US Airways makes more Pittsburgh personnel cuts

[Jimmy Neutron]

http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/12090/1220524-28.stm

This management just keeps coming at this group!!!!!!!!!!!

It won't be long here until we will become in-significant in numbers at this rate!!!!!!

If these cuts and all the rest that are happening across the system don't open peoples eyes to the dire need of change in leadership at the top of this District, there will be little left to save!!!!!!

To all those great guys in PIT and elsewhere, good luck, many of us have been there and know what a difficult decision it is you have to make!!!

 

[Harry Callahan]

Management keeps coming & we've got a union that does nothing 😛h34r: My thoughts & prayers are with these folks & their families.

 

[CallawayGolf]

The article says that US will no longer be providing catering services to Republic because they (Republic) has decided to use their own employees rather than contracting with US to do it. So the IAM prices labor above market and then scratches it head when jobs cuts are announced because someone (Republic) determines that it can be done cheaper than the IAM rates. The higher the labor rates are above market, the more certain it will be that jobs will be lost. Why is that so difficult to comprehend? If the IAM wants to protect jobs, they need to seek to provide a competitive cost advantage against the open market options that may be available to the companies, but of course they won't because that would put the IAM out of business.

 

[wings396]

The IAM hasn't set a high price on labor, ours is among the lowest in comparison to other airlines. The company sets the price on what they charge Republic for catering. From what I understand, catering had been consolidated into another area to cut the cost of leasing. It's gets to a point where labor can't work for poverty level wages.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

"The union will be losing 10 full-time and five part-time jobs in the latest round of cuts, which Mr. Bodrog said affects the entire US Airways system. He said there are also cuts in another 13 to 26 cities served by the airline."

What other cities will see cuts? There is, of course, no mention of these cuts in the latest issue of "About US".

 

[wings396]

A partial list is posted over on the fsa thread...

 

[700UW]

And please inform us how if Tim was DL PDGC that these cuts wouldnt happen?

Your fellow Fleet Agents ratified the CBA that permits the company to operate their business within the parameters of the CBA.

No one can stop this.

Amazing how blinded people can be.

 

[700UW]

The article says that US will no longer be providing catering services to Republic because they (Republic) has decided to use their own employees rather than contracting with US to do it. So the IAM prices labor above market and then scratches it head when jobs cuts are announced because someone (Republic) determines that it can be done cheaper than the IAM rates. The higher the labor rates are above market, the more certain it will be that jobs will be lost. Why is that so difficult to comprehend? If the IAM wants to protect jobs, they need to seek to provide a competitive cost advantage against the open market options that may be available to the companies, but of course they won't because that would put the IAM out of business.

Once again you have no idea of what you talk about, go back to the pilots thread and spread your hate there.

The IAM doesnt charge Republic for services, that would be US Airways.

Fleet Service at US is not above market rates in their pay and benefits.

US Airways and the IAM negotiated the CBA and both agreed to it, a third party who isnt part of negotiations of the CBA nor does Republic have a say in what US and the IAM negotiate.

Once again, US sets the rates they charge Republic, not the IAM and not the employees.

Dont let the facts get in your way.

 

[CallawayGolf]

Once again you have no idea of what you talk about, go back to the pilots thread and spread your hate there.

The IAM doesnt charge Republic for services, that would be US Airways.

Fleet Service at US is not above market rates in their pay and benefits.

US Airways and the IAM negotiated the CBA and both agreed to it, a third party who isnt part of negotiations of the CBA nor does Republic have a say in what US and the IAM negotiate.

Once again, US sets the rates they charge Republic, not the IAM and not the employees.

Dont let the facts get in your way.

Your reading comprehension is off more than usual today. I never said or implied that IAM negotiated with Republic for US employee services.

It's not really that difficult. IAM negotiates rates with US, and by necessity those rates are higher than the open market for similar services (not necessarily major airlines) in the local (PIT) market. US pays IAM members the contracted rates and passes those fully-burdened labor costs on to its customers, which in this case is Republic via the catering services contract. When the contract comes up for renewal Republic evaluates their options for catering services in PIT and logically determines that they can perform the work at a more cost effective rate than what US is offering them. Republic opts not to renew the contract and that leaves US overstaffed in PIT as a result. Over-staffing equals job loses due to the lack of competitive rates in comparison to the other options Republic had to choose from.

Stated another way, if US was making a profit on the catering services contract and Republic was unable to have the work done cheaper than US was offering, would they have made this change? US proposes rates based on costs plus a profit factor. Labor is the largest cost in any such contract, so if the catering contract wasn't competitive, labor rates are the largest factor in the equation. And how did those rates become noncompetitive in relation to the services provided? That's right, the IAM. And what is the result of this, as is always the case? Naturally the result is lost jobs due to a violation of free-market principles.

 

[700UW]

Last time I checked US Airways is an airline, not a catering company.

 

[CallawayGolf]

Last time I checked US Airways is an airline, not a catering company.

And yet they were using US employees to provide catering services to Republic for a profit. That little contract seems to have been keeping 10 FT and 5 PT employees on the payroll. Now the contract has been lost and the US employees providing catering services to Republic have to find work elsewhere. Go figure.

 

[700UW]

Catering consisted of bring sodas and ice to the plane. It was just transporting it.

And any other company can provide cheaper rates, look at what happened to Marriot, gone, LSG Sky Chefs, and Gate Gourmet, all have their struggles and they dont pay the rates that an airline pays, now do they?

 

[SparrowHawk]

Catering consisted of bring sodas and ice to the plane. It was just transporting it.

And any other company can provide cheaper rates, look at what happened to Marriot, gone, LSG Sky Chefs, and Gate Gourmet, all have their struggles and they dont pay the rates that an airline pays, now do they?

If you're argument is that wages are the reason for the other organizations then it flies in the face of virtually every study done on the correlation between wages and employee performance.

Secondly the IAM is about redistribution of wealth. They take from the average Joe & Jane and redistribute the Dues money into the pockets of the leaders of the IAM & their Cronies in DC Don't give me the legal BS either about dues not being used. All funds are fungible and accountants are good at fudging.. Truth is the IAM could elect Jesus himself and nothing would change. Just so long as the guys at the top get a payday.

 

[wings396]

If you're argument is that wages are the reason for the other organizations then it flies in the face of virtually every study done on the correlation between wages and employee performance.

Secondly the IAM is about redistribution of wealth. They take from the average Joe & Jane and redistribute the Dues money into the pockets of the leaders of the IAM & their Cronies in DC Don't give me the legal BS either about dues not being used. All funds are fungible and accountants are good at fudging.. Truth is the IAM could elect Jesus himself and nothing would change. Just so long as the guys at the top get a payday.

I'm not out to defend the IAM, but what our dues are used for are not tied to our wages. This discussion began with a member pointing a finger at our sky-high Union job wages being the root of the lost jobs. Believe me, our wages are not that high.....

 

[CallawayGolf]

I'm not out to defend the IAM, but what our dues are used for are not tied to our wages. This discussion began with a member pointing a finger at our sky-high Union job wages being the root of the lost jobs. Believe me, our wages are not that high.....

Sky-high? No. Above free market levels? Yes. As long as wages are above market rates without a returned value for the premium wages, then jobs will always be at risk for elimination.