IFALPA Negotiations Seminar

Course Description & Objectives

The course is designed as an introduction and guide to Industrial Negotiation in the airline industry from a pilot's perspective. It is suitable for both newly-elected representatives with little negotiating experience, as well as more experienced representatives that wish to further develop their skills.

It is an intensive course and attendees should also expect to work in the evenings. The first two days are for instruction and on the third day the participants will be put into teams, either representing the management or the union, and will conduct a real time simulated negotiation with a strike deadline against another opposing team.

The simulation is based on extensive briefing material on the history of the company and background to the dispute, different confidential instructions are also given to both the management and union sides, which have just enough overlap to make an agreement possible. The simulation will be observed by one of the instructors who will give a critique at the conclusion of the exercise.

Many of the current leaders of Member Associations are past participants of the course, which has been running for close to twenty years, and it enjoys an excellent reputation with very positive feedback.

Course Outline

The course covers:

• Negotiations Overview
• The Role of Union Leadership
• Strategic Planning
• The role of economic and financial analysis in negotiations
• Consensus Decision Making
• Negotiations Administration
• Union leadership in negotiations
• Industrial action and IFALPA Mutual Assistance
• A financial overview of the industry

Ana McAhron-Schulz

Ms. Ana McAhron-Schulz is the Director of the Economic and Financial Analysis Department (E&FA) for the Air Line Pilots Association, International. She is responsible for all economic and financial analyses in support of ALPA’s efforts in collective bargaining, strategic planning, litigation, public relations and legislative activities, including: evaluation of corporate financial results and business plans; development of bargaining strategies and contract proposals on economic issues; economic modeling and forecasting, including the valuation of contract proposals; advice on financial matters to union members on corporate boards of directors; and industry and labor research and analysis.

Ms. McAhron-Schulz serves as a primary financial advisor for ALPA carriers regarding contract negotiations, restructuring transactions, corporate buyouts and airline bankruptcies. Ms. McAhron-Schulz has also provided expert testimony at various arbitrations and bankruptcy court hearings on behalf of the Association and its members. She and her department also provide significant support on regional and international code sharing issues to member airlines, as well as on other issues related to airline globalization.

Over the course of her career and through ALPA’s former subsidiary, the International Pilot Services Corporation, Ms. McAhron-Schulz has also served as financial advisor to the pilots of Aer Lingus, KLM, Air France, Cathay Pacific, TAP Air Portugal, SAS, South African Airways, Spanair and Sabena, among others. She is an industrial advisor to the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) and participates at various training seminars and conferences for IFALPA. She was awarded a Presidential Citation from IFALPA for her extensive work and counsel in the field of industrial relations. In February, 2013, Ms. McAhron-Schulz represented IFALPA at the International Labor Organization’s Global Dialogue Forum on Aviation.

In 2010, the US Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, appointed Ms. McAhron-Schulz to serve on the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee which was tasked to to provide information, advice and recommendations to the DOT to ensure the competitiveness of the U.S. aviation industry and its capability to address the evolving transportation needs, challenges, and opportunities of the U.S. and global economies.

Ms. McAhron-Schulz has a B.A. in International Studies and Economics and an M.B.A. from The American University in Washington, D.C. She has worked for ALPA for 32 years.

Andrew Shostack

Andrew joined the Air Line Pilots Association in 1996 as an attorney in the Representation Department where he served as the senior contract administrator in the Association’s Phoenix, Arizona, office. As a senior contract administrator Andrew served as the staff negotiator and assisted with negotiations and writing contract language. Andrew represented pilots involved in various disputes, counseled pilots on contractual, operational, medical, and insurance issues, and worked closely with the pilot group's elected leaders.

In 2006, Andrew was promoted to supervisor in the Representation Department, and in 2015 was promoted to Assistant Director. As an Assistant Director, Andrew helps oversee and coordinate the Representation Department’s work in negotiations, which includes bargaining pilot agreements, assisting negotiating committees and pilot leaders in strategizing for and managing negotiations, interacting with government mediators, and lecturing at ALPA and IFALPA negotiation seminars. Andrew also assists with administering the department’s contract enforcement efforts, organizing initiatives and FAA enforcement and medical case handling. Andrew works out of the Association’s Herndon, Virginia and Washington, DC offices.

