RE: May re-bid – 2021
Mr. Sangricco,
This letter is in response to meetings held on March 19th and March 23rd which involved discussion concerning the Tulsa May re-bid.
First, let me say that your accusations yesterday morning that John Coveny and I do not work with the company to resolve issues were not only offensive to me but are factually inaccurate. You only need to ask your own Directors past and present to find out the truth on situations where we have joined together to solve multiple issues.
The reason I’ve made the above statement is because in the situation before us now you have not given us an honest opportunity to work with your team to find a better path forward. How long did your team work on the destructive May bid plan you put in front of us yesterday? Did you work on it for more than three business days?
You made the statement to Local 514 VP Kendal Anderson on Friday, March 19th, 2021 in a weekly communication meeting with your team that the “Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday” day off pattern “was going to happen”. Yet in that meeting, you did not offer for us to work with your team or give our input. In yesterday’s meeting, you said multiple times that it was a proposal and you would welcome suggestions. You also made the statement that your team could meet with us but it would have to be done by Friday because the bid sheets need to go up by Monday.
So I want to try to frame this up so it’s plain and simple like me.
You came to Tulsa at the request of David Seymour.
You made the statement to the Local 514 E-board that it was not your desire to come to Tulsa but you were a good soldier and you said yes to David’s request. I believe the first week of January was your official start date or approximately 56 workdays ago.
For 55 of those days, you did not ask for our help concerning staffing levels. This is a fact that cannot be ignored. In the meeting yesterday, Wednesday, March 23, 2021, you revealed your May re-bid plan, the plan that you would be putting in place 6 days later on Monday, March 29, 2021.
I believe you mistake us as having low intelligence, or you are simply poking us in the chest to see how we will respond. Do you really think that there is enough time between yesterday and next Sunday night to get input from the floor, understand what changes could bring a positive impact, recognize the bottlenecks then put together a plan that can be seamlessly executed?
The board and I met today and we are unanimous in our position to not allow you to simply check the box and say ” we asked for the local union’s input and so, in essence, they’ve bought off on my plan”. I have personally worked hard over the past eight years with three separate E-boards and four previous Company leaders to help bring back to Tulsa a work environment that allows the membership of Local 514 the opportunity to be treated with dignity while performing first class aviation maintenance for American Airlines.
I would suggest that you spend some time on the floor to gather input from those that will be impacted. We have over 4100 members here in Tulsa, of those 2700 members have more than 20 years experience, they would welcome the opportunity to help you make the right decision. I recognize that your opinion is that we need to make some adjustments, but what I cannot understand is why you would not get the input of those that would have to carry out your plan.
In closing, I respectfully request that you and your team do not implement this destructive plan. It is my belief that you have not fulfilled the contractual language of making every reasonable effort to make Saturday and Sunday the days off for the membership that we represent.
However, if you choose on Monday, March 29, 2021 to use your 56 days of experience here in Tulsa to implement your plan, that action will require me to file an article 33B Presidential Grievance on behalf of the Tulsa base for this contractual violation.
Dale Danker
President TWU Local 514
cc:
Kevin Brickner
Jim Weel
Josh Voss
Gary Peterson
John Coveny