The Day One Plan

​We have received many questions about the immediate plan once we vote in the IAM as our certified collective bargaining agent and what will we gain by having legal union representation.
 
Once we vote the IAM in, the first order of business would be to officially contact Republic Airways management representatives and schedule an meeting. At this meeting, which will be attended by IAM representatives and Republic Airways AMT representatives, we will present the company with concrete proposals for agreement that would accomplish the following:

1. Allow IAM representatives access to the property to directly communicate with Republic Airways AMTs.
2. Gain official bulletin boards in the workplace to disseminate union communications.
3. Offer furlough mitigation programs.
4. Construct a Reduction in Force agreement that would ensure that Republic Airways AMTs have full seniority rights during a reduction in force and a guaranteed right to recall from layoff.
5. Construct a grievance procedure and “just cause” to legally address employee complaints and unjust terminations.

 
The above are the immediate, very short term issues we would need to address before October 1, 2020 when the CARES Act protections expire and airlines would be free to furlough employees.
 
After we accomplish the above goals, we would then gear up for contract negotiations and build an internal representational structure. The following are components of this part of the plan:

1. Solicit contract proposals from Republic Airways AMTs and survey the workgroup to understand what exactly Republic Airways AMTs want in a contract.
2. Conduct nominations and elections for Republic Airways AMT union representatives in each location.
3. Form a contract negotiations committee of Republic Airways AMTs.
   
   1. Part of this committee would be IAM representatives, including attorneys, economists and expert contract negotiations reps.
4. Set a negotiations schedule with Republic Airways management.

 
It is important to know that under the federal law that governs labor relations in the airline industry, the Railway Labor Act, Republic management must negotiate with the union and its employee representatives in “good faith.” This means that they cannot disregard our proposals our efforts to meet and confer. Moreover, Republic Airways management has experience working with unions, and they are currently working with Teamster and TWU representatives to mitigate layoffs. We would be no different.

It’s vital that we have a legal voice at the table in the decisions about our careers in the very near term. When we are not at the table, you can be sure that we will be on the menu.
 
However, to achieve all the good things listed above, we need to first get the right to vote. To get that right, we need at least 50 percent of all Republic AMTs to sign an Election Authorization Card (a-card). We are VERY close, but we need more a-cards. More cards equals a bigger mandate and more POWER.
 
If you haven’t signed an a-card and need one, you can request one online by clicking here. We will mail an a-card out to you asap. Just sign, date and mail it in.
 
Have a GREAT weekend.