Andrew received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Arizona. He is a cum laude graduate with his Juris Doctorate from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Law Review. He graduated with distinction from the Georgetown University Law Center’s Master’s in Law program, concentrating on labor and employment law.

David Stephens

David has served as a Senior Industrial Officer with the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) since June 2006. His primary role is to assist pilot bodies negotiate collective employment agreements with their employers.

However, pilots occasionally need personal assistance and representation in under/non-payment matters, workplace grievances, or disciplinary matters. David assists individual members achieve the best possible outcome. This includes representing members through direct dialogue with employers and in advocacy before the Australian industrial/employment tribunal.

After graduating from La Trobe University, Melbourne, in 1982 with a degree in Legal Studies, David began training as a Psychiatric Nurse. Between 1987 and 1989 he was a local union representative at the hospital he worked in. This opportunity eventually led to a full-time position as a Union Official.

His first position as an Organiser was in 1989 with the Health and Community Services Union. In 1993 David was promoted to the position of Industrial Officer and then Senior Industrial Officer in 1996. In 1999 he was elected Assistant State Secretary and then Assistant National Secretary in 2001. In addition to his industrial roles and management of the Union, he also held the communications and media portfolios until 2006 when he was appointed to his current position with the AFAP.

With three decades of experience in industrial negotiation and advocacy; having negotiated innumerable agreements in the government, non-government, and private sectors and, specifically since 2006, across all sectors of the aviation industry; David has delivered workplace organising and industrial negotiation skills training to many workplace Union representatives.

He is currently studying Law at Southern Cross University in Australia. However, his most significant and proudest achievement, according to David, is his four adult children, and his grandchildren.

Brian Shury

Captain Brian Shury has been flying professionally since 1982. He has flown over forty different types and is currently an Air Canada Jazz Captain, operating out of Toronto. Brian has served as ALPA Canada Vice President for the last five years and was elected Executive Vice President, Professional and Government Affairs for IFALPA in April 2019.

Captain Shury regards his education in labour relations as an ongoing, life-long endeavor. Born into an activist family, Captain Shury was immersed in labour relations, experiencing his first strike action at five years old. He obtained a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Western University in 1987. Within his 30-year airline career, Brian has been involved in innumerable labour conflicts including strikes and labour litigation including Common Employer cases, class action lawsuits, unfair labour practice cases, and many mediations and arbitrations.

Brian has held several committee and political positions within CALPA and ALPA-I over the last three decades, beginning with Grievance Chairman for Air Ontario in 1991. He subsequently held many positions within the Air Ontario MEC, the Jazz MEC, ALPA Canada and IFALPA.

Brian participated in or led negotiations in various environments including mergers, bankruptcies/restructuring, post-bankruptcy, Union collapse, and complex CPA/Mainline bargaining with multiple players. He is most proud of the bargaining accomplishments, many unprecedented, that have been achieved by his Air Ontario, Air Canada Regional, and Jazz colleagues over the years.

Brian believes that these bargaining successes were achieved by extraordinary unity and focus anchored by the mutual respect amongst all pilots involved, regardless of what they fly, who they fly for or what region they fly in. This made possible a status pay system that spanned everything from a 37 seat DHC -8 to the Boeing 757. This pay system translated into significant wage increases for all pilots regardless of the equipment they flew. This solidarity also made possible an industry-leading Collective Agreement. In addition, a very robust safety culture was created as well as a very healthy relationship between management and the union.  

Brian lives on a farm near Peterborough Ontario with his wife and their two daughters.

Park Inn by Radisson Frankfurt Airport

Hotel bookings can be made by:

Email Mrs. Desiree Albrecht:  [email protected]

Mention discount code:  IFALPA 2019

Telephone: +49 697 701 553 500

Hotel Cost 18 - 19 November:  € 83 (breakfast included) 

                                                 € 93 (double - breakfast included )

Hotel Cost 19 - 21 November:  € 100 (breakfast included) 

                                                 € 110 (double - breakfast included)

**IMPORTANT**

Please note that the room rates are valid until 28 October, 2019

Participants may cancel their booked rooms free of charge 14 days prior to arrival

https://www.vcockpit.de