American Pilots Union's Employees Asked For Cuts

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Nov 21, 2003
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American pilots union's employees asked for cuts

By Trebor Banstetter
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH - Leaders of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, have asked their employees for "major concessions" in their upcoming contract, according to officials with the employees union.

Those cuts are being demanded despite a $23 million windfall that the pilots union recently received from American Airlines, said Kathy Schroeder, president of the Allied Pilots Staff Employees Association, a union that represents about 30 people who work for the pilots union.

"You would think that the staff who work for a union would have the best possible contract as one union can sympathize with the plight of another," Schroeder said Thursday in a statement. "However, that doesn't seem to hold true for our staff members who work hard to provide services for the pilots represented by APA."

Officials with the pilots union said they didn't want to publicly discuss the details of the talks.

"We value the contributions of our employees and respect their right to collectively bargain," said Gregg Overman, spokesman for the pilots union. "Our board of directors has affirmed its commitment to providing them with a fair and equitable contract."

Schroeder said her union asked for a federal mediator to be brought in to help with negotiations. Overman said pilots believe that it is too early in the talks to bring in a mediator.

Like all of American's labor groups, the pilots union has been slammed by a steep decrease in dues since pilots accepted heavy concessions last year. Concessions, layoffs and a reduction in the percentage of dues collected have pushed down the union's revenues by more than 50 percent during the past year.

Overman said potential uses for the $23 million payment from American are still under consideration. The labor group received the payment this year after a judge ruled that the airline had improperly outsourced some flights to American Eagle.

"We haven't ruled anything out," he said. "About the only decision that was made so far was to accept it."
 
Just a note the out sourcing was not to American Eagle but to American Connection which AE ALPA is also fighting.
 
Why did the APA get 23 million, why didn't the pilots who were affected get the money. It sounds a lot like AMFA's NW contract where if NW outsources more than 38% of the work AMFA gets paid a dollar amount equal to the extra outsourced work above 38%. Why shouldn't the people who have been laid off/Rif'd/transferred/etc/ because of this not receive any compensation.