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November 13, 2003 The negotiations conducted during the November meeting in MSP, were constructive and progress is evident. During these meetings Articles 11 and 13 were discussed, with some progress made on each. These articles were particularly timely in light of the company’s recent layoffs and the contracting out of maintenance. While progress on the language and specific intentions of each provision has not been completed, work on both of the articles is moving forward. On Wednesday, the AMFA negotiating committee tabled Article 9, as it was evident that no progress would be achieved. Remaining issues in Article 9 center on Seniority, in both classification and longevity. These matters are particularly important, when one considers layoffs, contract maintenance, and the impact it has had on our membership, as they are often required to relocate to remain employed with Mesaba. It has become evident during the working of the existing contract over the past few years that definitions of terms normally understood by all, must be defined. All parties have agreed to the language as it relates to terms such as furlough, displaced, layoff, position, and location. These terms, that to most of us seem to be self-explanatory, don’t always work that way as it relates to contracts. On Wednesday evening Mr. Delle-Femine, National Director of AMFA, arrived in MSP. Later that evening the entire AMFA negotiating team took a tour of the new Mesaba hangar and met with the employees for a question and answer session held in the lunchroom. There were approximately 20 members of the Mesaba maintenance team there and they seemed pleased to be able to meet the negotiating team. Many had concerns about the status of our talks and any insight we might have had as it related to the Company’s plans. The morning of November 13th we presented the company with our proposal for Article 11. We also discussed the possibility of December’s talks taking place in MEM, instead of always being conducted in MSP. Mr. Roger Hrdina and the Company’s attorney, Mrs. Cynthia Surrisi, were quick to point out that with pilot negotiations running right up to the line, they don’t believe they can be out of MSP during this time. The negotiations for December will be conducted again in MSP. The late morning session also included a visit from Mr. John Spanjers and Mr. Scott Bussell. They stopped to meet the negotiating members and to discuss the current positions of the company, and the pilots during their current on-going talks. Both these gentlemen were very up front and open and were willing to provide answers to any question they could.
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