I love how you and the company throw the 35 million shares number around. It is a lot of shares, but when divided by 80000 or so employees it is 437 shares average per employee..
I throw it around not because the total value was enough to change anyone's life for the better. Of course it's too small an amount to come anywhere near close to making up for your tremendous sacrifices.
I throw it around to counter all the BS that your union leaders keep spreading; BS about how the management is getting tons of bonus money while the rank and file gets "nothing." I see it in website posts - I see it in press releases by your worthless, cowardly LIAR union leaders (not "your" as in just the TWU, but all three unions).
You've got every right to be pissed off that you and your co-workers gave up $8.8 billion in wages and benefits (plus the ultimate reductions to your pensions due to your now-lower wages). $1.6 billion for 5.5 years. On top of that, your worthless, cowardly LIAR union leaders didn't think to negotiate a huge potential upside payoff in case it all worked out. If I were you I'd be spitting nails at your worthless, cowardly LIAR union leaders. They've done nothing but take advantage of you - according to Bob Owens, since at least 1983 or 1984.
I received 446 shares which at todays price is about $14,272 and about $12,042 after the $5 a share payback.
Now you may say that $12,000 is a nice chunk of change. Not to me when I lost $20,000 a year for a six year total of $120,000.
So, you see, FWAAA, don't insult us by throwing around a monumental number like 35 million shares and make it sound like it changed our lives. Arpey received $7.5 million today.
Between this and what he got last year, he more than recouped what he lost as did the other 870 or so managers under him have.
So is it that Arpey won the wage concession Lotto? That's what it sounds like. I couldn't care less how much Arpey takes home this year, since it wouldn't buy each employee a nice dinner even if it were evenly divided among the nonmanagement employees.
Like I've posted before, the idea of investing $120k of wage concessions without any kind of huge potential payoff is a foreign concept to me. Apparently not to your worthless, cowardly LIAR union leaders.
So the 35 million shares is peanuts. OK, accepting your claim at face value, then so are the PUP/PSP payouts to the fortunate 874. If they were to refuse their payouts and instead divided up the $260 million (estimated 2006-07 totals) between the 80k nonmanagement employees, it would be peanuts as well, right? $3,250 each. Chump change.
That's one reason I don't froth at the mouth at these PUP/PSP payouts to the greedy management. It's really not enough money to get worked up over. After all, the $835 million of option profits (35 million times the current $23.85 profit) is too small to matter. No matter how well the stock performs, your 35 million options won't make up for what you gave up. That was obvious in April, 2003, and whaddaya know - it's still obvious today, four years later.
In fact, had the nonmanagement employees been given all the equity in AMR in 2003 in exchange for the concessions, you'd still be in the hole, as the total market cap is only $6.9 billion right now.
Arpey and his gang of greedy thieves could all work for free and there wouldn't be enough money to go around to make everyone whole.
Keep in mind that there are probably a great deal of employees who sold their stock just to survive a little.
Now, for the unions' roles in the concessions. The TWU is a company union who would have us work for minimum wage to keep the company happy and keep TULSA open. They care more about union dues and drop to the knees if Arpey as so much as BREATHES the word Bankruptcy.
Last time I saw numbers, about half of the options had been exercised, meaning that at most, half the 35 million shares had been sold (and maybe fewer than that). If they sold in January - well, then, good for them.
About your union - I agree. That's a lotta dues to pay for a long time (since 1983 or 1984 - whenever things went bad).
