, but we continue to fight in real ways to lessen the impact of these changes on our members and their families."

The company says the deal would save about $35 million annually. AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, entered bankruptcy in November of 2011.

The measures will be put up to a TWU member vote, set to conclude sometime around August 8.

Members of five other TWU work groups – fleet service clerks, dispatchers, ground school instructors, maintenance control technicians and simulator technicians – voted to ratify their respective agreements.