Collective Bargaining Agreement Fifth to be Ratified by Aviation Teamsters This Year
Material Specialists at Southwest Airlines have ratified their most recent collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters. The agreement covers more than 500 workers who provide supplies and other support services to the fleet maintenance team.
“Our union is ratifying industry-leading collective bargaining agreements at a break-neck speed, and we have no intention of slowing down,” said Joe Ferreira, Teamsters Airline Division Director. “For any of the nonunion workers at a major carrier, this is the difference a union contract makes. Don’t ever think you can’t get the same job security, protections, and other on-the-job improvements that nearly everyone else in your industry is getting.”
The contract at Southwest Airlines is the fifth collective bargaining agreement the Teamsters Airline Division has ratified this year, following two victories at Allegiant Air and one each at NetJets and United Airlines. The three-year extension agreement includes a 10 percent wage increase effective immediately, a cap on rate increases for health care costs, and mandatory four percent company-funded 401(k) contributions with an additional matching component.
“This extension agreement puts material specialists at Southwest Airlines – the fourth-largest passenger carrier in the U.S. and the largest low-cost carrier by far – four percent ahead of their peers in the industry in terms of wages,” said Angel Cantu, Teamsters Airline Division Representative and Southwest Airlines Material Specialists Chief Negotiator. “I’d like to thank the bargaining committee, who were so diligent in their work on this contract that we were able to get it ratified six months before the amenable date.”
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org to learn more and follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
