

The expiration date of the CBA is June 05, 2011.

See the T-6 Contacts page to see the
results of the 2006 Elections.
http://www.defenselink.mil/Contracts/Contract.aspx?ContractID=3345
September 25, 2006
Sikorsky
Support Services, Inc., Pensacola, Fla., is being awarded a $119,169,702
modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-priced, cost-reimbursable
indefinite-delivery requirements contract (N00019-06-D-0017) to exercise an
option for contractor logistics support services for the T-34, T-44, and T-6
aircraft. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus
Christi, Texas (40.42 percent); NAS Whiting Field, Fla. (39.37 percent); NAS
Pensacola, Fla. (12.07 percent); NAS Lemoore, Calif. (1.84 percent); NAS
Oceana, Va. (1.57 percent); Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, Calif. (.79
percent); Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md.
(.79 percent); Aviation Technical Test Center , Fort Rucker, Ala. (.79
percent); Naval Air Facility, El Centro, Calif. (.52 percent); Pope Air
Force Base, Fayetteville, N.C. (.52 percent); NAS Jacksonville, Fla. (.52
percent); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Edwards Air
Force Base, Calif. (.26 percent); NASA Cleveland, Ohio (.26 percent); and
Fort Eustis, Va. (.26 percent), and is expected to be completed in September
2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal
year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting
activity.

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
I want to inform you that contact has been made with the
Senior Human Resource Manager of Sikorsky Services, Ms. Erica Lapish, and
plans are being drafted to have a date and time to meet and confer on the
proposal of a bridge agreement.
As most of you are aware, your current CBA is a document
that was signed by your elected Union representatives and your current
employer, L-3 Communications Vertex, LLC. After June 30, 2006, you will no
longer be employed by this Company and therefore, the CBA will no longer be
binding upon the Company.
Our intent and interest, as many have contacted me in
regards to, is to bridge the current agreement in its entirety, including
pay and benefits, for the remaining duration of the Collective Bargaining
Agreement.
For the T-6 Bargaining Unit at NAS Pensacola, that would
be until February 21, 2007. For the T-34 Bargaining Unit at NAS Whiting
Field, that would be until May 25, 2008.
However, I would remind everyone that the Number One
priority at this time is the re-employment of 100% of the hourly bargaining
unit employees in their current positions. L-3 is cooperating fully in the
process and I ask that everyone continue to do their job in a safe and
efficient manner up to the last day of the L-3 tenure.
It is true, that even if Sikorsky Support Services did not
recognize the Union (which they are required to do once 51% of the current
bargaining unit is hired) or bridge and honor the current ratified
collective bargaining agreement; by the Service Contract Act, the wages and
equivalent in fringe benefits must be paid to the employees working in those
classifications which the labor agreement stipulates those wages and fringe
benefits to be, as established through arm-length’s negotiations, for a
period of twelve (12) calendar months. After that period, the Area Wage
Determination will take precedence for the establishment of the wages and
benefits.
In 1999, Local Lodge 2777’s TH-57 Bargaining Unit
foolishly agreed to work without a CBA when over twenty-four of their fellow
brothers and sisters were not picked up by the successor contractor. They
failed to demonstrate the resolve to hold the successor contractor to terms
of fairness and justice. I myself, was one of those not picked up by the
successor contractor and was never told why. It was only after 26 days of
unemployment was I offered a job at one-third of the wages I was making only
one month earlier. The only reason I was offered a job on the contract was
due only to the bridge agreement and preferential hire list, our then
elected Business Representative, was able to negotiate. It wasn’t his fault
that I was not continued in employment with the successor contractor, but
only due to the lack of backbone and tenacity of my fellow co-workers. The
majority was too concerned with their own employment status that they could
not see the value of what they were throwing away through their own selfish
actions. And during the successive negotiations, we all paid dearly!
That is why I approach contract turnovers with a fervor. I
know that you will too.
Today, June 10, 2006, the T-34/44 Bargaining Unit in
Corpus Christie, Texas, is taking their pre-sanction strike vote. I am sure
they will have the resolve to ensure their contract is bridged with full
100% benefits in language and economics.
Knowing that Local Lodge 2777 has learned their lesson
from the example of the TH-57 contract in 1999, I am planning a Bargaining
Unit meeting for the T-34’s in Milton and a meeting for the T-6’s in
Pensacola for June 24, 2006. The exact time and location will
be posted as arrangements are finalized and posted on your Union bulletin
boards and your Local Lodge web site.
If a bridge agreement has been negotiated at that time,
please be prepared to have the terms and conditions of such agreement
presented to you for your consideration and vote. If the terms and
conditions are not changed from the current ratified agreement, there will
be no vote as you have already voted on those terms and conditions.
However, if there is no bridge agreement settled by
June 24, 2006, just as the T-34/44 Bargaining Unit in Corpus Christie,
Texas, is demonstrating their resolve today by voting for a pre-sanctioned
strike vote, you will be given that same opportunity at the June 24,
2006, meeting.