Pittsburgh Pilots Fed Up

[mrplanes]

FYI:

On Tuesday the pilots of Council 94 addressed the recall of their Captain Representative and MEC member Tim Baker at a union meeting. The vote was 277 for the recall and 3 against. This vote puts the recall on the ballot for the entire Pittsburgh membership to vote on in the next few weeks. The results of that vote will be similar and Captain Baker will no longer be a member of the MEC or the Captain Representative of Council 94.

The reasons for his recall are quite simple. The pilots of Pittsburgh have recognized the true intentions of this management and are no longer interested in having an MEC that is staffed by people who the company thinks will roll over and give them everything they ask for. Tim was a part of that. And that is about to stop.

Council 94 will put a representative on the MEC who will stand up to this management and hold them accountable. The nonsense of not complying with our contract will cease. No other givebacks will be forthcoming and this management will live under the contract that it has negotiated.

This action by the Pittsburgh Pilots is just the start. Each and every MEC member is now in jeopardy. The Pilots of this airline have had enough. The new MEC will not be perceived as weak and compliant. Because they won''t be. And they will force this company to live up to their contractual obligations. And they will force this management to run this airline profitably or find someone who will. This airline belongs to the employees. Not the management who seeks to replace our work with cheaper labor and smaller jets and then will run for the hills with scads of stock and cash. Saving the airline is one thing. Turning this into a massive land grab will not succeed. Council 94 is putting on the brakes. And the rest of our Councils will follow.

mr
(enjoying the leave and a different career)

 

[exagony]

This airline belongs to the employees.

----------------
Actually it belongs to the share holders, not the employees. Granted employees may own stock in the company, but mgt''s job is not to make YOU happy. Their job is to make money at U and make the STOCKHOLDERS happy, and if that makes the employees mad tough sh*t. I don''t agree with it but it is the fact and sometimes the truth hurts.

 

[insp89]

----------------
On 5/29/2003 8:02:52 AM exagony wrote:


This airline belongs to the employees.

----------------​

Actually it belongs to the share holders, not the employees. Granted employees may own stock in the company, but mgt''s job is not to make YOU happy. Their job is to make money at U and make the STOCKHOLDERS happy, and if that makes the employees mad tough sh*t. I don''t agree with it but it is the fact and sometimes the truth hurts.

----------------
I believe the STOCKHOLDERS and BOARD of DIRECTORS are about to find out that this management team has pushed the employees -YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE THAT DO THE WORK- as far as he is going to..If that makes the STOCKHOLDERS mad, tough sh*t !!!! If your hero Dave wants to dismantle this airline, he is on the right track !

 

[exagony]

I believe the STOCKHOLDERS and BOARD of DIRECTORS are about to find out that this management team has pushed the employees -YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE THAT DO THE WORK- as far as he is going to..If that makes the STOCKHOLDERS mad, tough sh*t !!!! If your hero Dave wants to dismantle this airline, he is on the right track !

----------------
Dave is in no manner my hero, but nor is he Dr. Evil. I could care less what he does or doesn't do. We all have a job to do and believe it or not there are tens of thousands of out of work airline employees who are willing to work at U or just about anywhere else under mgt like your buddy Dave. If the employees keep it up the public will notice, fly on different carriers because of the uncertainty at U and you will in essence put yourself out of a job. No tears here. Believe it or not but Dave will walk away from U with a nice compensation package whether or not U survives. Keep up your bitchin and whining and you'll find out in the real world noone really cares how mgt treats their employees. They only care about the price and quality of the product. I think U is finally going through the reality check that they needed years ago. U has some of the most arrogant employees I have ever met -even the Sky Nazis at AA aren't as bad. You have a job to do and are being paid to do it. If you don't like the pay/conditions go out and get another job. The Sunday help wanted adds are FULL of them. Don't give me the crap about "we've given so much"- cry me a river-, remember there are crap carriers out there like Messup and *hitaqua out there who will love to fly your precious 737' and Trashbuses 319,20 and 30's for $35 an hour. Stop your whining get to work or find a job somewhere else.

 

[exagony]

----------------
On 5/29/2003 11:28:32 AM tug_slug wrote:

Ex,
Youve got a set stones on you... I''ll give you that much.

The ole "If you dont like it leave" attitude is nothing short of a cop-out.

