The Furloughs and the Warnings
U turn speaks out on the US Airways (west) furloughs.
These furloughs are bad news. But look what caused them, no furlough protection in the TA and four other big mistakes by the MEC.
The Furloughs and the Warnings Frank Helton and I warned everyone about furloughs back in September 2005 when we were the only Reps to vote against the Transition Agreement. We told you our main reason: no furlough protection in the TA. So what did C-62 pilots decide to do? They recalled us because we voted against the TA! We were replaced by company/ALPA yes-men, Rick Pitt and CJ Szmal. So while you’re updating your resume, think of why you’re getting furloughed.
Guys, we had the leverage back then to protect everyone down to Dave O’Dell with a No Furlough Clause. ALPA National pushed the other West Reps and the MEC officers hard to cut the deal and we ended up with no furlough protection in the TA. The East had about 1700 pilots on furlough on their list, but most of them had other jobs and weren’t coming back. They had almost 200 retirements a year. We had no furloughs and only about 25 retirements a year. In the next two years, the company recalled everyone who wanted to come back and upgraded over 400 east pilots mainly due to attrition, but also with expansion by picking up more East-West flying than we did. We upgraded only 30 and hired less on our side. Frank and I wanted furlough protection. ALPA National and the MEC officers just wanted an agreement that protected the merger. Our Merger Attorney butted in with an August 29, 2005 email telling the MEC (not the Reps) that we needed an agreement more than the East did. The Reps only got copies of it by accident. On the no-furlough clause, Freund said: “Fourth, in an event, as I have explained, to the extent your objections are to the absence of a no furlough clause, I don’t think you will ever get one and I don’t think you want one.” These furloughs are bad news. But look what caused them, no furlough protection in the TA and four other big mistakes by the MEC.
The first mistake was not starting Section 6 in June 2006. Don’t blame the East for that one. Their MEC encouraged us to enter Section 6 with a resolution. But ALPA said NO and our MEC bought off on it. No telling what a Section 6 contract would have gotten us. Section 6 had leverage. JNC talks didn’t. We could have had a contract that the east might have agreed to before the NIC Award came out. Remember our “Leverage Lost” U-Turn? U-Turn warned you.
The second was not accepting the East’s 40% offer on the new B-757 slots in April 2006. That cost us 8 Captain and 8 FO slots, 16 furloughs. Instead we ended up with that useless B-757 LOU/IOU. Remember our very first email, before we used the name U-Turn? U-Turn warned you.
Third was not accepting the East’s 40% offer on the E-190. By turning that offer down, we lost in arbitration and got another IOU. If we had taken the E-190 deal, we could have gotten 40% of the Captain slots and with down-sizing, 40% of the FO slots. In the East’s 08-04 down-sizing bid, there are 229 E-190 positions in PHL/CLT. If we had agreed to East’s June ‘06 proposal, we would have locked in 40% of the slots or 91 fewer furloughs. Add those to the 16 B-757 positions and we would have only 68 furloughs, not 175. The additional 107 furloughs would have all come out of the East.
U-Turn warned about the dangers of not accepting the East E-190 offer as talks broke down in late June ’06 over the Dotter/McIlvenna rotating bidding plan. But our MEC had a better plan. It didn’t work. U-Turn warned you.
The fourth mistake was not pursuing the East-West flying dispute. Even the East Reps thought the company was violating the TA when they first started flying LAS-LAX turns. Their pilots refused them until ordered to by the company. We’ll never know how many furloughs a TA dispute could have stopped, but the MEC refused to file one.
Once again, U-Turn warned you. Guys, the AWAPPA leaders are the same ones who messed up when they were in office. It’s time to stop listening to them. It may be too late now, but if you don’t get your heads out of your sand and file grievances with the union that we’re stuck with, how are they going to know where we are coming from and what we demand? Just a reminder, with the ATA/AWA agreement (which was approved by the company) we had 18 months after the joint contract and single carrier which ever took longer. Delta received furlough protection for 24 months after everything is done.
