Management Presents "plan" To Afa

[PITbull]

Bob,

Woah, brakes on!

Membership will decide if they will concede to participate. The "plan" appears clean and viable at first glance.

But, there are pieces of it that have not been told to AFA and that is the vital piece; labor's participation.

Presently, our frontline employees are in distress. Our Labor groups from ticketing to inflight will not wear their emotions on their sleeves, doesn't mean that their work stress and anxiety doesn't exist. Mangement can not walk away from this vital issue just because they were able to present a "survival plan".

Management MUST change their culture. But first and foremost, they must recognize that they have a problem. Management has failed horribly in this arena, and now they just happen to need labor to fit the pieces of this "plan" together.

They have NOT outlined a "plan" on how to remedy that. The "product" in this industry is the service employees provide at all levels. When passengers purchase a ticket, they don't get to take the seat home or the airplane. They pay for an expectation of service that the carrier provides. If the employee's don't meet that expectation, than the product is poor.

Again, to get to "point C", one must get to "point A and B" first.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

PITbull, so it's safe to assume that we won't be hearing any mea culpas from Siegel, Glass, Cohen and that goofball Chiames. I think most people could appreciate a sincere "Sorry, everybody we really f&cked up big time, can you forgive us?" The key question is: Does David Siegel & Co. have the chutzpah to put aside egos and do the right thing?

 

[PITbull]

Eye,

No, they are far from admitting any "shortcomings" and "shortsightedness"with regard to anticipating a rapidly changing environment, if that is really the case. They reitorated with the famous line: "the world has changed permanently", and we either adapt or die". Same exact words from the mouth of "USA320pilot". They say that the environment has changed so quickly that the emerged -BK business plan could not sustain the current environment. So the blame was placed on the "changing-world-forever" line. And I know from that "line", that USA320pilot drank some serious kool-aide up there.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Eye,

No, they are far from admitting any "shortcomings" and "shortsightedness"with regard to anticipating a rapidly changing environment, if that is really the case. They reitorated with the famous line: "the world has changed permanently", and we either adapt or die". Same exact words from the mouth of "USA320pilot". They say that the environment has changed so quickly that the emerged -BK business plan could not sustain the current environment. So the blame was placed on the "changing-world-forever" line.

PITbull, I like the Marine Corp. philosophy "Improvise, adapt, and overcome". Clearly, US Airways employees have done ALL of the above. Has management? Like you said, THEY need to lead by example. Loyal employees have lost faith, who is going to bring it back?

 

[PITbull]

Bob,

Exactly!

Way I see it, the balls in mangement's court on this one. They have an opportunity, hope they don't disappoint.

 

[MarkMyWords]

Bravo PitBull and thanks for the promising news. I am glad that you are holding them accountable for the morale issue and trying to foster a change not only for the customer aspect, but for the employee aspect too. It is also encouraging to hear that there are changes coming in everything from aircraft productivity to fare structures.

Thank you for sharing what you could on here.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

PITbull and MMW, Dave and the gang need to make the welfare of the employees a top priority. What's that saying, feed your eagles and they will soar? It's all relative. This place is getting to be like an airline ghetto.

 

[PITbull]

Eye,

I agree. This is priority #1 for survival.

Flight attendants need to demand CHANGE in the way our departments manage the employees, and they need to let this management know the stakes.

I will promote the f/as to e-mail CCY, and drive this issue home.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

PITbull, these guys in CCY need to stop looking at the spreadsheets and Power Point presentations and get a clue. This company will cease to exist without a good product. As a service industry excellent employees need to be viewed as assets rather than liabilities. All anybody has heard out of CCY is you employees are liabilities. Change that tune and people might actually listen...no wardrobe malfunctions necessary

 

[PITbull]

I agree with you 100%. Key to our success short term and long, is to fix the morale problems with ALL labor groups. Mangement diffinitely has a "plan" this time, what they still haven't done is factor in the "human value" aspect of the equation.

I believe the majority of f/as who are effected by these last two concessions have to do with sick and reserve issues. On top of implementing these types of system which in its entirety is one, if not, the worst system with regard to "human quality of life" factor these effect. And on top of this, the company manged to augment these two policies/system by adding additional policies that help foster the collapse of the morale, and dispair. This is where the violations come in and must cease and the stealing of additional cost savings from our agreements. I am sure, every labor group on our property can tell a story.

 

[MarkMyWords]

PitBull,

Any idea of when they will drop their wish list of concessions/work rule changes/productivity enhancements on the table?

 

[PITbull]

MMW,

Well, AFA has their winter meeting next week. They will go into major discussions over this and what course of action, if any, to take.

Management assumes we are going to come to the table, and had stated for us not to wait until too much time passes. I get the feeling that the "time line" for this concession is not as ciritical as it has been in the past from what management revealed. I believe they may want AFA to acquiesce next, in order to get the IAM to participate. We will not be the "goat" for mangement on that.

I believe that AFA MUST ballot the membership to give permission this time to the leadership to go to the table. And only AFTER they are made privy to the plan, which is mangement's responsibility. The PIT local Pres. will press this issue along with PHL.

That all will take time. AFA also needs to lag behind no matter what, because ALPA is tied to our "Me toos", and this could grossly effect our members without any type of exchange. If we go first, management will receive the "me toos" for free. Hell, if ALPA give some "Me too" provisions away, AFA is all done with give backs.

No, don't anticipate AFA is hurrying to the table. We know from mangement hx that even if you went early to go through all the exercises, they still will force their final bottom line proposal no matter when you come to table. The threats are still there, just not as severe and sincere as they were in the past. Not at this juncture. Like I said, its up to the membership. That is why it is imperative that management begins the repair process for all labor groups.

 

[MarkMyWords]

I was just curious if they gave you any idea of what exactly they were looking for. Thanks for the info.

 

[marco90821]

Not sure where Pittbull got his info, but I surmise it was a heated meeting with no accomplishments. AFA told management to go stick it, and that the well was dry. AFA said they plan to have a work stoppage should management ask for concesions that may allow the airline to function and make a profit. An AFA spokeperson in drag stated, "...we do enjoy the eternal complaining and fight against management, afterall, what good would our union be if there was not discord between labor and management..." AFA was also seeking the Clintons to work as the official "spin control" officers on AFA's behalf.

 

[UseYourHead]

I believe the majority of f/as who are effected by these last two concessions have to do with sick and reserve issues. On top of implementing these types of system which in its entirety is one, if not, the worst system with regard to "human quality of life" factor these effect.

PITBull,

Are you on reserve? Have you been on reserve for say 10-15 years? Do you understand how bad the old reserve system was too, especially for junior reserves?

I have been on reserve (as a reserve Captain) since 1989. Most of that time a very junior reserve. The old system was also terrible; hell, reserve is terrible!

The new system, with a higher guarantee would be far better than the old system. EVERYONE on reserve has a reasonable quality of life, with predictability, and so on (that is assuming all of your co-workers do not call in sick). This observation is from a long-term reserve.

BTW, thank you for the update of the meeting....