Stewards Office

Local 210 JCBA notice

2012-01-30T11:08:00.002-05:00

January 30th 2012

As you know, pursuant to the Railway Labor Act, mechanic and related at both s-CAL and s-UAL are working under two separate Collective Bargaining Agreements and will continue to do so until such time an amalgamated Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) is reached between the Union and the Company.

In early February, Principal Officers and Business Agents from the pertinent Locals will be meeting to discuss ideas, strategies and the structure/size of the System Steering Committee (committee whose primary purpose is to bring proposals forward for the JCBA), Negotiating Committee and Seniority Integration Committee.

In an effort to get a head start on collecting the local membership's ideas/proposals for the upcoming JCBA negotiations, your local representatives have put together the following UAL amalgamated contract proposal form.

Please take some time to share your ideas for contract language changes on these forms. After completing the form, please turn it in to a Steward and/or Local Representative or Fax to the EWR Union office at 973-681-2752.

Future updates will follow the February meetings. Please continue to remain informed by reading the "Teamsters Airline Division Week in Review" and "The Mechanics Dispatch". Both may be viewed on our local BLOG at: www.ibt210mx.typepad.com or www.teamsterair.org

Should anyone wish to get in the local email database to join the hundreds who currently receive the updates directly, please contact the EWR Union office at 973-681-2750.

Thank you and if you have any questions feel free to call.

2012-01-28T11:57:00.002-05:00

January 25, 2012

Negotiations Continue at Continental Micronesia

Negotiators were at the table from Monday through Wednesday last week with significant progress reported towards achieving the goals that would provide the membership with an acceptable agreement.

The meetings concluded with the parties focused on the intent of concluding negotiations for the sub Continental Micronesia mechanics agreement. The parties discussed the remaining open economic items including; health care, retirement, wages and job protection provisions.

The Negotiating Committee remains determined to put the CMI membership in a position of equity with the agreements previously reached with both the sub Continental and sub United mechanics. Future negotiation dates are yet to be determined, but the parties are committed to completing this process in the most expeditious manner possible.

UAL CAL Safety Representatives Discuss Future

The Teamsters Flight Safety Committee is dictated to the continued protection of the aircraft mechanics and the flying public through and aggressive safety program.

Sub-UAL Flight Safety Committee Chairman John Fischbach hosted a conference call on Thursday January 19th for the Union Flight Safety Committee members from United and Continental. A vibrant conversation ensued around Sub-UAL CBA LOA 21and what the safety structure of the combined Airline might look like. Also discussed was the company’s SMS program which include LOSA and MSAP/ASAP.

The Safety Representatives attending all agreed that the call was productive and a good start. The group is also is going to continue meeting via regular conference calls and is looking at ways to facilitate face to face meetings as they develop a safety culture for the combined work group.

Participating in the call were: Mike Elberhart CAL (MCO), P.T. Thomas UAL (Local FSC Chair-ORD), John Gensinger (Local FSC Chair-JFK), Vic Austin UAL (Local FSC Chair-DEN), Robert Gubran LAX (Local FSC Chair-LAX), Chris Moore IBT-AD Safety Coordinator (CAL), Rich Petrovsky (Business Agent- Local 986-UAL), Bill Grader UAL (Local FSC Chair-PDX), Jock Creech UAL (Local FSC Chair-SEA) and John Fischbach, IBT (System and SFO FSC Chair)

EAP Committee Meets with Airline Division

On January 24th members of the national sub UA EAP committee met with representatives of the Airline Division to discuss strategy moving forward to protect this program for the membership. This program provides a valuable service to the membership as an avenue to seek help for a multitude of problems the membership faces in their everyday lives, from help with various addictions to family issues and everything in between.

In attendance were EAP Reps Caleb Good, Mike Brooks, Steve Loone, and Joe Schwirian as well as Division Director David Bourne, Deputy Director Steve Nagrotsky and International Representative Bob Fisher.

Furloughed Members Urged to Keep In Touch

Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent.

Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com

Useful Links

Several members, including those on furlough status, have requested links to Local websites be added to this section. The following Locals represent these respective cities:

Airline Mechanics Forum Airline Mechanics forum

Boston Local 25

New York & Washington Local 210

Charleston & Atlanta Local 528

Miami & Orlando Local 769

Cleveland Local 964

Chicago Local 781

Houston, Dallas & New Orleans Local 19

Phoenix Local 104

Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles,

Hawaii & Guam Local 856/986

Denver Local 455

Mechanics Dispatch1-10-12

2012-01-12T17:56:00.001-05:00

Moving Forward...What Comes Next?

Since the sub UA membership accepted the terms of their agreement on December 29^th, steps are underway to begin the work of amalgamating the agreements into a joint collective bargaining agreement.

1. To complete the process of individual agreements for all three subsidiaries, the parties are meeting the week of January 16^th to complete the Continental Micronesia agreement. The goal is to finish this agreement during this session.

2. The Principal Officers and Business Agents of all the pertinent Locals are slated to meet in early February to discuss the integration process. At this meeting items will be discussed regarding the make-up of the Steering, Negotiating and Seniority Integration committees.

3. Information requests will be (in some cases already have been) made of the company for pertinent information associated with seniority lists as well as medical and pension plan data to be made available to the various committees.

As the process unfolds the membership will be updated through the Airline Division’s “Week in Review,""The Mechanics Dispatch ," various Local and International websites, bulletin boards in the workplace, and email blasts to those members that have signed up to receive them. If you haven’t signed up to receive email notifications you may do so using the hot link at the bottom of this email. Once talks begin for the joint agreement and haven’t seen your concern addressed through the above communications please contact your Chief Stewards or Business Agents. There are weekly calls with these Representatives to ensure they have the most accurate and up to date information.

Sub UA Transition Items

Work continues to complete the transition into the new agreement. The big item this week is holiday pay for January 1^st. The time and a half premium along with pay rates were Day One items and members should be paid according to the new rates in the ratified agreement. A problem arose when payroll interpreted the transition documents incorrectly and then allowed the program to pay straight time as the premium as opposed to time and one half. Members affected by this will most likely see an adjustment in the next check following the holiday check if the correction can’t be

made in time.

401(k) Contributions

It was reported in the last update that members are limited to 30% of their signing bonus going to the 401(k). There is a way through supplemental deductions to increase the amount. Members are advised to call Fidelity directly at 1-800-245-9034. When talking to the Fidelity adviser for calculating the additional contributions, be aware that the signing bonus will be paid the same day as the regular pay check on 1/26 and both checks will be subject to the same supplemental deductions.

Benefits Committee Meets

The sub CO benefits committee met in Florida last week. Members from sub UA attended the meeting to listen in and learn from the process. A full report of the committee is not available as of the writing of this article but will be ready for next week’s Dispatch.

Continuing Compliance Issues

Members are advised to be aware of the constantly changing paperwork. Ensure you have the most current paperwork to avoid problems with the FAA. If you do find that the wrong paperwork was used please fill out the MSAP/ASAP and NASA forms. Please also immediately contact your Local flight safety representative to guide you through the process. Members will be helped through the process and if the issue is raised to the point of receiving a letter from the FAA the license protection program is in place for further protection.

Sub UA Physicians Choice Forms

Article 14, paragraph H of the new agreement retains the language of the old agreement for physician’s choice for work related injuries. If the member has their personal physician on file prior to injury they may select to use them instead of the state panel doctors for occupational injuries. As it is the New Year this is a good time to ensure your file is up to date.

Future Dispatch Columns

A couple of items of general interest to the membership have been brought forward. In future editions look for legislative updates, retiree issues and items for members on furlough.

If you know a retiree that would like to share his/her experiences, please pass them on. The idea is to give insight to those considering retirement while also keeping in touch with those that have retired.

For Legislative updates, this column will focus on lobbying efforts as they pertain to the membership from the International. If you are involved in a local issue or have met with a member of Congress, Governor or State House member and would like to see

your visit included please contact your Business Agent or Chief Steward so they can forward your update.