Truth is management has the resources it needs to make this airline a force it once was but it cant. Whose fault is that, the employees? NOT!

Why should we as employees keep givng so management can line their pockets?


----------------​

I stand by my statement. Yes it is partially the employees fault, granted mgt has theirs. All one ever hears on this board is how mgt is out to bankrupt all the employees. Never about the past greed of the employees. You are both equally to blame. If the unions hadn''t demand such high wages for relatively low skill jobs (pilots and mechs excluded) - not flaming here just stating facts- then maybe U wouldn''t have been were they are today. Paying highly trained mechs to push back a/c and not fix a/c. Unions threatening to strike the unless U pays them more then the other companies. What choice does mgt have? Pay you your money or shut the place down? I love all those crying for their 5% back already. YOU ARE STILL CLOSE TO GOING OUT OF BX. Again if you don''t like it find a job that will make you happy.

 

[tug_slug]

Ex,
Youve got a set stones on you... I'll give you that much.

The ole "If you dont like it leave" attitude is nothing short of a cop-out.

Truth is management has the resources it needs to make this airline a force it once was but it cant. Whose fault is that, the employees? NOT!

Why should we as employees keep givng so management can line their pockets?

 

[repeet]

----------------
On 5/29/2003 8:02:52 AM
exagony wrote:

Actually it belongs to the share holders, not the employees.
----------------​

Ummmmmm, what stock holders?

Has there been a stock issue that hasn't been listed on Yahoos Stock Quotes? Or maybe your referring to the Theroretical Stock that management has promised themselves and management in other companies (i.e. GE).

Because you certianly aren't talking about those of us who had bought stock from a brokerage with our own money. We were told "so sorry, thanks for the contribution".

 

[LavMan]

Agony did the employees do this to cause all the problems at US?


[SIZE= 11pt]As far back as Ed Colodny mistakes have been made that has probably cost this company millions if not billons if you add all the blunders.[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt]Colodny’s Blunders[/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]:[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]Mirror Image, imposing US Air’s business methods upon Piedmont and PSA, instead of looking at each respective airline and adapting their successful practices. [/SIZE]Some examples would be dismantling of the Piedmont Shuttle which accounted for 32% of Piedmont’s Gross Revenue.
  [SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]
  [SIZE= 11pt]Not furthering International Service and canceling the last three 767s on order from Boeing, then realizing how much money was made serving international destinations and paying Boeing a $30 million penalty to reorder the three planes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt]Schofield’s Blunders[/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]:[/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]Business select, $50 million on wasted seats that never worked properly and we eventually removed from the 737-200 fleet. [/SIZE]Operation Highground.

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]The IAM Mechanic and Related Strike of 1992 in which US Air lost $35 million and agreeing to pay all the pilots during our strike regardless if they flew or not.[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]The hiring of Joe Gorman from United Airlines. [/SIZE]Gorman stayed a few months then went right back to United, then United started taking us on head to head in numerous markets where we did not compete before Gorman’s tenure.

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]The alliance with British Airways to infuse quick cash, but not on favorable terms to US Air, BA got more out of the alliance then we did.[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt]Wolf and Gangwal:[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]Canceling all the Boeing orders and having to pay a substantial penalty to Boeing to this day the dollar amount is not known as it was a confidential out of court settlement after Boeing sued US Airways, but it is believed to be hundreds of millions of dollars.[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]Closing of three maintenance bases and trying to accomplish all the work in just three bases, which caused a backlog of airplanes awaiting “Q†and “C†checks and Mod visits. [/SIZE]At one point you could see numerous airplanes parked in Charlotte, Pittsburgh and Tampa awaiting maintenance.

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]Buying back over $1.5 billon of US Airways stock instead of using the money as operating capital or paying down debt or just having it around for a downturn.[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]Selling the company to United Airlines and then for the next 14 months having no direction and running the company into the ground.[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE]

• [SIZE= 11pt]Overreacting to the September 11[sup]th[/sup] tragedy and shrinking the airline by 23% and increasing costs by putting larger airplanes on shorter routes.[/SIZE]

 

[Mike W]

Hey EX,
The contract that was negotiated for Fleet Service in 1999 had a PARITY clause in it that Wolf insisted that he had to have to make US Airways competitive.PARITY,that means our wages and benifits were comparable to other major airlines.They negotiated the contract and we ratified it. The only employees who have left this company since then with shoe boxes full of money are the geniuses who call the shots.

