Media Day Picket a success!

[john john]

How can anyone beleive you ? i'm in a union , and our contract is coming up for discussion .. i can tell you point blank no one in my work group would endorse a strike ...i think it's safe to say the same goes for every work group ...Sure the reserves MIGHT be angry enough to take some sort of action , but then again they might not ... it's one thing for the junior people to stick their necks out , but they won't do it alone ... and i simply can't see the senior workers supporting the junior workers , not when it could jepordize their jobs ...

The economy has everyone terrfied , decent employment is almost impossible to find unless you "know" someone , and everyone is aware of this ..

In 2004 management file to reject the contracts of passenger service agent if they did not adopt America West pay and benefits. America West pay and benefits and work rules was among the worst in the industry.
A strike authorization vote by US Airways Passenger Service employees passes overwhelmingly: 86% approve, 14% disapprove...
11-10-2004
CWA attorneys have filed bankruptcy court objections to management's request and will argue against those cuts as the case proceeds.
Whatever the bankruptcy judge rules on the company's request for a six-month 23% cut, we know that management will now make further, long-term demands for additional pay cuts for up to five years.
We must find a way to stop management's repeated raids on our paychecks. CWA local officers, staff, attorneys and analysts are planning our strategy for the immediate future. That strategy will not work without your participation. When you are contacted, please do your part to help save our passenger service careers.
CWA Local Officers and Staff

CWA represented US Airways agents and reps have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike or other lawful job action in the event that management imposes concessions through the bankruptcy process without a vote of the employees. With strong showings from all locations and workgroups, the CWA Passenger Service local presidents counted the ballots today at CWA’s national headquarters in Washington, DC.
The final vote tally was 86% in favor of strike authorization and 14% opposed. Full details and explanation of the strike vote authorization process and procedures, including CWA strike benefits, is contained in the letter you received at your home address accompanying your strike authorization ballot.
The CWA local presidents immediately issued this statement: “Thank you, agents and reps, for giving us this show of strength and determination. We pledge to make every effort to reach a reasonable settlement with management – a settlement that can be ratified by a vote of the employees. Thank you for support.”
CWA Board Clears the Way for Possible Strike By US Airways Passenger Service Agents
11/30/2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Communications Workers of America's national executive board voted unanimously to authorize strike action by 6,000 passenger service agents against US Airways, clearing the way for CWA's president to set a strike date.
The passenger agents earlier this month voted by 86 percent to authorize a strike against the airline in a membership referendum.
Meanwhile, CWA negotiators are continuing to meet this week with US Airways management in an attempt to reach a new labor settlement.
The airline has demanded devastating pay and benefit concessions from the agents and has petitioned the bankruptcy judge to throw out their union contract.
Abrogation of the contract would allow the agents to strike or engage in other job actions.

 

[700UW]

Actually John John, the CWA's press release is wrong, the courts have said you cant strike upon a cba abrogation, the case was NW.

 

[FWAAA]

2. You want to extol Herb while denigrating Doug for alcohol? Herb tips it back way more that Doug ever dreamed of. Talk about hypocrisy.

Remind us, if you will, how many drunk driving convictions are on Herb's record? I don't have a problem with alcohol consumption. The behaviour flaw of driving after tying one on, however, is a pretty serious one. Parker's most recent conviction, after he was rebuffed in his attempt to take over Delta, made him look like a juvenile.

 

[767one]

I'm glad you all are standing up. I'm with you.

I'm with you Harry,

Regards,

Bob

 

[VAflyGal]

actually i know what chaos is ... but i'm guessing that all it would take is the termination of just one flight crew and that would end chaos in a day .....

in this economy work is life ....



but who knows , maybe you'll prove me wrong and bring down the company , that would be amusing if i turned out to be wrong ...

Just because your group doesn't have a set doesn't meant we don't. I don't think you arent labor anyway because labor supports each other. You probably have a cube in the castle. I'm done dignifying your ignorance with my time. We will shut it down. Again we are the largest group on property, have been without a contract the longest, and back each other up - on the plane or on the picket line.

Try to fire us for our legal right and we'll park every plane in this trailer park.

 

[767one]

Unions are bad?

The people that brought you the 40 hour work week.

The people that brought the child labor laws

The people that brought safety in the workplace

The people gave their lives in order for us to join a union

The people that brought you pensions

The people that brought you a living wage

Shall I continue?
By the way, why is it ok for Doug and the Executives to have a contract and not the rank and file?

700u,

Great post and feel free to continue!


Bob

 

[767one]

As already noted in my post, I was simply citing excerpts from the article which included this reference. I agree, this survey is a bit dated and probably gives a much higher value than the percentage of non-union employees who would vote for collective representation than what a 2011 survey would. If you have a more recent study, please cite away.

