America West MEC Chairman's Special Update - July 3, 2007
Earlier today, MEC Chairman Captain John McIlvenna wrote the attached letter to ALPA President Captain John Prater in response to his letter dated June 26, 2007, and to the Executive Council resolutions passed on the same day (both are posted on the AWA MEC website). The letter asserts that although the AWA MEC has always and will continue to strive to achieve the goals set forth by the Executive Council, the MEC is “entirely unwilling to engage in any discussions that touch on the issues that were the subject of procedures under Merger Policy and that were resolved (either directly or indirectly) by the Nicolau Board's Award."
As a result, the AWA MEC will meet in session with the East MEC as requested by Captain Prater to support the Joint Negotiating Process. Our commitment to achieving a joint contract has been unwavering, despite the fact that the AAA MEC has been unable to stay focused on this goal. This is evidenced by many of their MEC resolutions and decisions that include:
- Cancellation of East “Operation Rolling Thunder†SPC activities;
- Unilateral cancellation of past joint negotiating dates; and
- Unilateral push for pay parity outside of the joint negotiating process.
The AWA MEC recognizes that all pilots deserve a joint contract that has improvements in pay, work rules and retirement.
Attachments:
Letter to ALPA President Captain John Prater, 7-3-07
ALPA Notice of Special MEC Meetings
-----------------------------------------------------------
US Airways ALPA MEC Chairman’s Message - July 3, 2007
This is MEC Chairman Jack Stephan with a Chairman's message to the pilots for Tuesday, July 3rd.
Yesterday's Code-A-Phone message restated the pay parity resolution passed by your MEC that required the AAA Negotiating Committee to immediately engage the company in discussions to achieve pay parity for the AAA pilots.
But make no mistake. Vacating the Nicolau Award remains your MEC's number one goal, and as you well know, we have recently filed a law suit in the District of Columbia to help us reach that goal. We have been assigned a judge and on October 5th, there will be an initial conference which most likely will produce a schedule. Our attorney has already briefed us that this matter will likely not be decided in 2007. So the litigation process, like JNC negotiations, may be a long road.
But we have a separate issue that needs to be addressed now. Your leadership is working to address the unfair pay inequities that you have been facing. The MEC's “Equal pay for Equal Work†parity resolution demands immediate pay increases in order to obtain parity with the higher AWA pilot pay rates. Doing the same job for less money while generating the bulk of our profits cannot continue.
We have been patient for too long on the parity issue. As JNC negotiations have dragged out, our management has taken advantage of our disparate pay structure. US Airways East pilots can no longer subsidize corporate profits, employee profit sharing checks and lucrative executive compensation with our bottom of the barrel, bankruptcy garnered wages. If equal pay for equal work is the mantra for our senior executives, I say let it be ours! We will be meeting with management soon to lay out a process to address this long overdue issue.
Soon you will receive a letter from Captain Prater informing you of his intention to call a special meeting of the AAA and AWA MECs. In preparation for that joint meeting I will be calling your MEC into special session towards the end of next week. Among other issues, we will discuss our role in the process the Executive Council laid out in their resolution that called for consensual approaches for career protection.
To be successful in all our pursuits, we will need your help and support. Continue to follow our “Three Pronged Approach†to success. Now, more than ever, I ask you to do your own job. Follow The WAR Reports, and answer the call when we need your participation. Management needs to know that the first step in fixing our abysmal operation is to properly acknowledge the group of individuals that made any chance of profitability possible. That acknowledgement needs to come on the 15th and 30th of each month.
I wish you all a safe and happy Independence Day holiday.
Please continue to look out for each other, follow our “Three Prong Approach,†and as always, fly safe and thanks for listening.
-----------------------------------------------------------
An AWA Pilots Commentary
Now that ALPA President Prater has summoned both MECs to D.C. to hammer out a deal, we at U-Turn have to ask the obvious question: who’s got the leverage? While the West MEC was huffing and puffing and threatening to blow the house down, while Ray “Boom-Boom†Burkett was ticking off the Herndon Head Shed with delusions of removing Captain Prater, the East has been quietly working a wage package with the company right under our noses.
The East hasn’t exactly been sneaking around in the shadows. It’s all been out there for anyone who was willing to read the tea leaves and listen to their Code-A-Phone messages. And once again, you are reading it first on U-TURN!
U-Turn will not comment on who approached whom or why (although we do have some of the details), but it is apparent that the East MEC Chairman and Mr. Parker have been in discussions outside of JNC in an effort to work out details for an amendment to their current contract, AKA LOA 93. The East is asking for wage parity (the actual rates are quoted at the bottom of this email).
Why pay parity and why now? Pay parity goes a long way toward eliminating the “B†Scale that the East is working under. And today’s wage parity could be the harbinger for tomorrow’s vacation and work rules parity. Yesterday’s East Code-A-Phone hints that the East has been negotiating directly with the company outside of the JNC to reach an agreement:
This is Arnie Gentile with a US Airways MEC update for Monday, July 2nd. Last week on Thursday afternoon, the US Airways pilot’s Negotiating Committee fulfilled resolution 07-63a- pay parity and sent proposed pay rates over to management. We expect a response from management shortly. In any case, the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is planning to meet with management next Tuesday and Wednesday, July 10th and 11th.
