The record, by the numbers.

Local 357 had no full-time General Counsel until January 2024. One was hired, and the difference shows in what followed.

Arbitration awards required the Company to tell Pilots of their right to representation any time discipline is contemplated, and eliminated gender-based discrimination from the Style Guide.

Two probationary Pilots were returned to work after termination. Multiple grievance settlements were obtained on behalf of members, including back pay protections. Stewards processed more than 90 grievances and answered more than 2,900 emails.

Back pay was secured for incorrectly applied 401(k) contributions for our military members.

The ASAP and FOQA memoranda were reviewed and renewed with every stakeholder, the FAA included. The Emergency Response Team answered more than 40 events.

The VIP+ Air program was negotiated: a lower cost alternative to the Harvey Watt plan for short and long term disability and loss of medical, with better benefits and better coverage. Local 357 then worked with Teamsters International to offer it across the entire Airline Division.

A new membership management system was begun, a full budgeting process was built for Local operations, and Treasury Bills bought at historically high rates were reinvested into Union programs.

Stewards logged more than 5,000 contact points with Pilots. 159 grievances were processed. More than 30 arbitrations were prepared and two were heard, with the Union and the Company working through the rest.

ASAP processed more than 2,600 reports. The Emergency Response Team supported more than 80 emergencies, each followed up with Company maintenance. Peer2Peer and CIRP completed more than 90 contacts. The Fatigue programme processed more than 1,100 reports.

FOQA monitored data from more than 250,000 flights. Union gatekeepers reviewed more than 650 of them, involving over 1,000 crew contacts.

More than 200 Pilots attended Pilot Appreciation dinners. Held at the Local Hall, attendance from the last two weeks of new hire and upgrade classes ran at 15 to 20 percent. Moved to the Brickyard Inn, it runs at 90 to 95 percent, with recurrent Captains and First Officers, APDs and instructors attending as well.

That is not a cosmetic change. It is the difference between a room with a handful of people in it and a room where new Pilots meet Check Airmen and ask the questions they actually have.

On litigation, work continued toward resolving the new-hire contract dispute and the Company’s lawsuit against the Union, including an in-person meeting with both leadership teams, the IBT Airline Division and counsel. Significant progress was made on the new-hire case pending in Marion County, though final approval by the IBT is still required. The Seventh Circuit appeal was dismissed following a settlement. The Company agreed to collaborate on the Style Guide, to uphold arbitration under the Railway Labor Act, and to streamline arbitrator selection. The Union has been reimbursed for its litigation expenses.

The Negotiations Committee was staffed, trained and prepared for the 2026 joint negotiations.

Local 357 gave active input, with CAPA, on the 2024 FAA Authorization bill, and met with six members of Congress on First Officer qualifications, flight crew fatigue, flags of convenience, lithium battery transport, the Federal Flight Deck Officer programme, cargo screening, biometric IDs and FAA aeromedical services.

Collaboration with Local 135 and TWU 592 was deepened. The Local donated to the Teamsters Scholarship Fund, Teachers Treasures and Toys for Tots, and joined forces with the International Association for Suicide Prevention, which gives our committees evidence-based research and a worldwide support system available to every member. Our members stood on a nationwide picket line in solidarity with Amazon workers.

Numbers are harder to argue with than adjectives. Almost none of this was done by the seven of us. It was done by committee chairs and volunteers, and we would rather point at their work than claim it.

Any member in good standing can review the Local’s full financial records by appointment with the Secretary-Treasurer. That is not an election-season gesture. It is a standing right, and it stands whoever wins.