August 23, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Local 563,

When the concessionary contracts of 2003 came into effect, American Airlines senior management simultaneously announced that it had hired Overland Group, a “labor relations marriage counselor” to help them repair the damage that had been done to its relationships with the Unions on the property. Pursuant to this, American rolled out a series of activities and programs that collectively became known to all of us as “active employee engagement,”

When these activities and programs began to appear in 2004, the Executive Board of Local 563 deliberated over the motives that led to their creation, and whether American Airlines senior management was sincere in its claim that it was remaking the company into one that genuinely valued and respected its “fellow employees.”

The Board reached two conclusions about the motives that were driving “active employee engagement.” First, it was, and is, a key component of “Pull Together, Win Together,” the third facet of the “Turn Around Plan.” The essential fact underlying this conclusion is that active engagement isn’t just a goal that senior management aspires to because it is the right thing to do, or prudent business practice; it is, as well, a yardstick by which their performance is measured for purposes of compensation. Second, it was clear to us that American’s motives were really about consolidating, furthering, and perpetuating the gains it had extracted in the concessionary agreements, and that their sincerity in remaking the company would only go as far as was needed to lull us into a false sense of optimism about the future, and getting us to identify our interests with theirs, to the end that they could freely do as they pleased. It gives us no great satisfaction to see that subsequent events have proven us right.

As a result of reaching these conclusions we took the position that the only way the company could demonstrate to us that all of their activities weren’t really a case of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss” would be for them to articulate and guarantee the rewards and gains that would follow FOR us for the effort they were asking FROM us BEFORE we agreed to participate, and recommend that you do likewise. This position became the basis for the policy that the Executive Board of this Local adopted in 2005 and has categorically pursued ever since:

We refuse to participate in any company initiative, program, activity, function, or campaign, conceived and designed to draw upon our knowledge, experience, abilities, or insights, for the purpose of assisting American Airlines in running a more efficient and profitable operation, unless and until they offer tangible incentives, beforehand, in exchange for that participation, and we will do everything that is legally, ethically, and morally within our power to have our Membership joined solidly with us in this refusal.

Since adopting this policy, the leadership of this Local has steadfastly refused to engage in all company initiatives much to the consternation of not only Management, but also of the TWU leadership. As we have stated to anyone who has expressed frustration with us because of this, we do not consider it to be our duty as Representatives of our Local membership to always and ever say NO to this company, as this is as irresponsible and counterproductive as always saying YES. Sometimes NO is the right answer, sometimes YES is, and sometimes the proper response is YES, BUT …

The Executive Board of Local 563, in our role as employees of American Airlines, wants this Company to survive, thrive, and grow, so of course we want to say YES to efforts meant to bring that about; BUT, as your elected Representatives, we also want the same for you. We do not want to exchange our cooperation or yours for false promises or assurances of future gains that never come to fruition. Until such time as we can, with clear consciences say YES, BUT, we will persist in our policy, based on our sacred obligation to you to say NO when we believe that saying YES has no clearly identifiable and tangible benefit.

In the coming months you will be hearing more regarding these matters, but at least now you know where your Executive Board stands on them, and why.

Respectfully,

The Executive Board of TWU Local 563