Iam Strike Vote Soon....

[ualdriver]

April 19, 2005

Strike Vote at United Airlines

To All IAM Members Employed by United Airlines

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

With no exit in sight, United Airlines remains mired in the longest and most costly bankruptcy proceeding in airline history.

Despite our resolve to reach a Labor Agreement that addresses the needs of this carrier and protects our members from unnecessary pain, it is increasingly obvious that the Company does not share our goal.

Your Negotiating Committee has not abandoned hope of achieving a fair and equitable Agreement, however, we must report that the Company continues to insist that IAM members absorb a disproportionate, unfair and unreasonable share of the overall labor cost sacrifice required to attract the necessary exit financing.

The negotiations are further handicapped by senior executives at the carrier who expect United’s front line employees to subsidize unwarranted bonuses and pay raises for management personnel.

In recent news articles about additional cost savings, United CEO Glenn Tilton declared there are no “sacred cows†and “everything is on the table.â€

This is the same Glenn Tilton who just collected a $366 thousand bonus and whose $4.5 million personal pension is “off the table.â€

So much for “shared sacrifice.â€

Inciting further discontent at United, Tilton repeatedly threatens to terminate employee pensions and claims he will tear up your contracts unless we surrender to his latest terms.

In addition to the loss of your hard earned pensions, Tilton’s terms include working harder for less compensation, more costly healthcare and the loss of thousands of additional jobs through subcontracting and increased use of part-time.

Your Negotiating Committee recognizes that further sacrifice and savings are indeed necessary for United to emerge from bankruptcy.

But we refuse to endorse, recommend or accept any sacrifice that falls unfairly on you and your family.

We have been saying NO to the Company’s unfair proposals at the bargaining table for months.

Now it’s your turn.

You will soon have an opportunity to demonstrate your support for a fair and equitable Labor Agreement by voting to support strike action if our contracts are abrogated.

It is time for all of us to take a stand in support of a fair contract.

We unanimously recommend that you vote yes to authorize strike action.

It is vital to send an unequivocal message of solidarity to management that we are prepared to take decisive action.

The alternative is a slow death of endless pay cuts, lost pensions and outsourced jobs.

I will be calling our District 141 IAM Officers from around the country to Chicago for the purpose of preparing for a strike authorization vote and informational meetings.

Information on a schedule of meetings and strike voting dates will be provided in future bulletins to the membership and IAM Local Lodges.

On behalf of your entire Negotiating Committee, I want to sincerely thank you for your continuing support and solidarity.

Fraternally,

Tom Brickner S.R. (Randy) Canale

Airline Coordinator President & Directing
General Chairman

Rich Johnson Rich Pascarella

GLR VP East

Pam King Lorraine Serrini

VP AL VP West

 

[spacewaitress]

At this point, I wish IAM, AMFA and AFA would all 3 walk. Enough already!

 

[Kev3188]

Agreed! Let 'er rip!

 

[PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH]

They won't do it, because they don't have the GUTS to! They will keep taking concession after concession like the COWARDS here at AA,CONTINENTAL, and US AIR and drag the whole industry into bottomless pit.

 

[goingboeing]

If all airline unionized workers do not help the brothers and sisters at United make a goal line stand we all will reap the fruits of INACTION.
Then we will deserve whatever crap the management shits our way.

 

[ualdriver]

If anyone is going to strike, I hope they strike during July or August. That way, we can have the summer off with our families and start our new job searches in September and hopefully have new positions by Christmas.

 

[spacewaitress]

They won't do it, because they don't have the GUTS to! They will keep taking concession like concession like the COWARDS here at AA,CONTINENTAL, and US AIR and drag the whole industry into bottomless pit.

[post="263776"][/post]​

Nothing anyone does anywhere is gonna change that. Get used to it. The momentum is gaining and it ain't stoppin' anytime soon.

 

[JungleClone]

Given the road to apocalypse that the U.S airline industry has been on for the past several years, it is only a matter of time before someone becomes the sacrificial lamb. The Eastern of the 21st Century, if you will. It could very well happen with United. Combine an angry, unmotivated, fed up workforce with an in-over-their-heads, unaccountable, clueless leadership (I use that term about as loosely as possible) team, and you have a potential recipe for complete collapse. Does anyone else roll their eyes when Tilton and his minions continue to talk about a Fall 2005 Bankruptcy exit? I think reality tells us that a Fall 2005 exit isn't gonna happen. These guys will be lucky to navigate the impending labor doom and keep their jobs, let alone restructure this company into one that becomes profitable again.

But the big wild card in all of this is oil. And I mean in the sense that is not being openly acknowledged by the mainstream. That is the fact that peak oil production is now upon us. The Oil Companies know it. The Bush Administration knows it, as evidenced by their never-ending War on Oil, errrrrrrrrrrrrr, Terrorism. Once Wall Street realizes and publicly acknowledges this fact, all hell is going to break loose on the global economy. The implications and ramifications of this will be devastating for all of us. And for an industry that is about as dependent upon oil as any there is, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that for all the trials and tribulations this company and this industry have been through in the last 5 years, we haven't seen anything yet!

