Pilots Sue Airlines And Thier Union

[Light Years]

Pilots sue airlines and their union
By: Karen Ferrick-Roman - Times Staff
10/11/2005


More than 230 pilots have filed a lawsuit against airlines and their union, claiming they were scammed into thinking an airline existed as a separate business when, instead, it was part of US Airways.

They are seeking $400 million in damages and back pay from the Air Line Pilots Association, US Airways, America West, Republic Airways and Republic's investment company, Wexford Capital.

The 85-page lawsuit was filed Friday in New York's Eastern District Court by attorney Michael Haber of New York City, on behalf of about 75 percent of the 322 pilots flying for US Airways' regional MidAtlantic Airways Division. The suit covers a range of accusations, including breach of contract and duty of fair representation; violation of the Railway Labor Act, which governs airline labor pacts; and racketeering.

(Continued, click link)



Pilots Sue Airlines and thier Union

 

[linemech]

I'm surprised it took this long !

If Mid Atlantic has been a separate business then it has been stealing from Mainline since its inception.

Not only has Mid Atlantic taken all types of Mainline ground equipment and slapped their name on it, they have used all sorts of supplies from engine oil and Hydraulic fluid to paint brushes and tape at no cost to Mid Atlantic.

Mainline employees assigned on a regular basis to Mid Atlantic job functions while on the Mainline payroll was common.

Although some may think these are trivial complaints, When the cost of all the ground equipment and lost man-hours are added up, it comes to millions of dollars in savings that this so called separate business realized at no cost to Mid Atlantic but certainly at a High cost to those at the Mainline who lost so much in pay and benefits , not to mention jobs to fund the operation of the "Separate Business".


linemech.

 

[Light Years]

I believe the F/As are filing a similar lawsuit, with the same attorney, within the next couple of weeks.

 

[aquagreen73s]

Good for the MDA pilots. The only problem is that the claims against the airlines will probably be dismissed; if there is a misrepresentation claim agianst an airline then I would think the claim would have to be made by the bargaining agent. Here, what MDA pilots are claiming is really against ALPA..breach of a fiduciary duty and duty of fair representation. Therefore, the claim will only pertain to ALPA. Now ALPA could file a cross claim against the airlines, and they might very well do that...but I can't imagine the airlines being that stupid during negotiations to allow them to be drawn into something like this. If ALPA were going to bring in the airlines for misrepresentation, I'd imagine it would get thrown out. Just a guess, however, but based on how ALPA works (read: how selfish but stupid the executive board is), I strongly suspect ALPA will have no claim against the airlines. But tactically that's even better. ALPA won't have the luxury of a joint defense and we all know they don't have any money....with all the industry paycuts (except in Herndon), and with the ALPA execs and staff still living the good life, I'm sure their expenses are now putting a crimp on the whole cash flow thing. Wasn't a problem during the good times...but those days are long gone! GOOD FOR THE MDA PILOTS! Sue the hell out of them.

p.s....I'd love to be there for De-wayne's deposition. Watch that bald head of his radiate perspiration.

 

[SoldWholeSale]

"RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT" --This is the one item with teeth which will drag the company under the bus...

Most of the rest of the items for which Republic, USAirways and now America West are named are items which would require a "Declatory Judgement", or a ruling to make them play by the rules set fourth in the CBA which would include back pay and some damages, but not an award per say. I believe there is also an injunction in the works until some sort of ruling is made by the arbitrator in regard to the Republic issue.

ALL OR NONE!

SH

PS. The summons should be delivered this week

 

[aquagreen73s]

RICO is a federal criminal action which means you'll have to get the local US Attorney on board. I think they have bigger fish to fry but then again, many prosecutors are opportunists. If something comes up during discovery in the civil suit, perhaps the US Attorney's office might become interested. But I wouldn't count on it. Racketeering in the criminal sense is collusion in the civil/business sense. To make that stick, all the defendants must have conspired to cause harm to the plaintiff. The problem here is that the plaintiffs were present during the events which gave rise to the civil suit: the plaintiffs were legally represented by ALPA. I just don't see anything sticking to the companies. But ALPO is ripe. Oh is it more ripe than ever. Way to go guys.

Post an address where a donation can be made for your legal costs. I'm all for what you guys are doing.

 

[SoldWholeSale]

Thats just it, none of the MDA Division/Embraer 170 pilots were present.... It was all done by an MEC who claims to represent the MDA/AAA members in "class and craft" only. To this day, there does not exist a CBA by which the MDA crews work.

As time goes by, more will be released, and it will be good reading. There are ten separate charges in the suit which was filed in two labor friendly courts. The total suit is a great deal more than Light Years mentioned, that amount is only one offense. The total would cash in all that is ALPA (including their off shore self-insured account). I don't for even a second believe the award will be anything near the total suit, but will consider any amount to be the only return on any dues I've ever paid.

