In mediation news from America this week pilots for the American based Spirit Airlines have made a request for the intervention of a mediation organization to help broker an amendment to the pilots’ collective bargaining agreement.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have been in contact with the National Mediation Board to try and break the deadlock between pilots and management at the airline which has been going on for nearly 2 years.

The chair of the Spirit element of ALPA, Captain Stuart Morrison as said “Direct negotiations have clearly stalled with Spirit management unwilling to come to the bargaining table with an economic proposal. Therefore, we feel that the only way we can move forward in our negotiations is to bring a third-party mediator into the room,” as he tries to reach a position where his members are not losing out each and every time they fly.

The discussions began in 2015 and have been going on ever since with Spirit arguing that they are a budget airline, and understandably the pilots suggesting there should be no budget pilots.

Whether you are an employee about to start talks regarding changes to your employment contract or an employer setting out to change terms and conditions you can contact Ed Johnson at Northwest Mediation to discuss using mediation to achieve a mutually acceptable agreement by email ed.johnson@northwewstmediation.co.uk or via the website at northwestmediation.co.uk