This letter concerns a final distribution of equity from the TWU AE Equity Distribution 402(b) Trust to American Eagle/Envoy employees represented by TWU.

As part of the Eagle Equity Distribution Plan, TWU set aside 5% of the shares in a reserve account (the TWU AE Equity Distribution 402(b) Trust) as assets available to be used to correct any errors, to satisfy any appeals that were resolved in favor of distribution, and to make distributions to employees whose right to participate in the distribution was somehow contingent (such as those who had been discharged but were awaiting the outcome of a grievance or arbitration). As a result of corrections, appeals and resolution of grievances, there were distributions from the reserve account 402(b) Trust. Since there was still equity held in the Trust, the Trust periodically received cash dividends. The time for any requests for corrections or appeals has passed, as has any period for resolution of grievances. TWU has determined that it is now appropriate and prudent to distribute the remaining assets in the 402(b) Trust. At present there are 8,579 shares in the Trust with an approximate value of $365,000. There is also about $12,000 in cash from dividends. Continue reading →

Tim Hanson won the Board Member At Large election with 28.03% of the votes cast.

The official results can be viewed here.

In November, we provided you information about the changes the US Department of Transportation (DOT) made to the federal drug testing requirements. As you recall, workers already subject to DOT drug tests will now be screened for four additional drugs, specifically, semi-synthetic opioids. That change took effect January 1, 2018. More information is available here.

In our effort to keep you informed of updates relating to this DOT change, we’re alerting you to two documents DOT produced intended to help workers navigate the drug testing changes.

1. The first document is an Employee Notice, intended to provide some real-world interpretation of how the new drug testing process will occur. You can access that document here.
2. As you recall, under the revised DOT regulation, before a MRO reports information about your prescription drugs to DOT or employer, the MRO may give you 5 business days to ask your doctor to call the MRO and determine if the medication can be changed to one that does not pose a significant safety risk.

The second document is official DOT guidance that describes scenarios in which the MRO can report information about your legally prescribed medication to a third party (employer, etc) before those 5 business days have passed. The second DOT document is here.

The Transport Workers Union of America Retains Ridge Global to Assess the Safety and Security Risks of Having U.S. Passenger Aircraft Repaired and Maintained on Foreign Soil

First U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Says Airline Safety Must Remain a Priority 15 Years After Creation of DHS

The Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) today announced it has retained the services of Ridge Global, the firm founded by the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, to evaluate and assess critical repair and maintenance work performed on U.S. passenger aircraft. Specifically, the TWU has asked Sec. Ridge to examine whether the ‘off-shoring’ of such repair and maintenance to aircraft to foreign countries is putting the American flying public in danger.

“Mechanics and other ground workers employed at U.S. airlines have serious concerns that commercial airlines are putting profits ahead of passenger security and safety,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said. “That’s why we have asked Sec. Ridge and Ridge Global to determine if the practice of off-shoring aircraft repairs and maintenance to foreign countries is a catastrophe waiting to happen, as we fear. Mechanics and other ground workers employed at U.S. airlines take great pride in making the U.S. air transportation system the safest and most reliable in the world. We also have a very personal stake in doing things right. Our families fly on the planes we fix.”   Continue reading →

The newly elected leadership of TWU is pleased to announce that the four-year-long litigation regarding the legal validity of the Equity Distribution Plan adopted by TWU in 2013 has at last come to an end, because plaintiffs have not filed timely papers in the Supreme Court that would have been required to ask it to review the decision of the lower courts dismissing the Demetris case.

What this means is that the long delay in making a distribution from the TWU Reserve Fund to the beneficiaries of the TWU Equity Distribution Plan is coming to an end, and that TWU will now be able to arrange for a distribution of the monies derived from the American Airlines shares that have been held in the TWU Reserve Fund pending the conclusion of the litigation.

As the difficult preparations to distribute the proceeds from the original AA shares are being made, there are a number of things that you should keep in mind: Continue reading →