 

[PITbull]

----------------
On 5/29/2003 6:31:07 AM mrplanes wrote:

FYI:

On Tuesday the pilots of Council 94 addressed the recall of their Captain Representative and MEC member Tim Baker at a union meeting. The vote was 277 for the recall and 3 against. This vote puts the recall on the ballot for the entire Pittsburgh membership to vote on in the next few weeks. The results of that vote will be similar and Captain Baker will no longer be a member of the MEC or the Captain Representative of Council 94.

The reasons for his recall are quite simple. The pilots of Pittsburgh have recognized the true intentions of this management and are no longer interested in having an MEC that is staffed by people who the company thinks will roll over and give them everything they ask for. Tim was a part of that. And that is about to stop.

Council 94 will put a representative on the MEC who will stand up to this management and hold them accountable. The nonsense of not complying with our contract will cease. No other givebacks will be forthcoming and this management will live under the contract that it has negotiated.

This action by the Pittsburgh Pilots is just the start. Each and every MEC member is now in jeopardy. The Pilots of this airline have had enough. The new MEC will not be perceived as weak and compliant. Because they won't be. And they will force this company to live up to their contractual obligations. And they will force this management to run this airline profitably or find someone who will. This airline belongs to the employees. Not the management who seeks to replace our work with cheaper labor and smaller jets and then will run for the hills with scads of stock and cash. Saving the airline is one thing. Turning this into a massive land grab will not succeed. Council 94 is putting on the brakes. And the rest of our Councils will follow.

mr
(enjoying the leave and a different career)

----------------​

Finally the Pilot members are taking control of their union and holding the leadership accountable for their lack of strength and leadership with this management and all these concessions. Anyone who even has the appearance to be in management's "back pocket" needs to go and work for management. Leave the unions to the members.

Hard core and hard line unionism needs to come back, especially with this management!

 

[PITbull]

----------------
On 5/29/2003 11:57:26 AM LavMan wrote:


Agony did the employees do this to cause all the problems at US?


As far back as Ed Colodny mistakes have been made that has probably cost this company millions if not billons if you add all the blunders.
 
Colodny’s Blunders:
 

• Mirror Image, imposing US Air’s business methods upon Piedmont and PSA, instead of looking at each respective airline and adapting their successful practices.  Some examples would be dismantling of the Piedmont Shuttle which accounted for 32% of Piedmont’s Gross Revenue.
   
  Not furthering International Service and canceling the last three 767s on order from Boeing, then realizing how much money was made serving international destinations and paying Boeing a $30 million penalty to reorder the three planes.

 
Schofield’s Blunders:
 

• Business select, $50 million on wasted seats that never worked properly and we eventually removed from the 737-200 fleet.  Operation Highground.

 

• The IAM Mechanic and Related Strike of 1992 in which US Air lost $35 million and agreeing to pay all the pilots during our strike regardless if they flew or not.

 

• The hiring of Joe Gorman from United Airlines.  Gorman stayed a few months then went right back to United, then United started taking us on head to head in numerous markets where we did not compete before Gorman’s tenure.

 

• The alliance with British Airways to infuse quick cash, but not on favorable terms to US Air, BA got more out of the alliance then we did.

 
Wolf and Gangwal:
 

• Canceling all the Boeing orders and having to pay a substantial penalty to Boeing to this day the dollar amount is not known as it was a confidential out of court settlement after Boeing sued US Airways, but it is believed to be hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

• Closing of three maintenance bases and trying to accomplish all the work in just three bases, which caused a backlog of airplanes awaiting “Q” and “C” checks and Mod visits.  At one point you could see numerous airplanes parked in Charlotte, Pittsburgh and Tampa awaiting maintenance.

 

• Buying back over $1.5 billon of US Airways stock instead of using the money as operating capital or paying down debt or just having it around for a downturn.

 

• Selling the company to United Airlines and then for the next 14 months having no direction and running the company into the ground.

 

• Overreacting to the September 11[sup]th[/sup] tragedy and shrinking the airline by 23% and increasing costs by putting larger airplanes on shorter routes.

