ALPA warns upper management! Change your labor relations style

usfliboi

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Aug 20, 2002
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CODE-A-PHONE UPDATE

April 10, 2003


This is Roy Freundlich with a US Airways MEC update for Thursday, April 10, with two new items.
Item 1. The MEC reconvened its special meeting today at the ALPA office in Herndon.

Management informed ALPA that it intends to furlough 52 additional pilots effective June 4. This furlough announcement is not in compliance with the June Restructuring Agreement or LOA 84. The MEC unanimously directed that an expedited MEC grievance be filed on these furloughs which will be in a addition to the MEC grievance filed in February stating that an excess of 200 pilots were being furloughed who were not or should not have been identified for furlough. ALPA believes that the pilots furloughed in 2003 were not or should not have been pilots already scheduled for furlough as a result of Permanent Bid 03-01 and that they should have been protected from furlough by the furlough protection provisions of the July 13, 2002, Restructuring Agreement and/or Letter of Agreement 84.

In response to management’s misinterpretation and misapplication of the sick leave policy, the MEC directed that an expedited MEC grievance be immediately filed. Management is implementing a sick leave policy under the December restructuring agreement that goes far beyond what ALPA agreed to. They are attempting to impose:

forced sick fly back, which means that a pilot would have to fly all sick time back before picking up any additional flying for pay purposes.

forceing a pilot to use five hours of sick leave in each month when calling in sick for a carry-over trip. The result is a 10-hour decrement for one sick event.

sick time balancing, which transfers the hours that a pilot has flown over his scheduled line value during trips and forces these hours into the pilot’s sick flyback time. This is time pilots are normally paid.

At this time, there is no agreement between ALPA and management that outlines how the pilots’ sick leave should be implemented. ALPA had told management that any modified sick leave policy must be delayed until the issues are resolved. Management discounted the time spent negotiating a follow-on retirement plan in their attempt to justify a unilateral implementation.

MEC Chairman Bill Pollock is informing management at its highest levels that serious and immediate change needs to occur in management’s approach to labor relations with pilots at all levels. After the deep concessions and sacrifices made to ensure US Airways could restructure, the US Airways pilots will not accept an untrustworthy and unprofessional management team or style that constantly discredits itself by promoting a corporate culture that aggressively dishonors the intent and provisions of our labor agreement.

On the reconsideration of AI 02-226 Future Stock Distribution, the MEC passed an amendment, clarifying the calculation formula used to allot shares to pilots that retire during the term of the Restructuring Agreement. The clarification states that:

The equity months of each eligible pilot would be determined based on the July 1, 2002 seniority list, by determining for each eligible pilot the number of months between July 1, 2002 and the pilot’s normal retirement date, to a maximum of 78. The total projected equity months of all eligible pilots would be summed. The allocation of each eligible pilot would equal his equity months divided by the total number of equity of all eligible pilots, multiplied by the total number of shares to be allocated. Under this methodology, each eligible pilot will be allocated his ratable share.

This clarification was adopted to properly reflect the original intent of the resolution and ensure that retiring pilots would receive no less than the monthly fractional allocation based on their retirement date.

With the completion of this resolution a membership ratification vote will be processed over the next few weeks to decide the allocation method. The choices will be:



1. A per capita distribution among the pilot group [eligible pilots] as a whole, or

2. An accounting for MetroJet stock options from the 1998 Agreement in the method of distribution where MetroJet pilots receive more stock than mainline pilots in accordance with the original restructuring agreement.

Ballots for membership ratification on the methods of stock distribution will be sent to all active pilots once the ballot materials are completed.

The MEC also unanimously passed a resolution authorizing that the stock to be distributed to the pilots via AI 02-226 will be an immediate stock distribution consistent with Attachment G of the June 2002 Restructuring Agreement and Attachment A of LOA 84, as opposed to any ESOP structure.

The MEC adjourned its meeting this afternoon at 5 p.m.

