Today, in a letter to the unions and employees, AA Senior VP Jeff Brundage wrote that if AA and the unions are unable to reach consensual agreements, AA will file a Section 1113 motion next week, requesting Court approval to reject the current collective bargaining agreements. Brundage went on to say, that there is still time for the unions and AA to work cooperatively to reach an agreement.
Once AA files its Section 1113 motion with the court, a hearing will be scheduled on an expedited basis, (as early as 14 days from the date of filing). The parties can agree to a later date or the court can grant an extension to the parties to permit negotiations to continue.
In a TWU press release, International President James C. Little said, “We have always been prepared to fight for our members — either by reaching an agreement or going to court. We are prepared for either eventuality. While we would prefer a consensual deal with AMR, our lawyers also are preparing to defend our members and their families before the judge.”
Despite the Brundage letter, the difficult work of trying to reach a consensual agreement for our members continues.
Read the letter here
American Eagle Update
American Eagle staff met with the TWU Negotiating Committees’ this morning and explained their document data system. Much of the material available there is highly confidential and cannot be shared outside of these bankruptcy negotiations. If specific information is approved for disclosure, it will be shared with the members.
The Maintenance and Related and the Fleet groups met with the company this afternoon to review their data and term sheets provided late yesterday. The term sheets for all work groups are posted on the TWU web site.
The company wants TWU work groups to contribute almost $12 million in annual cost reductions for their restructuring plan. The Negotiating Committees will begin the tremendously hard work of researching and analyzing enormous amounts of financial data and cost outs.