Our methodology in developing this proposal involved capturing the Narrowbody Top of Scale (TOS) Captain rate of 141.85 at AWA and inserting that rate as the TOS for a Group 2 AAA Captain. From that cornerstone rate of 141.85 we developed the rest of the rate proposal maintaining the current contractual differentials that exist in the AAA contract today----i.e. Group 2 to Group 1, Captain to First Officer, etc. The proposed pay rate schedule will be posted in What’s New and emailed to all pilots.
The “Equal pay for Equal Work†parity resolution is as follows:
AI 07-63a - Pay Parity
WHEREAS the AAA pilots have been in fruitless contract negotiations with US Airways management to achieve a new joint contract with the AWA pilots for nearly two years, and
WHEREAS management employees have been granted pay parity with their AWA counterparts, and
WHEREAS this pay parity has resulted in pay raises for the affected management employees, and
WHEREAS the AAA pilots have not been included in a similar pay parity process,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the AAA MEC demands immediate pay increases in order to obtain parity with the higher AWA pilot pay rate, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Strike Preparedness Committee is reactivated to support all activities to achieve equal pay for equal work for the AAA pilots, and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the AAA Negotiating Committee immediately engage the company in discussions to achieve pay parity for the AAA pilots with commensurate percentage increases for all AAA pilots preserving current pay rate differentials.
Passes Unanimously
Based on their willingness to negotiate with the company on this parity issue, it is apparent that East is willing to work under LOA 93 until their contract becomes amendable in late 2009. And without a single contract, the Nicolau Award cannot be implemented. This could buy the East as much as three years of separate operations and arguably 900 upgrades (notwithstanding a change to Age 60).
For them it’s an immediate 13% raise, plus a dramatic increase in the E190 rates. For us? More of the current contract. Because without their cooperation, there will be no single contract generated by the JNC process. And without a single contract, no implementation of the Nicolau Award.
Anyone who doubts whether the East hasn’t been telegraphing this parity and “equal pay for equal work†message needs to go to www.usairwayspilots.org and read through their Code-A-Phone messages for the past two months. The message has been there. But our MEC has been unwilling to heed the warnings.
So for all the bellicose Hotlines, all the ranting and raving, all the lines drawn in the sand, what do we have to show for it? Another three years of C-2004 and no implementation of the Nicolau Award. But our MEC sure showed them, didn’t it?
USA320Pilot comments: The US Airways pilot contract becomes amendable on January 1, 2010.
Regards,
USA320Pilot
Earlier today, MEC Chairman Captain John McIlvenna wrote the attached letter to ALPA President Captain John Prater in response to his letter dated June 26, 2007, and to the Executive Council resolutions passed on the same day (both are posted on the AWA MEC website). The letter asserts that although the AWA MEC has always and will continue to strive to achieve the goals set forth by the Executive Council, the MEC is “entirely unwilling to engage in any discussions that touch on the issues that were the subject of procedures under Merger Policy and that were resolved (either directly or indirectly) by the Nicolau Board's Award."
As a result, the AWA MEC will meet in session with the East MEC as requested by Captain Prater to support the Joint Negotiating Process. Our commitment to achieving a joint contract has been unwavering, despite the fact that the AAA MEC has been unable to stay focused on this goal. This is evidenced by many of their MEC resolutions and decisions that include:
- Cancellation of East “Operation Rolling Thunder†SPC activities;
- Unilateral cancellation of past joint negotiating dates; and
- Unilateral push for pay parity outside of the joint negotiating process.
The AWA MEC recognizes that all pilots deserve a joint contract that has improvements in pay, work rules and retirement.
Attachments:
Letter to ALPA President Captain John Prater, 7-3-07
ALPA Notice of Special MEC Meetings
-----------------------------------------------------------
US Airways ALPA MEC Chairman’s Message - July 3, 2007
This is MEC Chairman Jack Stephan with a Chairman's message to the pilots for Tuesday, July 3rd.
Yesterday's Code-A-Phone message restated the pay parity resolution passed by your MEC that required the AAA Negotiating Committee to immediately engage the company in discussions to achieve pay parity for the AAA pilots.
But make no mistake. Vacating the Nicolau Award remains your MEC's number one goal, and as you well know, we have recently filed a law suit in the District of Columbia to help us reach that goal. We have been assigned a judge and on October 5th, there will be an initial conference which most likely will produce a schedule. Our attorney has already briefed us that this matter will likely not be decided in 2007. So the litigation process, like JNC negotiations, may be a long road.
But we have a separate issue that needs to be addressed now. Your leadership is working to address the unfair pay inequities that you have been facing. The MEC's “Equal pay for Equal Work†parity resolution demands immediate pay increases in order to obtain parity with the higher AWA pilot pay rates. Doing the same job for less money while generating the bulk of our profits cannot continue.
