songbirdstew
Senior
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2003
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It's so sad that this thread turned into a F/A against F/A thread and once again an East vs. West thing....and I thought the Piedmont/US merger was bad.....we all need to stick together against the management that once again made a bad decision that will affect more than just those being displaced but will have a domino effect throughout the East system. While I knew they would evetually close PIT, I will reiterate that it's HOW they did it that is W-R-O-N-G !
A friend of mine wrote to Sherri Shambles and asked what they would be doing about VAC and her response was that they ran the VAC when they did because the time was contractual. Let's think about this Sherri, if the union had been contacted BEFORE the day of the announcement then perhaps some of the questions/concerns about this base closing could have been addressed, but they chose not to do that.......just another example of management not thinking things through, doing what they want, and then wondering why the employees feel screwed once again---DUH !
Now, on to LECP Mark Gentile's latest E-Line.....
Local 40 October Union Meeting Summary-10/08/07
As expected, Friday's union meeting was well attended by the members. The original agenda was changed to address the domicile closing announcement.
Part of the agenda change was to have Company Representative Steve Kingsley, Director of Inflight Administration speak to the members and hear their concerns and listen to their suggestions. Steve also reviewed the request and concerns the union presented to the company the day prior to the meeting. One of the priorities requested were to allow a vacation rebid for the PIT flight attendants and enable us to be awarded vacation consistent with our seniority at our new domicile. (I had at least 130 calls on the vacation issue alone!!) I know this is a big issue and I stressed its importance to the company. Another extremely important concern is to reinstate one of the PIT-PHL mainline flights that is scheduled to be substituted by an express carrier. It is imperative there is sufficient service to get us to work and return. The company must be understanding and show compassion to its PIT employees for imposing this latest challenge until we are acclimated and become experienced with this change. We must also have time to evaluate if the current service is sufficient to accommodate all of the commuters. During the meeting we provided information to the members in attendance pertaining to the number of flights available (mainline and express) to the other bases as of January 1st to help aid in your selection of a domicile predicated on the service available. We will provide a copy of this information in your mail files this week. There most likely will be an additional 650 employees commuting added to the 500 already commuting to other domiciles with limited space available. Other important requests were the offering of a Buy-out and the offering of various types of leaves. It was suggested that should a buy-out and leave be offered they should be offered again 6 month later for those who tried to commute but found it impossible to do so. Retain parking passes in PIT in an affordable and simplified process was also requested. I asked Base Manager Bob Baldwin to provide trip sheets for all the domiciles to get an idea of how viable commuting will be with the departure and arrival times.
Congressman ® Tim Murphy asked if he could attend the meeting and speak to the members. I asked Congressman Murphy if he could address the possibility of receiving unemployment compensation when it becomes financially impossible and a hardship to accept work at another domicile. He believed the employee should be able to receive unemployment if the employee must resign because of a financial hardship caused by relocating. He said he would get to work on that issue immediately. Congressman Murphy also stepped up big time to help us by signing on as a co-sponsor to a bill that would reduce the amount of hours needed to qualify for the Family Medical leave Act for workers in the aviation industry. He did not make a commitment during the meeting but he signed on to support the bill within a couple of hours after leaving the meeting and reviewing the bill.
I asked the members in attendance how they would prefer to have the displacements occur. Instead of displacing from the most junior it was suggested we could ask for volunteers for the first reduction in January.
The overwhelming majority was in favor of displacing by volunteers. If not enough flight attendants volunteer, then displacements will start with the most junior. We will work on this issue at the upcoming MEC meeting.
There is no definite timeline for the domicile requests to be submitted. I am confident the request will be due with a deadline sometime around the middle of November. The displacement packets have not been sent out at this time. These Packets will contain seniority listings of the bases and the seniority of the most junior primary and secondary lineholders along with the domicile request form.
The company will be reviewing our request this week and we should have a few answers by Friday or the following Monday. We told the company it would make economic sense for them to provide a buy-out for those interested.
I know this is a difficult time for all of us just as it has been a difficult situation for those that have been displaced before us. I know it is also difficult to understand the logic of this recent decision with the many full flights, the long security lines, a traffic growth of 9% and one of the best airports and operations in the country.
