June 16, 2008
Volume 1, Issue 16 

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Continental and United Announce Alliance

 

Less than two months after Continental Airlines rebuffed United Airlines' merger overtures, the two airlines have announced a comprehensive global alliance.

 

The airlines issued statements indicating they developed teams to achieve significant cooperation on frequent flier programs, lounges, facility utilization, information technology and procurement.

 

The airlines' statement read, "This work was assisted by the efficiency opportunities identified and relationships developed during the parties' earlier merger discussions." Specifics of the cooperative agreement have not been released.

 

The Machinists Union has contacted both carriers demanding all details of the agreement so we can assess the impact on workers at both airlines.

 

"Alliances like this are just mergers on the installment plan," said IAM General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "Integrating programs and technology today will make it easier for the airlines to complete a merger tomorrow. The IAM will remain vigilant in our fight to block mergers that hurt employees."

Oberstar Tells DOJ to Scrutinize NWA/Delta Merger

 

"I strongly urge the Department of Justice (DOJ) to oppose the Delta/Northwest merger that has been filed with the DOJ," said Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN), the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in a June 5^th letter to the Department of Justice.

 

Oberstar's complete letter is available on the IAM website at www.goiam.org/transportation.

 

"I urge the DOJ to conduct an exhaustive review of the Delta/Northwest proposal," wrote Oberstar. "Many past mergers have resulted in financially weaker carriers."

 

General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. and members of the IAM's Transportation Merger Team met with Congressman Oberstar on June 19^th in our continuing effort to stop the Northwest/Delta merger from negatively impacting employees, passengers and the cities served by the two airlines.

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Transportation NewsWire
IAM Transportation Department
General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr.
9000 Machinists Place
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
www.goiam.org/transportation
March 6, 2007
Appeals Court Backs Rail Unions
in FMLA Case
In an important legal victory for workers covered by the Railway
Labor Act, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
recently upheld a lower court ruling that said when vacation use is a
subject of collective bargaining agreements, employers cannot
unilaterally force employees to use vacation time in conjunction with the
Family Medical Leave Act.
The ruling follows a lawsuit by a coalition of rail unions, including
the IAM and the TCU, who opposed rail carriers requiring workers to use
paid vacation time as part of leave that would otherwise be mandated by
FMLA guidelines.
"Unions have fought to secure workers vacation rights for
decades," said IAM General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "This
decision rightly puts the choice of how to use vacation time in the hands
of the workers who earned it."
"The vacation agreements are the subject of apparently hard
bargaining," the court said in its ruling. "The right to time one's
vacation...is a hard-won right of railroad workers. It would seem quite
odd indeed to say that this...can be wiped out by unilateral action on the
part of the carriers."
The court's ruling is available at www.goiam.org/transportation.