Change of Control Award

[Hadenough]

No smilies.....Could hand out pieces of baggage tape.

 

[freedom]

Golden Ram: The question as to what we are really worth is not up to you to
decide. You're past anger is blinding you to any alternative way of thinking.
I'm sorry for what has happened in the past to you .

It appears from these posts that you have a position of power with the IAM.
If this is true I want to urge you to start thinking about the best interest of
fleet service instead of grinding away at your enemies.

We want a union who will fight for us. Start fighting and we will support
you . Listen to these arguements and intead of reacting to them consider
them. Consider also that your union may have it's own agenda which
is not necesarilly in the best interests of fleet service.

The reason we wanted a new union and now a change of leadership is
perfectly displayed by your attitude. But attitude alone was not the
reason. It was the actions and also the inactions of the 141 that caused
the distrust.

Thank you BF

well said .

 

[pit_till_death]

Times are a changing , we must position ourselves for those changes . I know that right now there’s a lot of talk about getting back what was lost and how the last TA was concessionary etc , but I say to you my brothers we will not gain back all that we have lost in one go round .

What then do you think we should settle for???? US-Airways is going to make nearly a half-billion in profits this year, and the execs already got renewed contracts. $19/hr , a couple of holidays, and a weeks vacation that I should have been paid for already, is NOT a fair and equitable offer considering what has been taken from us. PLEASE don't forget that we are dealing with a profitable company that is NOT in bankruptcy anymore, has almost $3 billion in the bank, and had the resources to pay $9 billion for another airline at the drop of a hat. They need us for transition. They need us for another merger. Give us something fair or let it burn to the ground.

 

[GoldenRam94]

No smilies.....Could hand out pieces of baggage tape.

PDQ tape is brighter!

 

[freedom]

What then do you think we should settle for???? US-Airways is going to make nearly a half-billion in profits this year, and the execs already got renewed contracts. $19/hr , a couple of holidays, and a weeks vacation that I should have been paid for already, is NOT a fair and equitable offer considering what has been taken from us. PLEASE don't forget that we are dealing with a profitable company that is NOT in bankruptcy anymore, has almost $3 billion in the bank, and had the resources to pay $9 billion for another airline at the drop of a hat. They need us for transition. They need us for another merger. Give us something fair or let it burn to the ground.

It’s fair , and as I stated it satisfies our needs rather than our wants . If you want more, then pray for another merger . You know that you can’t get back everything that was taken away in BK without going BK again … you know this .

We need to fight tooth and nail for what is FAIR , if you can’t accept the new “fair†of 2008 , then that’s your problem and you don’t need to make the rest of us suffer in prolonged poverty while you wait for 5 or 7 years to get that really “great†contract .

I’m a poor negotiator in that I don’t overshoot for what I want and that I don’t accept less than what I deserve .

Do yourself a favor and don’t shoot yourself in the foot , any new TA that gives us what was offered before with reasonable job protections and full holidays is a fair shake , CONSIDERING that the east dragged this #### out with the COC and insisted that it was worth oh so much … You lost and we on the west lost precious time , now we need to move forward and fight for fairness not overzealous greed .

 

[pit_till_death]

It’s fair , and as I stated it satisfies our needs rather than our wants . If you want more, then pray for another merger . You know that you can’t get back everything that was taken away in BK without going BK again … you know this .

We need to fight tooth and nail for what is FAIR , if you can’t accept the new “fair†of 2008 , then that’s your problem and you don’t need to make the rest of us suffer in prolonged poverty while you wait for 5 or 7 years to get that really “great†contract .

I’m a poor negotiator in that I don’t overshoot for what I want and that I don’t accept less than what I deserve .

Do yourself a favor and don’t shoot yourself in the foot , any new TA that gives us what was offered before with reasonable job protections and full holidays is a fair shake , CONSIDERING that the east dragged this #### out with the COC and insisted that it was worth oh so much … You lost and we on the west lost precious time , now we need to move forward and fight for fairness not overzealous greed .