Members on furlough have been getting erroneous information from various web sites about their recall rights as well as how the process for return works. This column will focus on providing accurate information to those on furlough as well as including them in information surrounding the merger

Useful Links

Airline Mechanics forum http://airlinemechanics.org/yabb/YaBB.pl

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012-01-01T00:13:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Negotiation Update 12-30-11

2011-12-30T20:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the tentative agreement reached in November was ratified by a majority of the membership. The agreement will become effective January 1^st 2012, but will require some work to implement transition items as described in LOA #27. There have been many questions about the transition to the new agreement including; when do the pay rates take effect, when will the overtime balances be zeroed and when will the bid areas become active?

The parties recognized that this agreement would require much work to implement and that not all items would be effective day 1. LOA #27 states “As the parties discussed and agreed during the negotiations resulting in the 2010-2013 United-IBT Technicians and Related Agreement (also referred to in this Letter as “the New Agreement”), there will be technical and logistical impediments to fully implementing and migrating to the New Agreement as soon as the parties would like.” However migration to the new agreement is not an open ended process and should occur quickly. It is expected that completion of all the transition items will occur within the first several months of the year.

PAY

The pay rates take effect 1-1-12. This includes the double time and a half for New Years Day, the double time rate for overtime and the time and three quarters rate for field services. The signing bonus is anticipated to be paid around the same time as the second pay check in the month of January.

ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES

The first item that will not take place immediately will be the holiday move provision for New Years Day. Zeroing of the overtime hours requires changes to the various manpower computer programs and the establishment of new bid areas that are required in the agreement. This provision may happen at different times for different bid areas. For example line stations that only have a few bid areas may be able to transition quicker because there will not be a need to establish new bid areas. Field service is a provision tied to the establishment of bid areas and overtime so the selection process will continue as is until these items are addressed. However international trips will now be selected in the same manner as domestic trips.

MOVING FORWARD

Transition information will be made available as soon as possible to each station’s Business Agents and Chief Stewards and posted on the respective Local and International websites along with email blasts to the membership. The systemwide Chief Steward’s weekly Thursday call and the Friday Business Agent’s calls will be an integral part of discussing these changes and the expected target date for implementation. Look for more information beginning next week on expected timelines for the implementation of the various transition items.

TA passed!

2011-12-29T15:57:00.001-05:00

TA passed 69% to 31%

Recap

2011-12-22T21:40:00.002-05:00

It's been a very busy year for all of us. Some of it was good and some not so much. As I write this the TA from 11-11 is being voted on by the membership. Whatever the decision of the membership, next year will also be a busy one for everyone.

If the TA passes we will move quickly to merge three agreements and seniority lists into one and we will also have many trials as new language is implemented. This agreement is as close to a first agreement as you could possibly come given the broad rewrite of the language. Two years ago I would not have thought it possible to achieve what has happened. Our contract was old and broken. We all know why, it started first with the concessions of the ESOP and then went through two hearings in the 1113c process that further gutted any protections we had. Now we stand on the verge of attaining that which would not be possible outside a merger situation. We may get a fresh start. In this last round of negotiations one of the negotiators said to me "we certainly know what doesn't work, its time to try something new". I couldn't agree more.

Of course the TA could fail. If that happens the work of trying to achieve a standalone agreement will continue. Either way it will be a busy year.

There will most likely be an update on the blog after the vote count on the 29th. In the mean time watch for updates in the Mechanics Dispatch. Speaking of which if you have a story you would like to see in the dispatch please forward it and I'll try to get it in.

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Duplicate ballot requests

2011-12-10T00:05:00.002-05:00

You can request a duplicate or new ballot by contacting your Business Agent or Chief Steward. If you haven't received a ballot you have until Friday the 16th to request one.

Ballots will be collected from the post office on December 29, 2011 at 10:00 a.m., with the ballot count to commence immediately thereafter.

TA full version

2011-11-29T17:44:00.001-05:00

The full version TA can be found here.