Item 2. US Airways announced this week that it is suspending its service between Pittsburgh and London Gatwick airport and Frankfurt, Germany for May 2003, due to US Airways’ participation in the CRAF program. In late March, the Company had first announced that it was suspending PIT-London Gatwick flights through April and was reducing service between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt and Philadelphia and Amsterdam through April. The Company has also implemented domestic reductions, which will affect mostly the last bank of flights departing from Pittsburgh and Charlotte, and are in effect through May 3.

MEC grievance 01-10-02, Cancelled Flight Segments, was filed on October 9, 2001, in response to the Company improperly canceling numerous flight segments well in advance of the departure dates that had already been incorporated into the published trip pairings and lines of flying. The Company’s actions were in violation of Sections 12, 22, 24 and 25 of the Contract. Additionally, the manner in which the Company cancelled these flight segments improperly and detrimentally affected the seniority and pay of the pilots who had exercised their seniority to bid on those published segments.

This grievance is now nearing arbitration, and the Company’s new international and domestic flight cancellations and reductions will be included in the grievance. The Grievance Committee is asking all affected pilots to submit PE-39 forms to claim the difference between their actual flying and what their original line value was for the affected months. It is ALPA’s position that all lineholding pilots affected by these new cancellations should be pay-protected from these cancellations to the original value of their lines that the Company published. Please document all relevant information for the Grievance Committee to include in this grievance and forward to the MEC office.

Please remember we have 1,827 pilots on furlough with 52 pilots scheduled for furlough on June 4, 2003.

Thank you for listening.
 
yeah, that''s labor friendly...at least the company''s sick policy is bad for alpa and afa...guess that''s what dave & company call equitable...treat everyone badly
 
HOORAH for alpa...Their leadership is fighting back. Hope AFA MEC is paying attention!!
 
Yeah. ALPA is fighting back. We see in the Code-a-Phone the entire extent of their arsenal now:

1. The "sternly worded letter," and

2. The grievance, which will be heard on an "expedited" manner, probably withing 36 months, with a decision sometime around the turn of the century.
 
Now Pollock and the MEC will take a stand against more furloughs and the company misinterpretation of the restructured sick leave rules. This would be funny if it weren''t so sad!

We all must realize that our current MEC (-3:John Brookman, Doug Mowery and Mike Tosi who voted against loss of the DB plan and for pilot ratification) and leadership MUST resign (an event the Vaughns are righteously furthering through sign-up petitions). The company has taken the measure of their leadership and resolve over the past year and they have been found grievously "wanting". In the company''s eyes, they are mice under feet to be squished -- a mere annoyance. The company will go forward misinterpreting and furloughing as they will until a new team is installed that they must respect (until they see otherwise).

Our current ALPA leadership and MEC may be fine men, all -- but they weren''t the MEN we needed at this time in this place. Their continued acquiescence throughout the restructuring process and inability to understand that some decisions, regardless of liquidation threats and "immutable time restraints", required ratification of the "WHOLE" pilot group have mortally weakened them in the eyes of the company but more importantly in the eyes of those who they pretend to represent -- THE PILOT GROUP!

Their greatest failure -- their inability to stand for the sacrosanct and inviolable nature of pension benefits ALREADY EARNED (the 2.4% DOH to Jan. ''03)in the follow-on plan -- will preclude a large % of our pilot group over the age of 50 from reaching the 50% goal -- this was unconscionable! By my calculation, this would have cost the company between 2 and 4 million dollars a year based on 100 - 150 retirements/year avg. After the pilot group gave more than half a billion dollars annually you would of thought they could have at least stood firm on this! Their continuous misdirected efforts to draft a plan acceptable to the company was wasted effort. It was the companies job to put forth a plan the pilots would accept. IT WAS THE MEC''S AND LEADERSHIP''S JOB TO REPRESENT AND "NEGOTIATE" FOR THE PILOT GROUP -- NOT TO RUN THE COMPANY! Now that our careers have been decimated and our retirement futures destroyed, we must have a fresh start and elect a new group that hopefully will have learned how to deal with a "Machiavellian style" run company!

