Flight Attendants' Voices Heard: Hell No!

[Onestep2flt]

It should have only been 3 years not 5 with a company with such a poor negotiating track record. I would have also wanted 3% raises at the end until another one was negotiated. The language that left things to schedulings descretion needed to be eliminated. I am still not a fan of PBS and this could also go. Considering what separating from the pilots was going to save them, they didnt give any to me. Regardless of what the union says I would rather be covered by pilot rest regs which are FARS than by something the union negotiates that can be violated at will. Parity for the west should have been the cost of doing business not something that was paid for by the East. Profit sharing was given to the west as a good will gesture by our union. It would have never happened if we got to vote on it. Not because the west doesnt deserve it, they do but because what good will has management shown either side in the past 7 years. The west does have some good things in their contract like STD, better vacation, trip cancellation pay, and they were giving these up for money. It was cost neutral at best. I hate the fact that our west f/a's are so underpaid, but this is Doug and Co. not me. He should be embarrassed that they have a food bank. I am not on reserve so I dont know much about the system, but I do know the people on reserve were not impressed with what was offered. These are only a few reasons, Im sure other people will chime in with more. Im sure if they want to merge with AMR they will get a grip and sweeten the pot.
🙂

This was a very well thoughtful post! Right to the core of the actual issues. It truly is not as simple as a pay raise as a lot of management teams like to put out to the public. The union must be evil because they just want money when in fact you just want a fair livable contract!


Very glad to see this turnout. I am very happy to be wrong on what I believed would happen! I thought that most of you had already given up and would just except this agreement with a low voter turnout. Boy was I wrong!!

Now, you MUST send Ms. Austin out to pasture with Mr. Flores before any further communication with the company begins. I am pretty sure she was not going to go back to flying trips like Flores claimed he was going to do. You must also consider the other folks on the negotiating team to see if they are really understanding your needs. Make no mistake, this will most likely not be a short lived process and will take some more time. But you have made your case loud and clear that you were not willing to except an inferior agreement just so you could get a couple dollar raise. It is not just about the money! Make sure your union leaders understand that as well.

 

[BoeingBoy]

So...you feel that zero increases in wages should be acceptable, nay, not only acceptable but, in your words " good", merely to hedge against some, as yet imaginary, future conditions!!??

This coming from a member of a group that hasn't met a concession they couldn't vote for.....

Jim

 

[EastUS1]

This coming from a member of a group that hasn't met a concession they couldn't vote for.....

Jim

Whilst your mindless, acidic spew is but that of: "This coming from a member...."

Good going to the Flight Attendants, and I'll not denigrate their work by taking this down some pilot bs track.

 

[ebwgs]

Whilst your mindless, acidic spew is but that of: "This coming from a member...."

Good going to the Flight Attendants, and I'll not denigrate their work by taking this down some pilot bs track.

Like.

 

[ContUNITEus]

Nice avoidance of the fact that you work for documented LIARS!

Tell me how 2 beers gets you over the legal limit?

Kirby's quote regarding the abject failure of the Res Migration.

These are but two examples of how Tempe wouldn't know or speak the truth if they had to. Clearly I'm not sharing all that I know. The reason is I will NOT betray a confidence to prove a point. Just because Tempe is a cabal of Liars, Cheat & Thieves doesn't mean I have to stoop to their level,

Bottom line is they can't be trusted. Not by a Customer or an Employee. You also forget the F/A's could drive the airline to its knees with CHAOS and an outright walk out. This vote sends a message that many are likely perfectly fine with the notion of "Full Pay to the Last Day"

As much as I hate to say it, I think the time has come for Labor to put US Airways out of business and it pains me greatly to say this.

Nice post

 

[SparrowHawk]

Oh dear....it pains you greatly to say that? "Time for Labor to put US Airways out of business?"

I don't like it even a little when so much as ONE person loses a job.

Oh yes, 20,000 employees including clerks, secretaries, analysts in the unemployment line while the Tempe cabal of "Liars, Cheats & Thieves" grab their millions and go home to a nice life? Are you kidding me?

Your comment shows your ignorance of C-Level people. They rose to the top due to blind ambition, greed, ego and the like. These ass clowns would be emotionally devastated as they would likely be unemployable at their current level in the airline industry.

The Flight Attendants stood up to Management and will go back and fight for what they deserve. Every group has the right to do that and should do that......but to drive the business to the ground because you are unhappy? Then leave. No one is holding anyone here hostage!!!

Doug Parker is always saying how consolidation is good for the industry. Maybe it's time for Labor to help him out by reducing capacity in the form of "We get paid market rates or we shut you down" It's not like US Employees get anything close to top wages. When Labor finally had enough of Lorenzo they shut him down AND we haven't had an airline go extinct due to Labor issues since. It's been a good 20 years since that revolution. Perhaps time for another revolution?