In regard to RICO, I think you'll be impressed when the details of the suit are made public. You seem very knowlegable in regard to the process.

ALL OR NONE!

SH

 

[jimntx]

Way to go, guys! Maybe it will wake up the other airline unions to the danger of looking at only the effect upon the most senior members and throwing others under the bus if necessary.

 

[SoldWholeSale]

Here is one of the articles published today:



Pilots sue airlines and their union By: Karen Ferrick-Roman - Times Staff

More than 230 pilots have filed a lawsuit against airlines and their
union, claiming they were scammed into thinking an airline existed
as a separate business when, instead, it was part of US Airways.



They are seeking $400 million in damages and back pay from the Air
Line Pilots Association, US Airways, America West, Republic Airways
and Republic's investment company, Wexford Capital.

The 85-page lawsuit was filed Friday in New York's Eastern District
Court by attorney Michael Haber of New York City, on behalf of about
75 percent of the 322 pilots flying for US Airways' regional
MidAtlantic Airways Division. The suit covers a range of
accusations, including breach of contract and duty of fair
representation; violation of the Railway Labor Act, which governs
airline labor pacts; and racketeering.

About 25 percent of MidAtlantic's 850 employees are based in
Pittsburgh, the airline has said, including pilots, flight
attendants, mechanics and supervisors. Pittsburgh was supposed to be
the headquarters for MidAtlantic, which was to operate separately
from the mainline airline, as PSA Airlines and Piedmont Airlines do.
That didn't happen.

The airline, Haber said, credited this new start-up with performing
wonders for the financially ailing company through the efficiencies
of flying smaller, 70-seat jets instead of the larger mainline fleet.

The union and company agreed MidAtlantic would hire some of the
1,800 laid-off US Airways mainline pilots, retaining their rights to
be recalled to a mainline job, Haber said.

"As it turns out, there was no MidAtlantic. ... It was never
anything except a name," Haber said. "These people were tricked into
thinking they worked for an entity that never existed."

MidAtlantic was recently sold to Republic Airlines.

US Airways re-released a prepared statement on MidAtlantic,
saying, "Our agreement with Republic ... is in full compliance with
our collective-bargaining agreements with ALPA (the Air Line Pilots
Association). This transaction was contemplated and agreed to by the
parties during negotiations on this issue."

No comment was available from ALPA or Republic.

MidAtlantic, the suit said, was operated under the same rules and
government certificate as the mainline.

Additionally, union leadership approved agreements that should have
been ratified by the members, the suit said. The union and airlines
camouflaged the fact that MidAtlantic was not a stand-alone company,
the suit said, and established a lower pay and benefit rate for
these pilots.

"Labor relations law means nothing if a pilot who was laid off can
be brought back at a lower wage," Haber said.

The $400 million in damages was arrived at by taking the number of
pilots involved, times the amount of their salary decrease
(generally, about half of the mainline wage) times the number of
years they would be employed, Haber said.

Karen Ferrick-Roman can be reached online at [email protected].

 

[Light Years]

Isn't that the same article I posted? :unsure:

 

[USA320Pilot]

Do not be surprised if multiple counter lawsuits are filed against the MDA pilots as individuals. This has the potential to be a very long and drawn out process that could be tied up in the courts for years. It's possible that the only winners will be the attorney's with participants spending a lot of money on legal fees.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[delldude]

Do not be surprised if multiple countersuits are filed against the MDA pilots as individuals. This has the potential to be a very long and drawn out process that could be tied up in the courts for years. It's possible that the only winners will be the attorney's with participants spending a lot of money on legal fees.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

[post="311315"][/post]​

so what alternative do they have,short of taking it in the can?
or do you have some inside relevance to digress??
just Use Your Head.......
somewhere in print its existance as part of mainline or not is spelled out.

 

[USA320Pilot]

DellDude:

Do not be surprised if a counter lawsuit is filed against the 270 pilots, who could be named as defendants, with the plaintiff’s seeking millions of dollars in damages from each of the MDA pilots who created the litigation.

I hope each MDA pilot has a lot of money for legal fees because this could get very ugly quickly. I believe US Airways, Republic, and ALPA probably have deeper pockets than the 270 MDA pilots and can sustain the financial pressure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Can the MDA pilots?

What do you expect US Airways, Republic, and ALPA to do? Idly sit by while their being sued? Would you sit by if somebody sued you?

Do I like this? No, of course not, but I believe the parties listed in the sentence above will fight this lawsuit and file a counter lawsuit. Meanwhile, there will be one group of professionals who will be winners -- the lawyers.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[delldude]

so much for paying dues and having faith in your union.

 

[av8or]

and exactly under what pretenses could the companys and alpa countersue in this case??????