If these men (-3) are honorable, they will understand the current situation and that their best efforts have failed -- they need to resign and allow a fresh start for a new group of elected members. There is no shame in this, it is just -- THE RIGHT THING TO DO!

Respectfully,

Dana
 
It is truly amazing to see how, with one vote, Mike Tosi has come from being the "let's-lynch-him-now, weak-sister, persona non grata" MEC member to one of the three we should now keep!

I've supported Mike Tosi through the good and bad, because he's an effective leader. I just find this latest campaign particularly amusing.
 
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On 4/13/2003 9:32:30 AM PineyBob wrote:


One thing I will never understand about union members is this sense of entittlement and the notion that someplace in a "back room" is a pile of money. Also this idea that "management" woke up one day and collectively said "Jeez, It's a slow day , let's cook up some dastardly plot to screw organized labor".

When you have a company that is pushed to the brink as US Airways was, you have to cust cost wherever you can. Now the facts are there were only 2 places where they could cut cost in a big hurry. A/C leases & Labor. With organized labor in general their are generally 2 ways to cut. Actual wages and work rules. US Air and their unions decided on a little of both but mostly wages took the hit in order to preserve the maximum number of dues paying members. Remember Unions aren't virgin white anymore than a company is evil in black. Unions preach a "living wage". Well IMHO NO WAGE Connsessions whould have been required except for possibly pilots if the SWA or Jet Blue work rules had been agreed to. What you would have seen was a lot less employees than you have now working for US Airways. This has always been the weak spot IMO with unions that they have to keep as many people working as possible! even if it is a job that clearly above the pay scale for the scope of work required. So what you have is a classic dilema, far fewer jobs with the same or even better wages or more jobs with less wages for all. I don't think the union leaders had much choice frankly, they lost before they started. It is very dificult to defend an indefensible position against overwhelming forces. Now if you want to debate the whole Quantity vs Quality of jobs I think you have a real issue on which to determine who'll lead your next election cycle.

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Bob,

On this one I'm going to differ with you. This management wakes up EVERYDAY and says..."hey how can we screw with organized labor today".

This is Jerry and team's business.
 
What happened to Labor at U was very personal. It effected many folks on the property some more harshly than others.. Its not a question of not getting over it...its never, ever forgetting, so that you remember your starting point.

Lesson one in negotiations.. ask for the world, and in the end, you end up some where in the middle. That's how it works. Balance needs to be created between two parties, and whom ever it takes to get you there is good negotiations and "good faith" bargaining. Understand pariety was NOT to be a good thing for labor. It was cnsidered a concession at the time. It just back fired on mangement, because United ended up giving their unions huge raises, that when there came down turn in the economy, those wages could no longer be supported. Labor recognized this and we were the first to the table to help our company. We are forever giving back to management, plus some. Takes years to even break even. For U, we can no longer support ourselves or families...that's a fact. Presently, with the lines of flying gone in PIT in International..our international f/as will be taking approx $2,000 pay cut and up for May and June...on top of the 5%. If something isn't done to pay protect these folks, they will be filing for BK.
Negotiations is all a game, whether its negotiations in business, relationships, marriages, divorces, sports, etc..and there is good negotiations and bad negotiations. Know the difference. Here at U, the playing field was not even to start with. So, management got what they wanted, and they continue to use the same threatening, scheming manuevers they used in the summer. What's bad with U's management is that the employees no longer trust this management. Why? Because as bad as all our agreeements are, management still doesn't honor even those agreements. They do what they want with a total disregard. We as a union try to keep up with all of it, but it is very difficult and expensive.