What you are forgetting is that the west hasn't given anything up yet. You NEGOTIATED the $15 and change and hour that YOU voted on. So I can see where this may be a fair agreement to you. Also, your contract has been expired for awhile now. If you were so concerned, section 6 should have been forced to be filed long ago. Now for the east, considering what we've given up, the last agreement that has been voted down was an insult. You are comparing Wal-Mart to Macy's. I understand that AWA saved US and we needed you to survive, but you have never had a contract like we had pre-bk, you have no idea what we are missing and what's fair to us. So please, remember the fact that the company has PLENTY of cash and is in a good position to make this thing right. Let's worry about how we stand in another merger, when, and if it is presented to us. Now is the time to worry about now.

 

[freedom]

What you are forgetting is that the west hasn't given anything up yet. You NEGOTIATED the $15 and change and hour that YOU voted on. So I can see where this may be a fair agreement to you. Also, your contract has been expired for awhile now. If you were so concerned, section 6 should have been forced to be filed long ago. Now for the east, considering what we've given up, the last agreement that has been voted down was an insult. You are comparing Wal-Mart to Macy's. I understand that AWA saved US and we needed you to survive, but you have never had a contract like we had pre-bk, you have no idea what we are missing and what's fair to us. So please, remember the fact that the company has PLENTY of cash and is in a good position to make this thing right. Let's worry about how we stand in another merger, when, and if it is presented to us. Now is the time to worry about now.

I completely disagree with only focusing on the present and paying no heed to the future . I know what you gave up and you know what kind of poverty we’ve been living in , you and I also know that one of the main reasons the last TA was voted down was because the COC was traded away .


“you have never had a contract like we had pre-bk, you have no idea what we are missing and what's fair to usâ€

Some say it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all . I’m not in that boat , you see your problem is your constantly looking backwards at what you had . She’s gone , get over it , she ain’t coming back . While we have 3 billion in cash if we in fleet push for what you had or NEAR what you had pre BK , then every other labor group at us airways would ALSO push for roughly what they had pre BK , and viola , we’d be BK again ….

Look lets take care of our NEEDS now and get our wants settled during the NEXT merger .. It’s not just the west that needs a TA but you on the east who need this as well , don’t forget about your class two cities , don’t forget about those out on furlough , don’t neglect

 

[necigrad]

What you are forgetting is that the west hasn't given anything up yet. You NEGOTIATED the $15 and change and hour that YOU voted on. So I can see where this may be a fair agreement to you. Also, your contract has been expired for awhile now. If you were so concerned, section 6 should have been forced to be filed long ago.

You almost got it right. Your facts are mosty not incorrect. But there are still inaccurate. You are 100% correct that we negotiated the $15/hour and voted on it. What you leave out is that we also negotiated a 5 year term, which expired in June of 2005. Then you say we should have forced Section 6. Well, we WERE in Section 6 negotiations. Now the IAM won't continue them, and that's a group that YOU picked, not us.

Remember, YOU voted in a union that got you your concessions. YOU voted in a union for a contract that expired in 2009. YOU voted down a TA that would have gotten all the West employees substantial raises. Hell, my pay difference between TWU and the TA was over $6/hour. YOU denied me a $12,000 (50%) raise. And know that "YOU" refers to the collective East, not necessarily one or all.

 

[700UW]

Once again contracts under the RLA DO NOT EXPIRE, they become amendable and you work under the status quo provisions.

 

[freedom]

We could spend all day pointing fingers at one another , however that won’t get us anywhere … This is the moment I’ve waited for , that I’ve longed for , one mostly unified work group … with all of the other side issues out of the way , it truly comes down to an us vs. them against the company ….


We are stronger than ever …..


NOW IS OUR TIME!!!!! Believe !!!!

 

[Hadenough]

We could spend all day pointing fingers at one another , however that won’t get us anywhere … This is the moment I’ve waited for , that I’ve longed for , one mostly unified work group … with all of the other side issues out of the way , it truly comes down to an us vs. them against the company ….


We are stronger than ever …..


NOW IS OUR TIME!!!!! Believe !!!!

Amen...Freedom....Amen

Rage against the machine, brother.

 

[orioleman]

Freedom
"if we sign an agreement there’s no one at us airways who’s going to push harder for another merger than fleet "

in my 20 plus years exp and having now gone through 3 mergers. NEVER once did the company ever ask fleet if they wanted to merge or not

Freedom you must understand the company will do what they do WITH OUT your input. Signing a bogus t/a just to get to another merger is just plain stupid

 

[orioleman]

GoldenRam
"Your drive to organize the IBEW was an embarrasing failure on your part. Now you are trying to save face with your 'network.'"

