Labor Relations

UA, CAUSE continue contract negotiations with sixth bargaining session

The Latest: UA completed a sixth bargaining session with CAUSE’s negotiating team yesterday, and bargaining yielded some progress on some open items.

  • We’re hopeful that the momentum can be built on in coming bargaining sessions

Why it Matters: UA leadership is still hoping to resolve outstanding disagreements on some employees’ eligibility to be in the union and ground rules to provide more certainty to employees and help expedite the negotiating process. The Union stated it is considering the information UA provided. The continued forward progress on some contract articles and ground rules is a positive sign.

  • Catch Up Quick: UA passed an initial contract across the negotiating table on July 22 to jumpstart negotiations.

  • According to Bloomberg Law, it takes over 450 days on average for a first union contract to be negotiated. Under Alaska Labor Law, contracts must be submitted to the legislature for approval by the 60th legislative day, which would be March 21, 2027.

  • CAUSE has indicated interest in reaching a contract even sooner, by November 20 of this year. Meeting that deadline would require significant movement on key contract items that hasn’t been shown so far.

The Details: The UA negotiating team passed over our third complete contract proposal to CAUSE negotiators and encouraged CAUSE to work from one document rather than multiple articles to minimize confusion.

  • UA’s revisions incorporated responses to some of CAUSE’s proposals where UA believed there was middle ground to respond to CAUSE’s concerns.

  • Compensation and Wages: UA provided initial feedback to CAUSE negotiators on their first compensation and wage proposal. To keep those discussions moving forward, UA has invited CAUSE to identify specific wage and wage structure priorities so time can be spent on the items most important to bargaining unit members.

Go Deeper: CAUSE Bargaining continues with the fifth session on August 10

What’s Next: Four more bargaining sessions have been scheduled:

  • September 10, 2026

  • September 22, 2026

  • October 7, 2026

  • October 21, 2026