- Nov 9, 2003
- 16,512
- 5,865
JOINT STATEMENT OF LABOR PRINCIPLES
The management teams at both US Airways and America West Airlines recognize the anxiety and uncertainty created among our valued employees since news of a potential merger surfaced in April, and we sincerely regret that legal constraints prevented us from providing you with more details about our discussions. Now that we have announced our planned merger, we can assure you that we have heard
your requests to be kept informed and we will be as open as possible as this transaction progresses.
.
The leading question is the obvious one: what will happen to my job if America West is ultimately merged into US Airways? We’ll try to give you our best answer, but please keep in mind that it will take a long time to complete an operational integration and, as we’ve already seen, there’s always the potential for unexpected changes in our industry.
Even once we begin the process of integrating our operations, it’s still hard to say what will happen to anyone’s particular job. For employees in work groups not represented by a collective bargaining agent at either airline, our management teams will be fair to employees at both carriers. Every employee is entitled to be evaluated individually, and there is no presumption that employees of one airline will be favored over the other.
For employees in work groups represented by unions, the question of what will happen to your jobs is even harder for us to answer because so much of what will happen is outside management’s control. Our labor contracts contain different provisions governing how seniority lists will be integrated, and depending on your specific contract, provide for integration in accordance with a particular union’s merger policy or certain “Allegheny Mohawk†seniority integration provisions. We will honor those contractual commitments, and the ultimate outcome of seniority integration will be determined by your collective bargaining representatives as dictated by your contracts.
Although the seniority integration process will be handled by your union representatives, we have every expectation that our unions will honor certain obviously fair and equitab le protocols as they implement their merger policies or Allegheny Mohawk provisions. Specifically, we would expect that no employee who already had been furloughed prior to the merger would be permitted to bump an active employee out of a job. Likewise, we expect our unions will recognize a solution that simply “staples†all employees of one airline to the bottom of the other’s seniority list as unacceptable and unconscionable. To that end, because of seniority differences in some groups, straight seniority integration could have an effect similar to that of stapling employees to the bottom of a seniority list, an outcome that is inconsistent with a fair and equitable protocol. Therefore, some type of proportional integration would seem reasonable. Given our experience working with your union representatives, we do not anticipate they would advocate an integrated seniority list that violates the basic tenets of fairness and equity, and we encourage them to help ease any uncertainty among their members as soon as possible by confirming their intention to work toward seniority integration using these basic principles.
Lastly, although it is extremely important to go through the proper process of integrating seniority lists, dragging seniority integration out for an unnecessarily long period of time is not in anyone’s best interest. It is distracting to employees, and to customers who contemplate flying with the new US Airways. A thoughtful, deliberate but timely resolution will help everyone move forward with greater certainty, even if expectations are not always met.
We will provide updates about the proposed merger as soon as we can, while continuing to be honest about what we can’t predict. We truly believe this proposed merger is in the best interests of employees at both airlines, and we will work hard to provide you with information as we move towards a combined airline that has a great future ahead.
Sincerely,
Doug Parker
Bruce R. Lakefield
The management teams at both US Airways and America West Airlines recognize the anxiety and uncertainty created among our valued employees since news of a potential merger surfaced in April, and we sincerely regret that legal constraints prevented us from providing you with more details about our discussions. Now that we have announced our planned merger, we can assure you that we have heard
your requests to be kept informed and we will be as open as possible as this transaction progresses.
.
The leading question is the obvious one: what will happen to my job if America West is ultimately merged into US Airways? We’ll try to give you our best answer, but please keep in mind that it will take a long time to complete an operational integration and, as we’ve already seen, there’s always the potential for unexpected changes in our industry.
Even once we begin the process of integrating our operations, it’s still hard to say what will happen to anyone’s particular job. For employees in work groups not represented by a collective bargaining agent at either airline, our management teams will be fair to employees at both carriers. Every employee is entitled to be evaluated individually, and there is no presumption that employees of one airline will be favored over the other.
For employees in work groups represented by unions, the question of what will happen to your jobs is even harder for us to answer because so much of what will happen is outside management’s control. Our labor contracts contain different provisions governing how seniority lists will be integrated, and depending on your specific contract, provide for integration in accordance with a particular union’s merger policy or certain “Allegheny Mohawk†seniority integration provisions. We will honor those contractual commitments, and the ultimate outcome of seniority integration will be determined by your collective bargaining representatives as dictated by your contracts.
Although the seniority integration process will be handled by your union representatives, we have every expectation that our unions will honor certain obviously fair and equitab le protocols as they implement their merger policies or Allegheny Mohawk provisions. Specifically, we would expect that no employee who already had been furloughed prior to the merger would be permitted to bump an active employee out of a job. Likewise, we expect our unions will recognize a solution that simply “staples†all employees of one airline to the bottom of the other’s seniority list as unacceptable and unconscionable. To that end, because of seniority differences in some groups, straight seniority integration could have an effect similar to that of stapling employees to the bottom of a seniority list, an outcome that is inconsistent with a fair and equitable protocol. Therefore, some type of proportional integration would seem reasonable. Given our experience working with your union representatives, we do not anticipate they would advocate an integrated seniority list that violates the basic tenets of fairness and equity, and we encourage them to help ease any uncertainty among their members as soon as possible by confirming their intention to work toward seniority integration using these basic principles.
Lastly, although it is extremely important to go through the proper process of integrating seniority lists, dragging seniority integration out for an unnecessarily long period of time is not in anyone’s best interest. It is distracting to employees, and to customers who contemplate flying with the new US Airways. A thoughtful, deliberate but timely resolution will help everyone move forward with greater certainty, even if expectations are not always met.
We will provide updates about the proposed merger as soon as we can, while continuing to be honest about what we can’t predict. We truly believe this proposed merger is in the best interests of employees at both airlines, and we will work hard to provide you with information as we move towards a combined airline that has a great future ahead.
Sincerely,
Doug Parker
Bruce R. Lakefield