The point remains that the majority of Americans look upon unions with disdain for all of the reasons cited in the encyclopedic article, especially when unions disrupt the day-to-day operations of a company they do business with. Some Americans would even go so far as to intentionally spend more money with a business that is being picketed by its employees where they might not have otherwise. So, if there are two grocery stores on the corner and one has picketers while the other does not, there are those who will go to the grocery store being picketed to show support for the business owners while the adolescent malcontents stand on the corner hoping to steer customers away. Likewise, if the NFL situation gets to the point where replacement players are called in, there are those who will go to the games just to show support for the owners side because the already overpaid players just aren’t satisfied enough to make 25 times what the average American in the stands and at home watching on TV earn at their full-time jobs.

Therefore, what does the picketing really accomplish? Virtually nothing. The public at-large is often apathetic toward the union’s grievances or they view the union picketers as the source of the problem. In the same way Management isn’t likely to be all that concerned by peaceful demonstrations as they know it is just part of the collective bargaining process. These kinds of staged events have been going on since the merger and what quantifiable effect has it had on getting a JCBA for the FAs or pilots? Five years of “showing unity” and picketing company facilities and not a single thing to show for it. Not very effective at all I would say.

Finally, the whole CBA process is really just a joke. The FAs will reject the company’s $40M offer for several more years; picket, go through mediated talks and have the slimmest of chances of actually getting released to self-help all to come back to a final package that is still a compromise between the union’s and Management’s proposal. In the meantime Management continues to enjoy the lower costs of stagnated negotiations and will end up better off financially than if they had compromised on the union demands years earlier. Complain all you want; picket, protest, go to CHAOS if you are legally able to do so and you might just get enough to get to a ratified JCBA. Of course the euphoria of that “win” will only last from a few days to a few months and then most will be right back to being unhappy, downtrodden, and dissatisfied with everything - which is the state most represented employees spend their entire careers in. Want proof, just look at the posts of any labor-related thread on this site and show me where unionized employees are happy with their contract terms and with the management team running their company. I’ll stand by while you look that up.

Callaway,

My guess is that most non-union employees don't have the intestinal fortitude to post anything for fear of their supervisors finding out unless they already have the approval of their supervisors.

Regards,

Bob

Regards,

Bob

 

[ggiby]

I am sorry to say that the only thing you succeeded in doing is providing yourself a false sence of accomplishment. The public really does not care and management will do as they please. As far as work stoppages I doubt you will be released to pursue that avenue and any such action would be illegal.

Guess the public seated on my flight cares when I walk off???? When you say the public does not care.... They will if they are flying on the flights we walk off of.... No crew..... No flight... can we all say "Xld flight?"

 

[Glucose Intolerant]

There's a $70 million gap between the company and the FA's. Less than 30 days to train a FA. Unemployment at 9%+. Can you say Northwest 2005 part II. Good Luck.

What took place at NWA was criminal. The Banksters out in Tempe will do everything in their power to impose the same results. They won't be successful. Flight attendants and mechanics are not the only ones vulnerable.

Just because you sit up front - you are no less vulnerable. Imagine for a moment,
NIC IS NOT IMPLEMENTED into to the CBA.....
NIC IS IMPLEMENTED into the CBA.....
Then what? The CBA is then voted down - a work action takes place?

Where is "My money's on Mr. Parker now"...... WTF?

Are there 50 seat jockeys out there willing to cross a picket line for YOUR job?
You are 120 million apart, and INDOC is only five weeks.
Seems a simple solution.

As a pilot, I wouldn't be as concerned as much about what took place at NWA and the mechanics (as bad as it was). I would rather be really concerned about what happened to the ALPA Midwest/Midwest Express pilots after Republic got involved. You know that OTHER morally bankrupt regional airline with a "megalomaniac complex".
Don't think that could happen here? Think again.

That's when you want union solidarity and a strong unified labor coalition with all the other labor unions - you know all that commie stuff they make you denounce before moving to AZ.

Time will only tell. I hope for all of us we never find out.

The fact remains: Someone still has to cross a picket line to take a job.
No matter how bad the economy is.....The economy will never be bad enough to cross a picket line.

Cross a picket line, your a SCAB for life, PERIOD.

Is someone really going to do that just to secure a temporary "job" at the worst airline in the industry?
Really??? Yeah - I don't think so.

The "Anti-labor" types probably don't have a problem being branded a SCAB, they will always find a myriad of ways to rationalize it to themselves and others, but at the end of the day they still will have their brown little nose up the backside of whomever is in charge...... and they're still a SCAB. Pretty predictable.

Seems real simple to avoid. Just bargain in "good faith" and save all the games.