Our f/as will be voting on a strike fund that will be automatic, very soon. What this FUND will do is "pay protect" the f/as for any job action taken when we are in section 6 negotiations. We have a few years yet to fund this enormously. We already have a strike fund from 2000 that has a nice sum in it. What we will implement now will be an automatic payroll deduction yearly for this purpose. The PIT President brought this agenda item forward in 2001 and it passed. Their MEC just hasn't had the opportunity to bring it out to the members for a vote because of everything that has ensued since this new mangement came on baord. But its coming...PROMISE!
 
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On 4/13/2003 11:48:44 AM PITbull wrote:


What happened to Labor at U was very personal. It effected  many folks on the property some more harshly than others.. Its not a question of not getting over it...its never, ever forgetting, so that you remember your starting point.

Lesson one in negotiations.. ask for the world, and in the end, you end up some where in the middle. That''s how it works. Balance needs to be created between two parties,  and whom ever it takes to get you there is good negotiations and "good faith" bargaining. Understand pariety was NOT to be a good thing for labor. It was cnsidered a concession at the time.  It just back fired on mangement, because United ended up giving their unions huge raises, that when there came  down turn in the economy,  those wages could no longer be supported. Labor recognized this and we were the first to the table to help our company.  We are forever giving back to management, plus some. Takes years to even break even. For U, we can no longer support ourselves or families...that''s a fact. Presently, with the lines of flying gone in PIT in International..our international f/as will be taking approx $2,000 pay cut and up for May and June...on top of the 5%. If something isn''t done to pay protect these folks, they will be filing for BK.
Negotiations is all a game, whether its negotiations in business, relationships, marriages, divorces, sports, etc..and there is good negotiations and bad negotiations. Know the difference. Here at U, the playing field was not even to start with.  So, management got what they wanted, and they continue to use the same threatening, scheming manuevers they used in the summer. What''s bad with U''s management is that the employees no longer trust this management. Why? Because as bad as all our agreeements are, management still doesn''t honor even those agreements. They do what they want with a total disregard. We as a union try to keep up with all of it, but it is very difficult and expensive.

Our f/as will be voting on a strike fund that will be automatic, very soon. What this FUND will do is "pay protect" the f/as for any job action taken when we are in section 6 negotiations. We have a few years yet to fund this enormusly. We already have a strike fund from 2000 that has a nice sum in it.  What we will implement now will be an automatic payroll deduction yearly for this purpose.   The PIT President brought this agenda item forward in 2001 and it passed. Their  MEC just hasn''t had the opportunity to bring it out to the members for a vote because of everything that has ensued since this new mangement came on baord. But its coming...PROMISE!






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Very well put, Pitbull. Im so glad that you told it like it is. Also very glad to see we are going to start a strike fund again. Things for the info..In Solidarity...NAPAUS
 
ALPA doesn''t fight back, they''re power is gone, their threats are useless. Anyone who thinks otherwise isn''t living in the present. Look at what has happened to our careers! Lack of leadership has caused crisis. Sit down and shut-up, Dave is going to continue to do what he does best, restructure this wounded airline while its labor groups watch in shock and wonder when it will end.
 
Some things never change. Yes, USAirways management does get up every morning and continually figure ways to screw labor. They always have.

Frankly, the AAA ALPA MEC lacks the fortitude to really stand up to the company, and yes, the pilots are a bunch of sheep. Men, you have throttles, and safety on your side. You can well circumvent CBs. Long rollouts to the end. Why not be stable at your final approach speed by the marker. Have the fortitude to tell ATC unable 180k. In the logbook, the pen is mightier than the sword. NWA, UAL,AMR,CAL pilots have all struck. At UAL we had our summer of love, the AMR pilots had their, albeit illegal, sick out. The AAA pilots have no spine. And continually work to screw their ever more junior pilots, now with 15 years.

DENVER, CO
 
AAAAAAAAAAmen!!!!

U''s MEC is a joke. A group of men (minus 3) who lack so much integrity that they are an embarrassment to the ALPA organization. Case in point- MEC Chairman, Chris Beebe, jumps ship to take a much higher paying position with ALPA national during the most critical time in U''s history.

What a joke!

-fatburger-

furloughed U pilot