 

[kcabpilot]

I really don't think so becuae well, the vast majority of all of this travel is purely for leisure. All of this oil and energy is being expended for our pleasure so it's not necessary. We aren't going to cease to exist if we can't get that holiday in Hawaii. Sure, all of these airline industry jobs will be gone but we're not all gonna shrivel up and die because of that.

Have some friggin' faith man!

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

Bravo! Seriously, UA's organized labor should collectively draw a line in the sand. For UA to move forward -- wherever that might be -- there needs to be a big bang event.

How can TiltonBrace still be employed there? If they were Japanese they would've done the honorable thing.

For senior management to collect bonuses and other 'retention' perks is absurd. Let them go -- with a swift kick in the arse!

Certainly UA has several genuine, humble internal candidates who know how to right the ship. Elevate them and follow!

 

[ualdriver]

I really have to roll my eyes as I read some of these posts. It's the same stuff over and over from a group of people who probably have probably never even read the company's financials (oh yes, I know it's all lies even though the IAM and AFA had their own financial people pour over them) or even have attended a union meeting and gotten real information from their own people "in the know."

Tilton's doing badly and he's "bad management." Really? What's your (I use that term collectively) definitioin of "good" CEO management? Someone who will come to work for United airlines and not take ANY money out of your pocket, not touch your pension, and work for pennies? Hey guys, I have a clue for you. Labor is UAL's largest expense, BY FAR. Not fuel- labor. You and me. You want a nice, touchy-feely CEO who won't touch your salary or your pension? Great. If you had gotten that when we hired Tilton, right now you wouldn't have a job at UAL to complain about.

Oh yes, I forgot. Your job right now is just miserable so who cares if you wouldn't have a job right now. Low pay, poor working conditions, incompetence everywhere. Yet you're still here after 3 YEARS. Why? Because you care so much about UAL that you want to be here in case it all burns down so you can dance on the ashes? Nah. You're here because it's the best deal you have. Otherwise, like busdrvr, you would have been out the door months ago. So you all can pretend working at UAL is just miserable. Want to do something really "courageous?" Instead of wasting your time b1tching about UAL, leave. Really. Vote with your feet. In mass. Just leave for all those other jobs out there that pay you what you are really worth. I think that would be far more effective than a strike. I think UAL would have a hard time replacing you and your experience with guys at the 1st year payscale. That to me is far more "courageous" than a strike. And you may as well do it now anyway. If there is a successful strike, you won't have a job anyway (or a pension). You may as well beat everyone else to all those "cherry" jobs out there.

Upset about Tilton's bonus? Who give a crap if he gets paid in options, bonuses, salary, seashells, whatever. Guys, look at his TOTAL compensation for a given time period. Then compare his TOTAL COMPENSATION to other CEO's working for 15 billion dollar companies. Do you really think Tilton's TOTAL compensation is anywhere near other guys running multi-billion dollar companies? Go visit some investor relation pages on the internet and you'd be surprised how little he made. Yes, I already know that anyone who makes more than you is overpaid, but for a CEO, he ain't overpaid. I'll agree that he didn't leave his corner office at his previous employer to take a paycut. He'll be making his money down the road.......

 

[Jetlaagd]

UALDRIVER. You have made some points in your post that I truly disgaree with.With that said I am a UAL employee,and it is not about Glen Tilton being underpaid,it is about trust.When you are in a leadership postion and you talk about shared sacrafice,then I belive it is up to you to set an example.If I had to take a 75% pay cut to keep my job I probrably would.However when upper management asks me to take a paycut give up my pension take sick and vacation time from me and then tells me to take a paycut,while they get raises is not good leadship It is human nature to be a little pissy when others around you are not very trusting.Give me a leadership team i can trust and I will work for them..One more point the reason I have not left is that I LOVE my job.....I hate the management mistrust that goes with it.....GIVE UAL SOMEONE WE CAN TRUST!

 

[Winglet]

To have ANY affect on Tilton and his circus clowns, he has to KNOW that you have the WILL to put the company in liqudation. Anything less and he's going to call your bluff and bend you over the table like a cheap xxxxx.

 

[novaqt]

HO HUM...!!! Yawn.....!!! All this public posturing prior to both sides getting the best deal they can on the new union contracts is getting real boring. Involving the public in internal company conflict serves no purpose, but to make our customers teed off and take their business elsewhere. Running on the thin margins that we are these days because of the high oil prices can put the company at risk of liquidation (Chap. 7).

 

[ualdriver]

I agree winglet. The ultimate power that a union has is the strike. Any union that hasn't reached an agreement practically is required to take a strike vote and hope that a very large % of their membership vote for a strike if necessary. However, we all know how much power, strike vote or not, unions have with a company operating under bankruptcy law. Not much.

Whether or not Tilton is "out to get" the IAM or AFA or anyone else for that matter is cojecture. I think his goal is to do the minimum possible to organized labor to get the company out of bankruptcy in one piece. I realize it's really popular to bash upper management, but I suspect that the second round of paycuts could have been a lot worse (i.e. more money) had he really been out to get us.