----------------​

You forgot to add that CEO Wolf had forced "pariety plus 1% on the employees (ALPA, IAM and CWA) whereby creating undue stress on the pension liability for the co. Stupid management didn''t think the other majors would be giving out the huge increases to their labor groups (espeically UNITED). It ended up working against the company, and pariety WAS MANAGEMENT''S IDEA NOT LABOR!

 

[mrplanes]

exagony:

You didn''t read my post. You responded to something I did NOT say. I did NOT say management was supposed to make anyone happy. But they are compelled by law to follow the contract they negotiated. I stated they are supposed to make this company profitable. And, as LUV and JetBlue understand, employees are the lifeblood of any well run company. What don''t you understand about that?

The pilots are positioning the new leadership of their union to compel this management to follow the contracts they negotiated and to make this company profitable. Nothing more. Nothing less. You can rag on us if it makes you feel better but the bottom line is simply that we gave him what he wanted, and now he is trying to take more. That is not going to happen. At least not with the pilots. That is why the recall vote was so overwhelming.

You are correct about stockholders. However, a loyal employee group with a good solid management that understands how important employees are also has ownership of a company. They are the ones that make the stockholders happy. I''m not sure Seigel understands that. Obviously, neither do you.

mr

 

[PITbull]

----------------
On 5/29/2003 8:56:59 AM insp89 wrote:

----------------
On 5/29/2003 8:02:52 AM exagony wrote:


This airline belongs to the employees.

----------------​

Actually it belongs to the share holders, not the employees. Granted employees may own stock in the company, but mgt's job is not to make YOU happy. Their job is to make money at U and make the STOCKHOLDERS happy, and if that makes the employees mad tough sh*t. I don't agree with it but it is the fact and sometimes the truth hurts.

----------------​

I believe the STOCKHOLDERS and BOARD of DIRECTORS are about to find out that this management team has pushed the employees -YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE THAT DO THE WORK- as far as he is going to..If that makes the STOCKHOLDERS mad, tough sh*t !!!! If your hero Dave wants to dismantle this airline, he is on the right track !

----------------

I agree. We as labor ARE THE COMPANY, AND PLUS, WE ARE THE STAKE HOLDERS AND STOCK HOLDERS AND BOARD MEMBERS...AS AN FYI TO THOSE WHO JUST DON'T GET IT YET. We may not have the controling shares as labor, but indirectly WE DO!

I think if Bronner used his noodle, he would get rid of the ENTIRE NEW MANAGEMENT! Then, and only then, we can have some peace among labor.

 

[tug_slug]

Ex,
Face it, management can no longer blame the employees for U''s current financial problems. Fact is they have no one to blame but themselves and guess who''s going to pay for those bad decisions? The employees ... the people who do the work, that''s who.

 

[Twicebaked]

----------------
On 5/29/2003 10:39:37 AM exagony wrote:


----------------​

Dave is in no manner my hero, but nor is he Dr. Evil. I could care less what he does or doesn''t do. We all have a job to do and believe it or not there are tens of thousands of out of work airline employees who are willing to work at U or just about anywhere else under mgt like your buddy Dave. If the employees keep it up the public will notice, fly on different carriers because of the uncertainty at U and you will in essence put yourself out of a job. No tears here. Believe it or not but Dave will walk away from U with a nice compensation package whether or not U survives. Keep up your bitchin and whining and you''ll find out in the real world noone really cares how mgt treats their employees. They only care about the price and quality of the product. I think U is finally going through the reality check that they needed years ago. U has some of the most arrogant employees I have ever met -even the Sky Nazis at AA aren''t as bad. You have a job to do and are being paid to do it. If you don''t like the pay/conditions go out and get another job. The Sunday help wanted adds are FULL of them. Don''t give me the crap about "we''ve given so much"- cry me a river-, remember there are crap carriers out there like Messup and *hitaqua out there who will love to fly your precious 737'' and Trashbuses 319,20 and 30''s for $35 an hour. Stop your whining get to work or find a job somewhere else.

----------------

You my dear friend need a major attitude adjustment. You may be a spineless wimp, but the rest of the employees are NOT GOING TO TAKE IN ANYMORE. You can sit back and let this company rape the hell out of you, but we won''t. You sound like the bitter rantings of managment. So take your "I''ll give them anything" attitude somewhere else.