 

[john john]

Actually John John, the CWA's press release is wrong, the courts have said you cant strike upon a cba abrogation, the case was NW.

The agents put their jobs on the line to test the process. CWA settled before the courts got involved. Management was looking for Debtor-in-Possession Financing and wanted agreements with labor
I just hope the HP’ers(agents) and new hires(agents) GET IT

 

[freedom]

Just because your group doesn't have a set doesn't meant we don't. I don't think you arent labor anyway because labor supports each other. You probably have a cube in the castle. I'm done dignifying your ignorance with my time. We will shut it down. Again we are the largest group on property, have been without a contract the longest, and back each other up - on the plane or on the picket line.

Try to fire us for our legal right and we'll park every plane in this trailer park.

don't worry , i'm sure the company will give you a cost netrual contract ....As for "shutting it down " would you jump off a bridge if you got mad enough , because thats what your proposing ... and even if YOU jumped , i doubt anyone else would .. your strike will be an epic FAIL ..i want you to know that i do support labor , and i'm in full favor of cost netrual conracts , least we end up like the detroit auto workers and price ourselves out of jobs .... come on everyone say it with me ! COST NETRUAL !

As for the comment above this one .... SCAB ? what's a SCAB ? oh that's right , that's a term that union workers use to brand people who apply for open postions .. if you consider that unions only make up oh maybe 7 % of private industry , you had better hope that the other 93 % of the piravate industry catches union fever and decides not to cross a picketline ....

of course thou , who would want to cross picket lines when unemployment is at 11 % ( undeclared ) and underemployment is 10 % .....

it's both sad and funny watching all of the workers try to talk tough at the moment of greatest weakness ... did anyone notice the price of oil was rising ? omius storm clouds on the horizons ...

 

[700UW]

Freedom you will never learn.

You have to fight for what you want in a CBA the company just doesnt give it to you.

Grow a set and stand up for yourself, your last stance on the CBA caused a few hundred of your fellow FSAs to be laid-off.

I have been on strike against US for five days, its not a bad thing and its better to die standing up for yourself than living in fear on your knees.

If everyone had your attitude workers would be back to indentured servitude or living in company towns.

 

[CallawayGolf]

Seems like I have a number of responses to reply to. I'll endeavor to respond to only a few.

First, Bob, I would agree with you about the non-contract employees not posting since doing so could land them in hot water without a union to save their skin for violating company policy. Fortunately I don't have any superiors to answer to in that regard. I'm sure no one in charge really wants me to rile up the masses with my opinions, but I'm not constrained to silence my thoughts, except as a matter of conscience.

Now to Doug's DUI. I will say it was wrong and he should not have gotten behind the wheel since has impaired. Since he was caught he had to endure the punishment and the guilt for his actions as I'm sure he still does. The Company policy was updated so that if this were to ever happen again he would almost certainly lose his job. Of course this actually proves my point about how the BOD views Doug's performance. If they were looking for any reason to let him go, they would have jumped on this and he would have been gone. Since he has a proven track record of successful airline management I doubt any real thought was given to having him step down. Now of the two I think you would be far more likely to find Herb above the legal limit while in his office than you ever would Doug, but that's just my impression based on the articles I have read on Herb's love for adult beverages.

Now here is the ironic part of all this. The time for the FAs to strike a deal was either in 2007 or in 2010 when profits were real and sustained. That is not the time, if I were Doug, that I would want to be standing in front of a federal mediator. With oil prices back on the rise and the economy heading for a likely triple-dip recession, the FAs will scream they want more to the NMB and Doug will come in with rock solid financial numbers to show how any increase in wages will make the company insolvent. The mediator will have no choice but to agree with Management and reject the AFA's proposal. So by telling Management that the FAs are unwilling to negotiate when profits are strong Doug can escape with a lower wage contract that will likely result when cash conservation is critical. Negotiations are more about the timing than they are about anything else. If you miss this window, when do you suppose the next one will come along and will you be ready for it?

 

[700UW]

The Mediator doesnt have a say in whether a deal is accept or rejected by the company or the union, go educate yourself on the process.

The Mediator's job is to facilitate negotiations, not accept or reject a deal and to tell the NMB if there is an impasse or to continue negotiations.

Dont let the facts get in your way.

 

[CallawayGolf]

The Mediator doesnt have a say in whether a deal is accept or rejected by the company or the union, go educate yourself on the process.

The Mediator's job is to facilitate negotiations, not accept or reject a deal and to tell the NMB if there is an impasse or to continue negotiations.

Dont let the facts get in your way.

Is it the mediator's job to decide if the parties are negotiating in good faith which in turn helps him decide if he will release the parties to self-help?