Ms. Patricia A. Friend, International President
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
501 Third Street, NW 
Washington, DC  20001-2797 

Mr. Greg Davidowitch, President
United Master Executive Council
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA 
6250 N. River Rd. Suite 4020  
Rosemont, IL 60018 

Dear Sister Friend and Brother Davidowitch: 

We are in receipt of your July 23, 2010 letter to General Vice President Roach and General Chairperson Wozniak regarding our ongoing Flight Attendant negotiations at Continental. As we are charged with the responsibility to negotiate a contract for Continental Flight Attendants, Brother Roach has requested that we respond.
 
While we are still evaluating the proposed merger between United and Continental, the IAM Flight Attendants are currently engaged in intensive negotiations with Continental Airlines to improve on what is already one of the best Flight Attendant contracts in the industry. Our goals have been directed by Continental Flight Attendants through a democratic process that includes soliciting proposals from our membership, conducting numerous bargaining priority surveys, and having a diverse cross section of our members represented on the negotiating team. 

Our bargaining priorities include: 

Pay: Enhancing all steps of the pay scale, including our current top base rate of $50.00 per hour. 

Pensions: We are working to protect our retirement benefits, including our Continental defined benefit pension plan, our back-up IAM National Pension Plan (which was approved by our members in the last round of negotiations to automatically take effect if Continental's pension plan is frozen or terminated), and our 401(k) plan.  

Flexibility, Job Security: Ensuring our members remain secure in their careers with the unrestricted ability to choose to fly as much or as little as they want. 
 
As we recently informed our membership, the pace of our negotiations has increased significantly and we have been making considerable progress on many issues. As you know, we have a legal and moral obligation to act in the best interests of our members at the bargaining table. Therefore, we cannot alter the course our members set for us at this crucial time in negotiations without membership approval. 

The IAM has worked together with your union on many important projects, and we already share our bargaining experiences with you and all members of the Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions. We are confident that the Flight Attendants at United will benefit from the standards set in our negotiations with Continental and your membership can be assured that the IAM will never take any action at the bargaining table that would adversely affect any Flight Attendant group.  

IAM-represented Flight Attendants already enjoy industry-leading compensation and scheduling flexibility that maximizes their earnings and time off, creating a better quality of life for our members. We believe that by negotiating the best Flight Attendant contract for our members it will benefit and help elevate all Flight Attendants in the industry.  

We look forward to continued cooperation on Flight Attendant matters and to continuing the good relationship between our organizations.If you need additional information,please do not hesitate to contact District 142 President Tom Higginbotham at 400 N. E. 32nd Avenue, Kansas City, MO  64116 and/or via telephone (816) 452-6646. 

 Sincerely, 
 
Tom Higginbotham                     Ernest Dominguez                    Randy Hatfield
President/Directing General      General Chairperson                General Chairperson
Chairman                                     IAH Based                                 CLE Based 
 
Brent Thompson                         Brian Wozniak                           Marcus Valentino 
General Chairperson                  General Chairperson                President LL 2339C  
EWR Based                                 IAH Based                                  CLE Based      

Morna McDonald                        Rosalie Canton                          Joey Guider 
President LL 2339G                    President LL 2339H                  President LL 2339N 
GUM Based                                 IAH Based                                  EWR Based 

Sheila Hammond                           Nick Ruiz 
Negotiating Committee Member  IAH Grievance Committee Chairperson 
IAH Based                                      IAH Based 

cc: IP Buffenbarger 
     GVP Roach