A PROTEST FOR OVERTIME PAY, ARTICLES 6 & 7

Members, 
Our contract was ratified on January 8, 2024. 
We were never given a proper structure of implementation by Communication Workers of America or American Airlines. Since ratification, updates have been far and few between, with slow rollouts and silence on most questions from our Bargaining Team, who could be useful in guiding us through this process.

We have eagerly waited, stretching our patience with anxiousness because we know what is ahead of us, as last year’s summer was nothing short of an internal collapse. Our representation said it wasn’t good to show a lack of faith in the union during negotiations. Meanwhile, in various stations, jet bridges were registering 120 degrees on average, for consecutive months, leaving both employees and passengers fainting due to a lack of cool air circulation in our airports, and contaminated water sources that the Company is obligated to provide (see Article 30, lines 2 & 3). There was a lack of awareness on behalf of local unions about the overheated working conditions we were in, resources were limited, if not available, and remedies were few in combating the Company’s obligation to provide a safe work environment for its employees. Company leadership, including station leaders, appeared dumbfounded and baffled when these conditions were brought to them by members during last summer’s State of the Airlines address.

We are, as it appears, on our own.

As we look upon this summer travel season, the Company has added over 10,000 flights to its summer schedule, with an uptick of 6% in more passengers traveling this summer. Not to mention, global reportings about the Company’s profitability, wayward decisions about products and the brand itself, and the contentious negotiations between the Flight Attendants and the Company, who is unwilling to reconsider their stance on what is being asked of them. While they may not hold the same power as the pilots, who, as you remember, threw our operations into amuck on a calculated whim last year during their negotiations, they are great at strategizing and executing their mission as one. That will always leave the PASSENGER SERVICE WORKGROUP to salvage the rubble that our top heavy components leverage.

OUR RIGHTS AND CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS MUST BE ASSERTED AND ENFORCED.

If no one holds either side accountable on one issue, what more will they test our boundaries with?  We are one voice away from another summer of abuse of our labor.

The Passenger Service Workgroup will hold both CWA and the Company accountable in all areas. We are in the early stages of our summer season, which coincides with the seasons' natural course. We are in spring, which means stormy weather in various places across the country. We are already experiencing daily calls for volunteers on the overtime list, which are not handled properly because staffing seems to carry a disregard and irrelevance to our contract, which inevitably turns into mandatory overtime. With our hubs seasonally affected by these storms, it throws our whole operations into disarray, and we know to expect overtime.

The Company appears to have a lack of planning around inclement weather, whether intentional or not, it leaves us with an overwhelming responsibility and grit that isn't asked or demanded of other workgroups. We negotiated measures that the Company agreed to; OVERTIME BYPASS and DOUBLE TIME PAY for SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT CONSECUTIVE DAYS, to make up the difference in uncontrollable, and at times, poor planning of these circumstances. With an overstuffed schedule, a lack of front line support, an overplayed hand at projected revenue, and public burnout, Travel Notices are not enough, nor sufficient, as passengers connect into these hubs, and are stranded until the next available flight, which for many has been several days later. We are left subjected to the insufficiencies or lack of alternatives to support the customers, which makes the bane of mandatory overtime unnecessarily stressful, and more reason to push for our contractual agreement.

We demand an immediate payout to our contractual agreement in articles 6 and 7, OVERTIME, CUSTOMER SERVICE, and OVERTIME, RESERVATIONS, respectfully. 

Please join us in a companywide petition against American Airlines and Communication Workers of America for stalling on ratified implementations in our CONTRACTUAL OVERTIME AGREEMENT.

Signed, a Workgroup who will not be taken advantage of, nor disregarded by either side.