State of the Unions
ALPA Just Got Bigger
- The Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) has voted to join the Air Line Pilots Association, in a significant move that makes the world’s largest pilots union even bigger. The roughly 4,500 members of ACPA voted 84 percent in favor of joining the larger union. ALPA must ratify the agreement in a May 17 meeting, and then collective bargaining rights for pilots at Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary Rouge will transfer to the union.
- Southwest notched a labor achievement and setback last week. The Dallas-based carrier’s 12 meteorologists represented by the Transport Workers Union ratified a new five-year accord last week; the deal is important given the role severe weather had on the airline’s December holiday meltdown. The same week, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association began a strike authorization vote that will continue through May 31. The vote, while a step towards a strike, is considered more of a negotiating tactic than an actual declaration of labor action.
- And speaking of strike authorizations, pilots at American represented by the Allied Pilots Association voted in favor of such an authorization last week. Again, the approval is seen more of a negotiating tool in the APA’s on-going contract talks with the airline. After pilots at Delta authorized a strike last fall, ALPA and the airline reached an agreement in principal within several weeks.