We have been patient for too long on the parity issue. As JNC negotiations have dragged out, our management has taken advantage of our disparate pay structure. US Airways East pilots can no longer subsidize corporate profits, employee profit sharing checks and lucrative executive compensation with our bottom of the barrel, bankruptcy garnered wages. If equal pay for equal work is the mantra for our senior executives, I say let it be ours! We will be meeting with management soon to lay out a process to address this long overdue issue.
Soon you will receive a letter from Captain Prater informing you of his intention to call a special meeting of the AAA and AWA MECs. In preparation for that joint meeting I will be calling your MEC into special session towards the end of next week. Among other issues, we will discuss our role in the process the Executive Council laid out in their resolution that called for consensual approaches for career protection.
To be successful in all our pursuits, we will need your help and support. Continue to follow our “Three Pronged Approach†to success. Now, more than ever, I ask you to do your own job. Follow The WAR Reports, and answer the call when we need your participation. Management needs to know that the first step in fixing our abysmal operation is to properly acknowledge the group of individuals that made any chance of profitability possible. That acknowledgement needs to come on the 15th and 30th of each month.
I wish you all a safe and happy Independence Day holiday.
Please continue to look out for each other, follow our “Three Prong Approach,†and as always, fly safe and thanks for listening.
-----------------------------------------------------------
An AWA Pilots Commentary
Now that ALPA President Prater has summoned both MECs to D.C. to hammer out a deal, we at U-Turn have to ask the obvious question: who’s got the leverage? While the West MEC was huffing and puffing and threatening to blow the house down, while Ray “Boom-Boom†Burkett was ticking off the Herndon Head Shed with delusions of removing Captain Prater, the East has been quietly working a wage package with the company right under our noses.
The East hasn’t exactly been sneaking around in the shadows. It’s all been out there for anyone who was willing to read the tea leaves and listen to their Code-A-Phone messages. And once again, you are reading it first on U-TURN!
U-Turn will not comment on who approached whom or why (although we do have some of the details), but it is apparent that the East MEC Chairman and Mr. Parker have been in discussions outside of JNC in an effort to work out details for an amendment to their current contract, AKA LOA 93. The East is asking for wage parity (the actual rates are quoted at the bottom of this email).
Why pay parity and why now? Pay parity goes a long way toward eliminating the “B†Scale that the East is working under. And today’s wage parity could be the harbinger for tomorrow’s vacation and work rules parity. Yesterday’s East Code-A-Phone hints that the East has been negotiating directly with the company outside of the JNC to reach an agreement:
This is Arnie Gentile with a US Airways MEC update for Monday, July 2nd. Last week on Thursday afternoon, the US Airways pilot’s Negotiating Committee fulfilled resolution 07-63a- pay parity and sent proposed pay rates over to management. We expect a response from management shortly. In any case, the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is planning to meet with management next Tuesday and Wednesday, July 10th and 11th.
Our methodology in developing this proposal involved capturing the Narrowbody Top of Scale (TOS) Captain rate of 141.85 at AWA and inserting that rate as the TOS for a Group 2 AAA Captain. From that cornerstone rate of 141.85 we developed the rest of the rate proposal maintaining the current contractual differentials that exist in the AAA contract today----i.e. Group 2 to Group 1, Captain to First Officer, etc. The proposed pay rate schedule will be posted in What’s New and emailed to all pilots.
The “Equal pay for Equal Work†parity resolution is as follows:
AI 07-63a - Pay Parity
WHEREAS the AAA pilots have been in fruitless contract negotiations with US Airways management to achieve a new joint contract with the AWA pilots for nearly two years, and
WHEREAS management employees have been granted pay parity with their AWA counterparts, and
WHEREAS this pay parity has resulted in pay raises for the affected management employees, and
WHEREAS the AAA pilots have not been included in a similar pay parity process,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the AAA MEC demands immediate pay increases in order to obtain parity with the higher AWA pilot pay rate, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Strike Preparedness Committee is reactivated to support all activities to achieve equal pay for equal work for the AAA pilots, and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the AAA Negotiating Committee immediately engage the company in discussions to achieve pay parity for the AAA pilots with commensurate percentage increases for all AAA pilots preserving current pay rate differentials.
Passes Unanimously
Based on their willingness to negotiate with the company on this parity issue, it is apparent that East is willing to work under LOA 93 until their contract becomes amendable in late 2009. And without a single contract, the Nicolau Award cannot be implemented. This could buy the East as much as three years of separate operations and arguably 900 upgrades (notwithstanding a change to Age 60).
For them it’s an immediate 13% raise, plus a dramatic increase in the E190 rates. For us? More of the current contract. Because without their cooperation, there will be no single contract generated by the JNC process. And without a single contract, no implementation of the Nicolau Award.
Anyone who doubts whether the East hasn’t been telegraphing this parity and “equal pay for equal work†message needs to go to www.usairwayspilots.org and read through their Code-A-Phone messages for the past two months. The message has been there. But our MEC has been unwilling to heed the warnings.
So for all the bellicose Hotlines, all the ranting and raving, all the lines drawn in the sand, what do we have to show for it? Another three years of C-2004 and no implementation of the Nicolau Award. But our MEC sure showed them, didn’t it?
USA320Pilot comments: The US Airways pilot contract becomes amendable on January 1, 2010.
Regards,
USA320Pilot
