insights from inside UAL

sdavis29

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Nov 13, 2002
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www.usaviation.com
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[P][BR]Subject: ual like it is [/P]
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[P]Gang,[BR] [BR]First, let me preface this by admitting that I''m an Airbus F/O at United. These are the realities of our situation:[BR] [BR]Pilots: First....Making a lot of money when the economy is up and your business model works is great. The reality is that our work rules are a joke. Imagine if any of us on this message board opened up a carwash and allowed our employees to work at the same productivity levely that we as UAL pilots do. Chapter 11.[BR] [BR]Second....You can argue your value only when you''re in a buyers market. The reality is that there are a lot of 25-27 year old pilots out there that can do my job and are willing to do it for 1/4 the cost. Do they have my qualifications? NO! Does the flying public care? NO!! John B. Public doesn''t discern whether or not his guy in the polyester suit flew from aircraft carriers or in Cessna 172''s. The only issue in this economy is ticket price. PERIOD![BR] [BR]Third....I have yet to meet a group of employees possessing a greater sense of entitlement when it comes to the work place. Read up on Adam Smith referencing market forces. We cannot transfer our skills to equitable wages elsewhere in the economy. The market and, therefore, our current situation will ultimately determine our income or our demise.[BR] [BR]IAM: First....You got screwed.[BR] [BR]Second...It doesn''t matter. Live by the sword or die by it but I would always choose to live now and fight another day. In my relatively short tenure at United I''ve run into a host of former Eastern Mechs driving limo''s or working in hotels. All of them service industry and all of them making far less that you will even given the most sever wage concessions.[BR] [BR]Finally: UNIONS! Blame Bush and the Republicans all you want but here are the facts![BR] [BR]FACT 1: The ESOP was a failure. It was a failure in practice and theory. How can you have a member on the board who has a fiduciary responsibility to ALL shareholders but is still a member of our Union(s).[BR] [BR]FACT 2: We paid too much for the stock. If you can''t see this go to mathmadeeasy.com.[BR] [BR]FACT 3: ALPA and the IAM put Goodwin in charge because we thought he could be groomed. OOPS[BR] [BR]FACT 4: The pilot slowdown was the start of UAL loosing money.[BR] [BR]FACT 5: Contract 2000 was phase 2 of UAL loosing money. Rick even said we couldn''t afford it. The Golden Goose had suffered a loss of oxygen a bit too long.[BR] [BR]FACT 6: For the IAM. J Peterpaul; good, bad or indifferent was your guy and he voted for the USAir merger. I''ll blame my union for it''s transgressions. Blame yours for its own.[BR] [BR]FACT 7: Executives and lawyers don''t lose money. Ever. So if you think you''re screwing anyone other than the employees of this company by advocating its demise you''re either blinded by anger or just foolish. Name one poor former airline CEO. Just one will do.[BR] [BR]FACT 8: Tilton is our last hope. I give UAL a less that 50% chance of going chapter 7 and it has nothing to do with the economy or Iraq or our competitors. I can''t blame Blue Skies or Ferris or Wolf or ESOP or Goodwin or Osama or anyone else right now. We have to live to fight another day. [BR] [BR] [BR]I''d rather be furloughed for 5 years than see this company go down. There are too many good people who have worked hard trying to make a go under lousy leadership to let that happen.[BR] [BR]Semper Fi,[BR] [/P]
[P]This was forwarded to my by a friend that just retired from UA [BR] Subject: Dear Old UAL[/P]
[P][BR]Dear OldUAL, [BR]I just finished reading your self-serving diatribe in which you cite greed, arrogance, stupidity, irresponsibility and ignorance, and state that everyone is pointing their finger at everyone else. You may be blaming everyone else, but everyone else''s finger is aimed directly at you (the pilots).You were the ones who settled their contract first and set the standard. To assume that any other employee group should not expect to receive a comensurate level of compensation is egomaniacal (your word). My employee group (IAM Customer Service) had not had any raise in 10 yrs and the 22% we got averaged 2.2% per year and did not provide snapback after the ESOP like other work groups. If that''s greedy well excuse me! You singlehandedly destroyed the spirit of the ESOP with your me first tactics during the summer from hell. There were days I wished I could have a car accident on the way to work rather than have to deal with your fallout for one more day. You had no regard for your company, any of your coworkers or the customer who pays your inflated salary! While we have no control over such events as the ecomonic downturn or terrorist attacks, your actions were malicious and intentional, serving only to get you what you wanted -- more, more, more! Now you are crying because you might have to sell the BMW, or the boat, or the condo in Aspen. Ask yourself why we should pull together to save you? I drive an ''89 Maxima and it was used when I bought it, but it''s paid for. I live within my means and if I have to find another job, I will. But I haven''t seen any wants ads lately looking for arrogant jerks who work part time and expect to be paid $200,000 a year. Even if the company surveys I am facing a 40% cut in my pension. After taxes and the 50% medical premium I will now have to pay, I will be lucky to be left with $400 per month. Can you live on that? This is my reward for[BR]24 years of coming to work every day and putting up with the likes of you! You live in one world and the rest of us live in the real world. It never ceases to amaze me that after you pull stunts like your contract negotiations and get a nice fat contract, you expect everyone else to forgive and forget and be happy about it. Have you ever asked any of the rank and file how they really feel about pilots? Stand up and take respon-sibility for what you have done. Stop blaming the rest of us for what you started long before the ESOP and the summer form hell. [/P]
[P]Everybody Else[/P]
[P]Best Regards,[BR]Jim [BR][BR][BR][/P]