April 16, 2013

Dear SWA Members:

The signs are becoming clearer that we have entered a new era, an era in which Southwest Airline’s (SWA) actions reflect genuine hostility toward your job security.

Nothing could be clearer in our CBA than the mandated creation of a fourth line of heavy maintenance once the fleet size reaches 621 aircraft. Indeed, the Company trumpeted the message in every break room during the seniority integration process that we should support the AirTran acquisition because it would result in the implementation of the fourth line.

Once the merger was completed and the fleet size reached and exceeded the established number, Southwest reneged on its commitments. A single operating certificate (SOC) was not enough, the Company complained. Instead, the Company took the position that the fourth line must be deferred until every plane was painted in SWA colors – an action it chose to delay until July 2013. And as SWA vigorously sought to push the implementation date back, it was also proposing to strip the fourth line from our contract via the collective bargaining process.

AMFA had no choice but to fight SWA’s deceit in arbitration, resulting in a decision in which the arbitrator held that the Company violated the CBA by not implementing the fourth line as of the SOC date of March 1, 2012. The question remains: How does the Company propose to compensate its employees for lost economic opportunity for which they had bargained? This is a battle we continue to fight through the arbitration process.

More recently, SWA opened another front in the assault against our job security. By letter dated March 28, 2013, SWA Director of Employee Resources, George Tompkins, notified AMFA that it intends to completely shut down maintenance operations in Philadelphia (PHL) and Sacramento (SMF) and outsource our work. Other stations on the Company’s short-term hit list include Kansas City (MCI) and St. Louis (STL).

The Company’s letter uses the abstract term "manpower" when referencing our fellow mechanics and fails to acknowledge the fact that many lives will be disrupted – homes sold in down markets, families separated, spouses’ careers adversely affected, children forced to abandon their familiar friends and schools, etc. As the Company forces these employees into other stations or lays off those that cannot relocate, the ripple effect will result in mechanics being pushed down and possibly displaced throughout the system.

The Company’s scheduled base closures represent the thin edge of the wedge. Worse still, these actions reflect a growing willingness to sharp shoot our CBA in an opportunistic effort to increase outsourcing and undercut our job security. Indeed, the Company argues that it is entitled to implement a "realignment," thus forcing these mechanics to other stations whereas the CBA expressly restricts realignment to shifts within an active maintenance base.

SWA mechanics have earned the right to expect that their hard work and dedication will be rewarded, and not diminished, in this time of corporate growth and industry stabilization – a time when SWA executives continue to line their pockets with double-digit salary increases.

Every time the Company attempts to chip away at your job security, we intend to push back. We have advised the Company that the base closures are in violation of the contract. Grievances have been filed and we are determined to take this fight to arbitration and beyond.

We call on our members to be vigilant and united. Enforce your contract. Support your contract negotiators. Demand that SWA respect the investment you have made in this Company.

Sincerely,

Louie Key

National Director

Pdf File Here

SAFETY IN THE AIR BEGINS WITH QUALITY MAINTENANCE ON THE GROUND