AMFA – Southwest Airlines AMT Contract

Negotiations Update

Update #46 October 7, 2016

The Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the AMFA Membership at Southwest Airlines.

This report is the only official authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Monday afternoon, October 3, 2016. This short session

was focused on an off-the-record discussion surrounding how our scope language will apply as the

Company transitions into the MAX maintenance program. Off-the-record discussions in bargaining

are in no way secretive, but rather are designed to facilitate open discussion by having each side put

their pens down and keyboards away so that the official record of bargaining is not muddied by

conceptual discussions. Article 2, Scope is the most important article of our Collective Bargaining

Agreement, and we must ensure we protect our work. We also understand that we may need to make

minor modifications to Article 2, Scope to address the new MAX maintenance program.

Regardless of Company propaganda, the parties are not even remotely close to a position that would

allow your Committee to consider bringing anything out for a vote of the membership. Please do not

buy-in to the false accusations that the Negotiation Committee does not have your best interests in

mind. This Committee will not leave behind the Maintenance Controllers or the Maintenance Trainers,

with their fate to be determined at another date while we move forward with a select portion of the

members covered by this Collective Bargaining Agreement. We will not risk safety and give back the

entire Inspection Backfill language that we were forced to arbitrate three times to finally get the

Company to honor. We will not allow a group of supervisors and managers the right to determine if

they feel the need to send us on a field service – probably only when contract maintenance is not

available. We will not agree to any language that does not afford you the quality of life you enjoy by

day trading, and we will not agree to language that will limit your earnings potential with the Company

by forcing you off the clock without pay on your regular shift.

We will also not bring a package out for a vote that does not address some of the major items we

brought to these negotiations, including compensation enhancements, 401(k) enhancements, and a cap

on our insurance premiums so that the wage enhancements we do achieve are not lost by raising

insurance costs. There are even more items than these that will need to be agreed upon before we can

present a responsible agreement to the membership for a vote – including a compensation package to

make you whole for the many years you have worked without a raise.

Please remember that we are in mediation and are proceeding with a mediator who establishes the rules

of our sessions. The mediator has established a guideline restricting observers, and she recently

clarified that this rule also applies to potential sessions where she is not present. As always, do not

hesitate to contact your representative if you have any questions.

The next scheduled sessions, which will include the mediator, are November 1–3, 2016; November 29,

2016; and December 6-8, 2016. All of these sessions are scheduled to occur in Dallas, TX.

Sincerely,

Your Negotiating Committee

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