Day two of the AFS Negotiations

Day Two Of The AFS Negotiations

On day two of negotiations, the company gave the union their non-economic proposal, and the IAM negotiating team returned a compressive counter-proposal.

Negotiations resumed this morning at 9:00 A.M. in Troy. The company presented the union with their non-economic proposal, which is available below.  At the presentation, the company explained their views and reasons for their proposals.

The IAM team spent much of the day looking at each proposal, and the real impact they would have on the members on the shop floor. We put all proposals into a tracking system so we could quickly see where each proposal stood.

At 3 PM we returned with a comprehensive counter to the proposals currently on the table. Obviously we immediately noted several trouble spots, such as the overtime and FMLA proposals. We informed the company of the problems inherent in these proposals.

Your negotiating team certainly feels the overtime proposal from AFS is ill-advised. While the overtime allocation system in article eleven can be improved, we feel the basic fairness of the system is important.

Under the discussion of the suggested FMLA deletions, the company argued that this is law, and they follow the law, and that’s all that’s needed. Chief Spokesman Santos pointed out that laws can be wiped out with the stroke of a pen, and our FMLA rights under the contract are stronger than the law, and we certainly don’t plan to give them up, whether the law changes or not.  

The company will return with counter-proposals in the morning.

Also, the company proposed deletion of Appendix C, which isn’t doing away with the Machinists Custom Choice Program, but rather keeping the EBS Representatives from having the right to come and speak to you at the worksite. We feel there have been no problems with this process, and we think this is an important benefit for you the members, and shouldn’t be changed.

This is just the beginning of a long process. Your negotiating team says together: WE WILL fight aggressively to protect our rights under this contract.

We want to thank everyone in the shop for your strong support. We hope you like the new website and the capabilities it gives both you and your negotiating team for better communications. Remember you can sign up to receive updates both via email and by web-enabled cell phone.