From the Desk of the President

American Airlines Update

Last month, the CWA/IBT Association leadership met in Washington, DC.  I attended the meeting at the Teamsters headquarters with Tom Gunning, Director of the CWA Passenger Service Airline Division, and Kim Barbero President of IBT Local 104 at Teamsters Headquarters.

The meeting was productive and covered several important topics, including single-agent boarding, open time, staffing levels, and the need to maintain unity between CWA and IBT. The discussion focused on current workplace issues and ways to strengthen our Association.

Updates from the Second Quarterly Meeting and JFK

The Second Quarterly meeting was held in JFK and offered by ZOOM. We continue to press the Company for clarification regarding its policies related to New York's Healthy Terminals Act, a state law that went into effect January 1, 2026, establishes wage, benefit, and paid leave standards for airport workers at JFK and LaGuardia airports. We are still awaiting information from Labor regarding the impact that this will have on both Mainline and Envoy employees working at JFK and LaGuardia.

Another topic discussed was New York's "Sit Act." At this time, the legislation remains a bill pending before the New York State Senate and Assembly. Until it becomes law, we have no basis to require Labor to apply this within the workplace. 

CWA Convention Update

Last week, CWA leadership gathered for the bi-annual CWA Presidents meeting and Legislative/Political Conference in Washington, DC. As this was my first National gathering, one of my most significant takeaways was the importance of unity among our union members. 

During our visit to Capitol Hill, we met with elected officials to discuss issues affecting union workers and to advocate for legislation that would benefit our members and their families. 

These are some of the issues we discussed:

  • No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing H.R. 995
  • Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act H.R.4849
  • No Tax on Overtime for All Workers Act H.R. 5475
  • The overhaul of Labor Laws, specifically the Railway Labor Act written in the early 1900’s. These are the laws that pertain directly to those of us working in the airline industry.

Envoy Update:

Envoy bargaining sessions were held on May 1 and May 14. The Company declined to meet in person, so both sessions were conducted via teleconference.

There was progress made on Article 8, and a tentative agreement was reached regarding seniority. Articles 2, 16, 19, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 32 were exchanged between the parties; however, no significant headway was made on those articles.

The next bargaining session is scheduled for June 4–5 in Dallas. 

More info at https://envoyagents.org  

Piedmont Update:

Mediation update: TAs on articles 11, 12, 14; Article 13 (compensation) remains at impasse.

Next mediation meeting June 11th - 12th.

Joshua Taborn is the new Piedmont Mobilizer”, will run biweekly Thursday calls with Local Presidents and Staff.

More info at https://piedmontagent.org/

CWA updates:

The CWA is planning to offer a Passenger Service training program focused on the Union and the CBAs covering Mainline, Piedmont, and Envoy employees.

This training will be made available to Local members, and CWA National will reimburse any lost time incurred by participants who attend the training.

At this time, we have limited information regarding the program, including training dates, topics to be covered, and the length of the training. We will share additional details as soon as they become available.

Local 1171 updates:

Gina, Mahlon, Jane, and I are making every effort to visit all locations represented by CWA Local 1171. This month, we will be visiting Newark, LaGuardia, and Buffalo.

We look forward to meeting with members at these stations and visiting the rest of our locations in the coming months. Please continue to visit the CWA Local 1171 website for the latest updates and information at https://cwa1171.com 

In Unity,
Ed