 

[lgwcalling]

WOW! I mean, really, WOW! Talk about sending a message. 90% participation in the vote. 75% of them voted against the Tentative Agreement. Epic and historic numbers. So proud of our Flight Attendants!

 

[lgwcalling]

WOW! I mean, really, WOW! Talk about sending a message. 90% participation in the vote. 75% of them voted against the Tentative Agreement. Epic and historic numbers. So proud of our Flight Attendants!

 

[Phoenix]

Right; because you sure wouldn't want represented labor groups to use math, finance and reasoning skills to evaluate their situations against the company's financial condition and the macro-economic environment. Far better to pretend that the Comapny has an endless supply of money to make every employee fabulously wealthy.

I would want the FAs to vote and for the elected reps to act accordingly (congrats to the FAs.) knew you were smarter than all the pilots, but being smarter than all the FAs is a role you aren't suited for.

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

If the FAs want a raise then they need to ratifiy a contract. If they don't want anything better than the status quo then they can keep voting no over and over again. In this environment where fuel costs are spiking up and the experts are predicting a return to 2008 levels, I think it's a good thing that wages are staying level.

A raise is generally taken to mean a salary increase that outpaces inflation. The FA tentative did not offer an increase, as you characterize it. Less than 1% per year when inflation is 2% per year sounds like a pay cut to me.

Also, fuel prices. Last I heard fuel prices affect everyone, so, when all the thinking about what you said is said and done, it seems to me that you are advocating that employees subsidize any fuel price increase. (You are advocating that the employees keep quiet about pay raises because of the increasing price of fuel) Did I get that right? Funny, fuel prices affect each and every airline and I don't see other airlines with that particular position.

 

[767one]

Right; because you sure wouldn't want represented labor groups to use math, finance and reasoning skills to evaluate their situations against the company's financial condition and the macro-economic environment. Far better to pretend that the Comapny has an endless supply of money to make every employee fabulously wealthy.

Give it a break. I guess in a management's perfect word all employees would take management's word as gospel. We all know that no management would ever tell their employees anything but the absolute truth.

 

[USA320Pilot]

I believe management may not be too concerned about the F/As voting down the TA. This could keep the F/As on their current bankruptcy wages for a long time, keep the company's costs down, and then management can wait a few years until they need to close a deal with APFA (American's F/A union).

It will be interesting to see the next steps.

Doug Parker said, "This tentative agreement was the result of years of deliberate negotiations and was achieved with the instrumental assistance and hard work of the National Mediation Board (NMB). It was also unanimously approved by the AFA negotiating committee. We will now consult with the NMB and AFA leadership to determine the best steps going forward to one day reach a ratified agreement."

I perceived the "one day" comment to mean a new deal could be a long ways off and could mean the NMB could park negotiations. Why did Parker specifically state one day? Could the company have reached their limit on what they will agree to in cost increases?

And, it appears Wall Street is not too concerned either. TheStreet.com reported "Shares of US Airways were virutally flat in the extended session, hardly reacting to news that the company's flight attendants had rejected a tentative contract agreement, reflecting unhappiness with the deal unanimously approved by their negotiating committee after five years of talks. The stock was last quoted at $7.60, up a penny, on volume of less than 60,000, according to Nasdaq.com. Year-to-date, the shares have soared 55%."

Click here to read the story.

This will be interesting to watch.

 

[USA320Pilot]

Sparrowhawk said: "As much as I hate to say it, I think the time has come for Labor to put US Airways out of business and it pains me greatly to say this."

USA320Pilot comments: Then why do you work here? Because you're angry and don't earn enough you want to hurt the business enterprise and thousands of other people? If you're unhappy then resign and go work somewhere else, but don't try to hurt others because you're unhappy.

 

[AAviator]

I believe management may not be too concerned about the F/As voting down the TA. This could keep the F/As on their current bankruptcy wages for a long time, keep the company's costs down, and then management can wait a few years until they need to close a deal with APFA (American's F/A union).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txlXcJDtDwM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yam5uK6e-bQ



I find Dolores O'Riordan to be extremely hot...

 

[CallawayGolf]

Well I can't respond to every overnight post so I'll just offer some general comments.

The FAs have been on the same wages for at least seven years and perhaps quite a bit more if I recall. So they took the only opportunity they had for improvements and said, no thanks. This was done despite having a bargaining agent spend years in negotiations with Management to produce the TA that was then resoundingly rejected. It reminds me of someone negotiating with a salesman and asking for a 25% discount on some purchase. The salesman says the best he can do is offer a 15% discount so the buyer says, well I would rather pay full price than to take your lousy 15% discount. So they make the full-price purchase and warn the salesman that they next time they come in the expect a 25% discount or they will just pay full price again.

Personally I feel for the 25% who voted to ratify the TA and are now being held hostage by the majority. That's the real tragedy in all of this.