At this difficult time should you need to speak with someone please contact The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 401-225-1459.
Please call the office should you have any questions at 412-245-1214.
Sincerely...
In Unity,
Mark Gentile
LECP - Council 40
MGentile@afausairways.org
A friend of mine wrote to Sherri Shambles and asked what they would be doing about VAC and her response was that they ran the VAC when they did because the time was contractual. Let's think about this Sherri, if the union had been contacted BEFORE the day of the announcement then perhaps some of the questions/concerns about this base closing could have been addressed, but they chose not to do that.......just another example of management not thinking things through, doing what they want, and then wondering why the employees feel screwed once again---DUH !
Now, on to LECP Mark Gentile's latest E-Line.....
Local 40 October Union Meeting Summary-10/08/07
As expected, Friday's union meeting was well attended by the members. The original agenda was changed to address the domicile closing announcement.
Part of the agenda change was to have Company Representative Steve Kingsley, Director of Inflight Administration speak to the members and hear their concerns and listen to their suggestions. Steve also reviewed the request and concerns the union presented to the company the day prior to the meeting. One of the priorities requested were to allow a vacation rebid for the PIT flight attendants and enable us to be awarded vacation consistent with our seniority at our new domicile. (I had at least 130 calls on the vacation issue alone!!) I know this is a big issue and I stressed its importance to the company. Another extremely important concern is to reinstate one of the PIT-PHL mainline flights that is scheduled to be substituted by an express carrier. It is imperative there is sufficient service to get us to work and return. The company must be understanding and show compassion to its PIT employees for imposing this latest challenge until we are acclimated and become experienced with this change. We must also have time to evaluate if the current service is sufficient to accommodate all of the commuters. During the meeting we provided information to the members in attendance pertaining to the number of flights available (mainline and express) to the other bases as of January 1st to help aid in your selection of a domicile predicated on the service available. We will provide a copy of this information in your mail files this week. There most likely will be an additional 650 employees commuting added to the 500 already commuting to other domiciles with limited space available. Other important requests were the offering of a Buy-out and the offering of various types of leaves. It was suggested that should a buy-out and leave be offered they should be offered again 6 month later for those who tried to commute but found it impossible to do so. Retain parking passes in PIT in an affordable and simplified process was also requested. I asked Base Manager Bob Baldwin to provide trip sheets for all the domiciles to get an idea of how viable commuting will be with the departure and arrival times.
Congressman ® Tim Murphy asked if he could attend the meeting and speak to the members. I asked Congressman Murphy if he could address the possibility of receiving unemployment compensation when it becomes financially impossible and a hardship to accept work at another domicile. He believed the employee should be able to receive unemployment if the employee must resign because of a financial hardship caused by relocating. He said he would get to work on that issue immediately. Congressman Murphy also stepped up big time to help us by signing on as a co-sponsor to a bill that would reduce the amount of hours needed to qualify for the Family Medical leave Act for workers in the aviation industry. He did not make a commitment during the meeting but he signed on to support the bill within a couple of hours after leaving the meeting and reviewing the bill.
I asked the members in attendance how they would prefer to have the displacements occur. Instead of displacing from the most junior it was suggested we could ask for volunteers for the first reduction in January.
The overwhelming majority was in favor of displacing by volunteers. If not enough flight attendants volunteer, then displacements will start with the most junior. We will work on this issue at the upcoming MEC meeting.
There is no definite timeline for the domicile requests to be submitted. I am confident the request will be due with a deadline sometime around the middle of November. The displacement packets have not been sent out at this time. These Packets will contain seniority listings of the bases and the seniority of the most junior primary and secondary lineholders along with the domicile request form.
The company will be reviewing our request this week and we should have a few answers by Friday or the following Monday. We told the company it would make economic sense for them to provide a buy-out for those interested.
I know this is a difficult time for all of us just as it has been a difficult situation for those that have been displaced before us. I know it is also difficult to understand the logic of this recent decision with the many full flights, the long security lines, a traffic growth of 9% and one of the best airports and operations in the country.
At this difficult time should you need to speak with someone please contact The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 401-225-1459.
Please call the office should you have any questions at 412-245-1214.
Sincerely...
In Unity,
Mark Gentile
LECP - Council 40
MGentile@afausairways.org