Lets see over 4,000 members sent a message to IAM and our NEG that they want change IF you can't bring it then WE will replace you

and that was WITHOUT OFFICIAL involvement from the IBEW. So I wonder what would happen if they had a full blown campaign

What we are fighting for is representation. Something you and your cronies have seem to lost . You might want to try getting off the Kool Aid

that stuff and be pretty addicting.

 

[Tim Nelson]

And that my friend is the death blow to the company. Do you not see this. You need to take what is being offered. Short of that you have no choice. The pressure is on Doug, but he is not too worried, he has other work lined up as do many others. Thing not of the short-term, but the long-term benefits.

Goldenram, you have now become 'delusional'. Your belief that ramp rats will now shut down the company if they want more than what is offered is nonsensical dribble. Nobody is asking for greedy pay. Bottom line is the industry standard is $21hr for rampers. Some make more, a few make less. $19hr isn't going to cut it. Sorry Dougie. You and Dougie need to stop trying to steal the socks off of fleet service while their shoes are still on. You guys aren't as slick as you think.

Further, even though non-union Delta and non-union Continental make signficantly more, they also have better benefits and just as many workers. Continental just voted union down again, 8,000 rampers. Amazing, TWU sez they can preserve Continental jobs from being contracted out, but the IAM trying to contract out 19 stations and mail jobs? Delta just handed out $4,000 profit sharing checks to rampers when it came out of bankruptcy. Yet ONLY the IAM decided to eliminate profit sharing for fleet so the union Bosses could get positive space travel. What a mind job.

Just because this company thinks its employees are a bunch of A## ##### doesn't mean our union should. We are mobilized to take over this District and to vote out you thugs. The District has no 'juice' with the company OR its members, at US AIRWAYS or United. It's lost complete control and now is screaming even moreso as a company mouthpiece. IMO, something is up, something is up very soon and Dougie has to start closing out deals. Whatever 'window of opportunity' the IAM knows about, I'm sure it involves United or Northwest. Otherwise, I don't think I've ever seen such desperation out of a company and union to throw a deal together for fleet service. Brickner, Canale, GR can all try to manufacture 'gloom and doom' negotiations but the scoreboard doesn't lie.

Someone is going to buy this company because of its lucrative routes, fleet service doesn't have to take a back seat by agreeing to some new goofy TA that doesn't adequately address things. Dougie doesnt know does he?

regards,

 

[Tim Nelson]

From the mailbag:

Tim,



I have read the entire response that the arbitrator rendered regarding the COC decision. One thing comes to mind, and hopefully you can help expose this…. It is my belief… that the COC language in the IAM agreements covering both Fleet, and M&R. Is antiquated, and perhaps several decades old. I tried to pin #### down on this several months ago, and he eluded that the IAM simply copied the language from an ALPA contract …in other words the IAM did not even write it!



Now…assuming this is true… and the IAM has been cutting and pasting language, contract to contract, wouldn’t it be safe to conclude that the IAM has failed to follow the dynamics of today’s airline business environment? We all know that the American business model is evolving at a tenacious rate, especially when it comes to merging, buying, and just plain reincorporating companies with sole purpose of ridding themselves of loyal employees.



How then, could a major labor union of the IAM’s wherewithal have failed to recognize this dynamic, and subsequently fail to revise the COC language in the agreements to meet the business paradigm that modern air carriers, and corporate America are using today.



I have concluded that the main reason our COC grievance was denied is because the individual investors did not act in concert. There was no proof that the myriad of investors collaborated, or conspired to gain controlling interest in US Airways.



As we know… weather the investors collaborated or not…they still have a lot of… if not complete say in our business model. So... basically they were able to circumvent the COC because it was based on mid 80’s merger and acquisition scenarios



Consequently, I place the blame for this loss on the IAM’s complacency, and failure to recognize the changes in the business dynamics of the very industry they claim to specialize in organizing, and representing.



The IAM has become an anachronism, and must change it’s dynamic to meet the challenges of representing workers in this modern, global, and hostile business environment.
________________________
Tim Response: The most baffling thing is how the arbitrator said that there was no discussion between the IAM and company on what that language meant. It would appear that you are correct but my concern is that this COC gets cleaned up and defined before the next mergers.

regards,