Dave Blomgren, for the Mighty U-Turn
U turn speaks out on the US Airways (west) furloughs.
These furloughs are bad news. But look what caused them, no furlough protection in the TA and four other big mistakes by the MEC.
The Furloughs and the Warnings Frank Helton and I warned everyone about furloughs back in September 2005 when we were the only Reps to vote against the Transition Agreement. We told you our main reason: no furlough protection in the TA. So what did C-62 pilots decide to do? They recalled us because we voted against the TA! We were replaced by company/ALPA yes-men, Rick Pitt and CJ Szmal. So while you’re updating your resume, think of why you’re getting furloughed.
Guys, we had the leverage back then to protect everyone down to Dave O’Dell with a No Furlough Clause. ALPA National pushed the other West Reps and the MEC officers hard to cut the deal and we ended up with no furlough protection in the TA. The East had about 1700 pilots on furlough on their list, but most of them had other jobs and weren’t coming back. They had almost 200 retirements a year. We had no furloughs and only about 25 retirements a year. In the next two years, the company recalled everyone who wanted to come back and upgraded over 400 east pilots mainly due to attrition, but also with expansion by picking up more East-West flying than we did. We upgraded only 30 and hired less on our side. Frank and I wanted furlough protection. ALPA National and the MEC officers just wanted an agreement that protected the merger. Our Merger Attorney butted in with an August 29, 2005 email telling the MEC (not the Reps) that we needed an agreement more than the East did. The Reps only got copies of it by accident. On the no-furlough clause, Freund said: “Fourth, in an event, as I have explained, to the extent your objections are to the absence of a no furlough clause, I don’t think you will ever get one and I don’t think you want one.” These furloughs are bad news. But look what caused them, no furlough protection in the TA and four other big mistakes by the MEC.
The first mistake was not starting Section 6 in June 2006. Don’t blame the East for that one. Their MEC encouraged us to enter Section 6 with a resolution. But ALPA said NO and our MEC bought off on it. No telling what a Section 6 contract would have gotten us. Section 6 had leverage. JNC talks didn’t. We could have had a contract that the east might have agreed to before the NIC Award came out. Remember our “Leverage Lost” U-Turn? U-Turn warned you.
The second was not accepting the East’s 40% offer on the new B-757 slots in April 2006. That cost us 8 Captain and 8 FO slots, 16 furloughs. Instead we ended up with that useless B-757 LOU/IOU. Remember our very first email, before we used the name U-Turn? U-Turn warned you.
Third was not accepting the East’s 40% offer on the E-190. By turning that offer down, we lost in arbitration and got another IOU. If we had taken the E-190 deal, we could have gotten 40% of the Captain slots and with down-sizing, 40% of the FO slots. In the East’s 08-04 down-sizing bid, there are 229 E-190 positions in PHL/CLT. If we had agreed to East’s June ‘06 proposal, we would have locked in 40% of the slots or 91 fewer furloughs. Add those to the 16 B-757 positions and we would have only 68 furloughs, not 175. The additional 107 furloughs would have all come out of the East.
U-Turn warned about the dangers of not accepting the East E-190 offer as talks broke down in late June ’06 over the Dotter/McIlvenna rotating bidding plan. But our MEC had a better plan. It didn’t work. U-Turn warned you.
The fourth mistake was not pursuing the East-West flying dispute. Even the East Reps thought the company was violating the TA when they first started flying LAS-LAX turns. Their pilots refused them until ordered to by the company. We’ll never know how many furloughs a TA dispute could have stopped, but the MEC refused to file one.
Once again, U-Turn warned you. Guys, the AWAPPA leaders are the same ones who messed up when they were in office. It’s time to stop listening to them. It may be too late now, but if you don’t get your heads out of your sand and file grievances with the union that we’re stuck with, how are they going to know where we are coming from and what we demand? Just a reminder, with the ATA/AWA agreement (which was approved by the company) we had 18 months after the joint contract and single carrier which ever took longer. Delta received furlough protection for 24 months after everything is done.
Dave Blomgren, for the Mighty U-Turn
