Change of Control/LOA 93
March 21, 2010 by Survey Team
The latest CREW NEWS held in CLT on March 17th with Mr. Parker filling in for Scott Kirby finished off with Mr. Parker volunteering some very compelling points to ponder. He brought up an issue that previously has not been mentioned by the company or the union– “CHANGE OF CONTROL.”
The EAST contract has “change of control” language requiring our pay to “snap back” to book rates. Book rates are defined in the restructuring agreement of 2002. He goes on to say that if there was a merger, that language would have to be mitigated or the merger structured so as to “not trigger that provision, ” implying no merger partner would want to pay those high pay rates and would not be attracted to merge with us.
In keeping with our philosophy of not offering opinions, we want to pose questions to the pilots instead of putting up a survey for this particular issue. We encourage you to talk to your reps about this contract language and its ramifications. Ask them why there has been no response to this and what they believe Mr. Parker is trying to do. He brought these issues up as the last item and it was NOT in response to a question from any pilot present. It does appear expectations are perhaps being managed, but you be the judge.
QUESTIONS:
1. How do you feel about the
sincerity of the man who has stood in the way of us getting a better contract and pay for 5 years
now characterizing our contract as the obstacle to another merger?
2. Do you believe he is managing our expectations to facilitate another merger?
3. If there is another merger, do you believe he will receive a bonus so it’s to his advantage to somehow mitigate the “change of control” language?
4. Do you believe the Hemenway letter recently placed in our mail boxes was in concert with this issue?
5. Do you believe some sort of merger deal or contract language mitigation deal is coming in leu of the LOA 93 grievance?
6. Do you believe the union is responsive in communicating these
issues in order to build consensus?
7. Why does Mr. Parker bring it up as the last topic without a solicitation or question?
8. Do you believe the CREW NEWS format allows management to negotiate/manipulate directly with the pilots?
9. Do you believe this language truly is another obstacle to a merger?
10. Do you believe a merger is in our best interests?
11. Do you believe confidentiality agreements between the company and the union help or hinder the union and the pilot’s ability to keep its membership informed?
We encourage you to ask yourselves, your fellow pilots, and your union leaders questions related to this issue.
An informed and educated membership leads to a consensual direction. Please forward this to your fellow pilots. We will be coming out very soon with our new “CORPORATE CULTURE SURVEY!”
