AMFA/Southwest Airlines Contract FMT Negotiations Update #12

The Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the AMFA Membership at Southwest Airlines. This report is the only official authorized written source of negotiating communications by the Committee.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, October 14 to resume Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiations. The Committee crafted counter proposals in response to the seven (7) articles passed by the Company at our last session. We began by presenting a counter offer for Article 2: Scope where we added job protection language. We then presented Article 4: Classification in which we added a Lead Classification and broke down the FMT category into four (4) groups: general, HVAC, electrical, and locksmith.

We continued by presenting our counter offers for Article 5: Hours of Service, Article 6: Overtime and Holidays, Article 8: Field Service, Article 9: Seniority, and Article 10: Filling of Vacancies. The language we proposed in these articles is similar to existing language contained in the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and Related Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), yet is tailored to specifically apply to the FMT group. This language was employed in the event the FMT group grows to a point where certain guidelines will need to be followed (ie: a second shift, schedule weekend coverage, larger crews).

After we presented our seven (7) counter-offers, the Company notified us that they would require the afternoon to work with our presented offers, and they would be ready on our next scheduled session.. Although our time with the Company was minimal, we worked extensively on language as a Committee prior to this session to ensure the FMT group will be working under a CBA with provisions that have been exercised and understood for many years. Our next scheduled negotiation session is November 3 and 4, 2014.

Sincerely,

Your Negotiating Committee

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