MEC Chairman web cast script
September 8, 2004
I’m Bill Pollock, your MEC chairman, with a web cast update for Wednesday, September 8th. In this web cast, I want to talk about the discussions and actions that were taken earlier this week when the MEC met in Arlington, Virginia, and what happens next with the US Airways pilot group.
Following three months of negotiations between ALPA and management on the Transformation Plan, and after a 12-day period of on-and-off MEC meetings and many negotiating sessions, on the evening of Monday, September 6th, a motion was proffered to send the latest Company proposal out to the membership for ratification. This motion was defeated on a roll call vote by three members of the MEC, with one of those three members holding the proxy for another MEC member. These three MEC members voted against letting the membership determine if the proposal was acceptable. While the roll call vote is authorized under our Constitution and By-Laws, I am growing weary of its incessant use. The bottom line is that three members, elected by less than 10% of our pilots, were able to keep you from making your own decision on your future. And you should know, at this time, negotiations between ALPA and management are in recess, and we do not know whether or when talks will resume.
I believe that this final Company proposal, as objectionable as it was, should have been sent to the membership for a vote this past Monday. There were several good reasons to do this.
First, our own Negotiating Committee and advisors told us that only minor changes in this latest proposal could have been exchanged between different components, and that those changes wouldn’t have altered the economics of the proposal that was before the MEC. And, with the Company stating that they may have to consider bankruptcy if agreements with labor groups are not reached, I believe that the proposal contained protections that may not be available should a bankruptcy filing take place without an agreement. For the Company, the deal would help provide the momentum that it would need to reach agreements with other labor groups.
I want to make clear that even if we would have ratified an agreement with the Company, it would have not been any guarantee that we would have avoided a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. However, if the Company chooses to restructure through bankruptcy court, a deal with their most powerful union would have provided an important stabilizing effect during court proceedings and would have shown the financial community and the government that they had a plan that could succeed. Without an agreement, we may be at the mercy of the court and third parties who may take a dim view of our inability to close a cost savings agreement with management when we had the chance.
I’ve been telling you for months that I would do everything that I could to ensure that you would have a vote on this so that you, the pilot group, could cast a ballot and determine your future. Your sacrifices in previous restructuring efforts have more than earned you the ability to determine your own fate and that of your airline. I find it unacceptable that a few individuals believe they know what’s best for you, completely disregarding the counsel of our advisors. You have resoundingly told us that you want to vote on issues affecting your pay and working conditions. And after providing you with an unprecedented amount of information on these negotiations, in my view, it is simply wrong for MEC members to keep you out of this process at this stage of the game.
Now, I’d like to address a few questions about the proposals that pilots have had been asking me.
Some pilots have been hearing a lot about management’s “quote-moving target-unquote†that was in their proposals. During the last few weeks of negotiations, ALPA and the Company exchanged several proposals that had different approaches to pay, benefits and work rules built into each proposal. This was done to satisfy the MEC’s requirements on these matters. Different proposals contained a changing mix of work rules, pension calculations and pay calculations, and this also changed the accounting results for pension calculations. But in the end, the costing of the different provisions was not going to change the economics of the target. The Company also made it clear that they were not going to back down from their 295 million dollar target number. The pay cuts became larger because some members of the MEC told the Negotiating Committee to proceed that way. Simply put, we got what we asked for.
This would have been a difficult negotiation regardless of our current situation. If a final proposal or TA would have been sent to the pilot group, it would have been a difficult decision for you, but you would have had the facts on which to base your decision. I am truly sorry that you were denied that right.
I know that the uncertainty of this situation concerns all of you, and I know that you deserve all the information we can give you. I’ll soon send out a comprehensive Chairman’s letter that offers a full outline on the events of the past week, and what steps we’ll be taking in the future. I’ll also be recording a chairman’s message to the pilots shortly. Please continue to use the code a phone, website and chairman’s message to keep updated on news about the status of Transformation Plan negotiations.
