May 16, 2024

Participants for AMFA
Jason Salazar – Airline Representative
Ernest Harris – Member at Large
Lucas Middlebrook – Legal Counsel
Peter Manikowski – Economist

Participants for Spirit Airlines
Robert Jones – Vice President, Labor Relations
Jackson Fowler – Corporate Counsel – Labor Relations
Barney Whaley – Regional Director Maintenance
Joe Harmon– Sr. Manager, Maintenance
Tabitha Rybacki – Paralegal, Labor Relations

The AMFA-Spirit Negotiating Committee (the “Committee”) is providing this update to the Membership at Spirit Airlines (Spirit). This is the only officially authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee.

The parties met in Fort Lauderdale for a three-day mediated session the week of May 7 - May 9. This was the first session in mediation under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board (NMB). For those Members who might not be familiar with the NMB process, the NMB sends a Mediator to assist the parties in negotiation. The Mediator sets the time, place, and agenda of negotiation sessions. At the same time, the Mediator has no authority to compel either party to make or accept any proposal.

This session began with an introduction by the Mediator, opening statements by each party, a discussion of the open articles, and each party meeting separately with the Mediator. With the assistance of the Mediator, the parties identified three articles with which to focus during the first mediated bargaining session. The articles identified to work on were Article 8 – Training, Article 19 – Safety & Health, and Article 23 – Grievance Procedure. It was determined that AMFA owed responses on Article 19 – Safety & Health and Article 23 – Grievance Procedure, while the Company owed a response on Article 8 – Training. AMFA passed a counterproposal on Article 19 – Safety and Health on the afternoon of Day 1 while the Company continued to work internally on its response to Article 8 – Training.

The Company, at the outset of Day 2, passed its counterproposal on Article 8 – Training. The only remaining open item in this article focused on travel for training away from an employee’s station as well as how expenses would be administered. The Company continued to propose Company Policy, while AMFA maintains the position that a per diem process is more advantageous to both our members and the Company. AMFA presented its counterproposal on Article 23 – Grievance Procedure. The open item in Article 23 was how notification would be provided to the Union in advance of a fact-finding meeting. The parties, with the assistance of the mediator, engaged in productive dialogue (both on and off the record) to exchange ideas on how to reach a middle ground on both articles.

The Company, at the beginning of Day 3, returned counterproposals to Article 19 – Safety and Health and Article 23 – Grievance Procedure. The remaining open issue in Article 19 related to safety-related notifications and how the Union would be included in any NTSB investigation following a reportable accident. The Company’s counters, assisted by the Mediator, brought the parties close to a tentative agreement (TA) on both articles. AMFA reviewed the counterproposal internally, and following minor tweaks to the language proposed by the Company, the parties were able to reach TA on both Article 19 – Safety & Health and Article 23 – Grievance Procedure. The parties did not reach TA on Article 8 – Training, but the Mediator guided the parties in an off-the-record discussion, which helped the parties understand the remaining issues associated with travel and expenses when attending training away from your station. We hope to reach a resolution on that issue soon.

Day 3 concluded with the Mediator setting future bargaining dates for July and August and assisting the parties in identifying which articles would be addressed at the next (July) session. The next mediated negotiation session is scheduled for July 15-17, 2024, in either Fort Lauderdale or Tampa; the Mediator will determine the location.

The Mediator does not permit observers in bargaining sessions with the Company in the joint meeting room. However, if you would like to be an observer in AMFA’s caucus room in future negotiation sessions, please communicate with your ALR, Jason Salazar.

Remember – stay engaged, remain informed, and continue to support the Negotiating Committee as that support increases the ability to bargain a CBA your hard work deserves.

Fraternally,
AMFA-Spirit Negotiating Committee