What will happen if we say no(which I dont think we should) ? More years with the same old pay rates
we have now ? How long will mediation take 3,5,7, years longer ? We got back double time. no layoffs
for people on the system now and our SFO MOC is protected. It isnt a perfect agreement but there isnt
a perfect agreement.You have to think it through for yourself but for my family I will accept it.
What will happen is you can go back and get more plus the retro you earned. Are you going to let UAL take more money away from your family? If you vote YES you are voting to extend the concessions that were forced upon you in Bankruputcy seven long years ago. UPS, FED EX and WN mechanics do the same job you do but they get anywhere from $45/hr to $50/hr. Why should you guys settle for over $10/hr less? At AA we are going for just shy of $44/hr. That still puts us behind those guys buts its still an improvement over what we have now. If you guys settle for whats on the table you will have sold yourselves short. Adjusted for inflation you will be no better off than after the first round of Bankrupcty imposed cuts. Look at UALs revenue from 2002, compare it to today, my guess its gone up a lot, I know AA has gone up by $5 billion. Now look at the number of employees they have, my guess is its gone down a lot, at AA its around 40,000. So they have more money coming in with fewer people getting paid, they have the money, fuel doesnt take all of it. Everybody else who is still in the game, except labor, has seen their income increase dramatically, from the airports, to the vendors, to the banks and yes the oil companies. Labor should not stand on the sidelines and wait till there's something left over to get what we deserve, we have to take it, remember if we dont show up to work the planes dont go out and if they dont go out then nobody gets anything. Layoffs? are you serious? The airlines have driven so many mechanics out of the industry that even the MROs are having trouble getting people. Here in the Northeast at AA around 90% of our recalls rejected the offer to come back, out of nearly 400 on the list around 20 came back, the rest found better jobs. I hear that around 60% are saying no to UAL, that rate will increase as they get further down the list to more Junior guys. How long you are in mediation depends on how much pressure you put on the company. Another "Summer of Hell" like you did in 2000 would make it short, if you don't put any pressure on them like us you may end up a year or so but lets not forget that the recent UPS contract became amendable in 2006 and they just recently settled for $50/hr with the same union you got. Would that be worth waiting for? Maybe you need to switch to their Local?
The fact is we have the Airlines in a better position now than we ever have, despite the economy, despite the fuel, despite our age, now is the time to push to get the wage restored. In 2009 the FAA only issued enough certs for less than 3000 A&Ps. That's not even half the rate of attrition, AA alone attrits out around 500/year and 54% of our workforce is over 50 years of age. That means in the next 10 years, AA alone , if it does not expand, will need at least 5400 new mechanics, probably more, they were looking to add 900 this year. So one single carrier would consume at least 18% of all the new A&Ps. UAL looks to be agreeable to bringing more work back in house, maybe because they outsourced maintenance services were making up 13% of their total expenses but where are they going to find them? Half the schools closed as well. Remember that 3000 has to satisfy the entire Aviation industry, not just Commercial.