Thanks for watching.
September 8, 2004
I’m Bill Pollock, your MEC chairman, with a web cast update for Wednesday, September 8th. In this web cast, I want to talk about the discussions and actions that were taken earlier this week when the MEC met in Arlington, Virginia, and what happens next with the US Airways pilot group.
Following three months of negotiations between ALPA and management on the Transformation Plan, and after a 12-day period of on-and-off MEC meetings and many negotiating sessions, on the evening of Monday, September 6th, a motion was proffered to send the latest Company proposal out to the membership for ratification. This motion was defeated on a roll call vote by three members of the MEC, with one of those three members holding the proxy for another MEC member. These three MEC members voted against letting the membership determine if the proposal was acceptable. While the roll call vote is authorized under our Constitution and By-Laws, I am growing weary of its incessant use. The bottom line is that three members, elected by less than 10% of our pilots, were able to keep you from making your own decision on your future. And you should know, at this time, negotiations between ALPA and management are in recess, and we do not know whether or when talks will resume.
I believe that this final Company proposal, as objectionable as it was, should have been sent to the membership for a vote this past Monday. There were several good reasons to do this.
First, our own Negotiating Committee and advisors told us that only minor changes in this latest proposal could have been exchanged between different components, and that those changes wouldn’t have altered the economics of the proposal that was before the MEC. And, with the Company stating that they may have to consider bankruptcy if agreements with labor groups are not reached, I believe that the proposal contained protections that may not be available should a bankruptcy filing take place without an agreement. For the Company, the deal would help provide the momentum that it would need to reach agreements with other labor groups.
I want to make clear that even if we would have ratified an agreement with the Company, it would have not been any guarantee that we would have avoided a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. However, if the Company chooses to restructure through bankruptcy court, a deal with their most powerful union would have provided an important stabilizing effect during court proceedings and would have shown the financial community and the government that they had a plan that could succeed. Without an agreement, we may be at the mercy of the court and third parties who may take a dim view of our inability to close a cost savings agreement with management when we had the chance.
I’ve been telling you for months that I would do everything that I could to ensure that you would have a vote on this so that you, the pilot group, could cast a ballot and determine your future. Your sacrifices in previous restructuring efforts have more than earned you the ability to determine your own fate and that of your airline. I find it unacceptable that a few individuals believe they know what’s best for you, completely disregarding the counsel of our advisors. You have resoundingly told us that you want to vote on issues affecting your pay and working conditions. And after providing you with an unprecedented amount of information on these negotiations, in my view, it is simply wrong for MEC members to keep you out of this process at this stage of the game.
Now, I’d like to address a few questions about the proposals that pilots have had been asking me.
Some pilots have been hearing a lot about management’s “quote-moving target-unquote†that was in their proposals. During the last few weeks of negotiations, ALPA and the Company exchanged several proposals that had different approaches to pay, benefits and work rules built into each proposal. This was done to satisfy the MEC’s requirements on these matters. Different proposals contained a changing mix of work rules, pension calculations and pay calculations, and this also changed the accounting results for pension calculations. But in the end, the costing of the different provisions was not going to change the economics of the target. The Company also made it clear that they were not going to back down from their 295 million dollar target number. The pay cuts became larger because some members of the MEC told the Negotiating Committee to proceed that way. Simply put, we got what we asked for.
This would have been a difficult negotiation regardless of our current situation. If a final proposal or TA would have been sent to the pilot group, it would have been a difficult decision for you, but you would have had the facts on which to base your decision. I am truly sorry that you were denied that right.
I know that the uncertainty of this situation concerns all of you, and I know that you deserve all the information we can give you. I’ll soon send out a comprehensive Chairman’s letter that offers a full outline on the events of the past week, and what steps we’ll be taking in the future. I’ll also be recording a chairman’s message to the pilots shortly. Please continue to use the code a phone, website and chairman’s message to keep updated on news about the status of Transformation Plan negotiations.
Thanks for watching.