AMR files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

2011-11-29T09:11:00.003-05:00

This morning American Airlines, the last of the major carriers that were established before deregulation, filed for bankruptcy protection in New York. My thoughts and prayers go out to the mechanics, and all employees, at AMR. As we can all attest bankruptcy is a heinous process for the employees.

Can we now declare deregulation a complete and total failure? Lets examine a couple of facts; 1 the airline industry prior to deregulation functioned well for the most part with very few bankruptcies, 2 Every major carrier established prior to deregulation has now filed for bankruptcy. Using this very simple fact set I'm prepared to say this policy was disastrous for the entire sector.

The continued lobbying for bankruptcy reform treating airlines the same as railways needs to continue.

Mechanics Dispatch 11-22-11

2011-11-22T22:20:00.002-05:00

Sub UA Tentative Agreement Update

Many members have inquired as to when the full text version of the TA will be released. To date the TA is still in edit format looking for things such as incorrect article references, misspellings and dates. The TA was sent to the printer on Monday and they are formatting the text into a blueline (printer’s software) version that will be edited, based on the noted above corrections, to ensure accuracy prior to mailing out the hard copies with the ballots on December 2nd. Prior to the ballot mailing the electronic version should be available on the web Monday the 28th and additionally will be emailed to those sub UA members for which we have email addresses.

Sub UA and CO BA's Meet with United Management

On Friday the 18th Business Agents from around the United and Continental system met with United Airlines Tech Ops management to discuss the implications of LOA 28 of the new agreement if the membership ratifies the sub UA TA. The BA's discussed the resource utilization piece of the LOA and informed the company that the transition will be monitored closely and any scope violations would be grieved. The weekly BA conference call will continue to be used as a policing tool during the time it takes to achieve an amalgamated agreement.

Sub CO Benefits Committee Meets

The CAL benefits review committee met on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 in Washington DC, the purpose of this meeting was, to start gathering and discussing pensions in preparation for the amalgamation negotiations. Peter Hardcastle from Cheiron was asked to come and address the committee. With the help of Peter Hardcastle, Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, single and multiple employer pensions as well as some different options such as "hybrid" plans, where discussed. Pete will be putting together a presentation for the committee with a comparison between the different plans.

The CAL committee will be working closely with its counterparts from UAL on the pension and benefits issues. This will be the first committee to integrate the two work groups to begin the arduous task of protecting one of the important issues that both
work groups will have to tackle.

The Benefits review committee will be meeting again December 5 2011 to continue working on both the health & welfare, and, Pension discussions. They will keep trying to come up with ways to better the benefits and keep cost under control.

Due to Thanksgiving there will be no Chief Steward or BA calls this week. Because of that, there will be no Mechanics Dispatch next week. From the Airline Division and the staff at the Mechanics Dispatch we wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving.

Negotiation update 11-11-11

2011-11-11T21:26:00.001-05:00

The negotiating committee worked over the last two days to reach an agreement that addresses the primary concerns of the membership. Feedback from the survey helped to guide us during these last two sessions with the company and an agreement has been reached.

We are finalizing the documents for the secret ballot ratification process. We anticipate that the ballots will be mailed out in Late November or early December for a vote of the full membership to be completed before the end of the year.

The highlights of this new tentative agreement include:
· Maintain current UA medical benefits

· Signing bonus of $11,500

· Extend protection of incumbent Leads for the duration of the new agreement

· The Company commits to an Early Out Program with a max of $75,000 per eligible person

· Improved language for RQ/FST/MPA

Majority of the provisions in the initial tentative agreement were retained and will become effective if approved by the membership.

To reach these goals the following changes were made from the June tentative agreement which include:

Retain some current 2005-2009 CBA provisions such as Article 14 sick leave, number of paid holidays, and 401K contributions. Additionally the parties agreed to withdraw the $100 tool allowance, withdraw the 2.5% medical plan wage increase offset set for 1/1/2013, and move the amendable date to 7/1/2013.

More details will be available in future updates. We appreciate the patience of all the members through this process.

In attendance for the Union were Local negotiators Larry Calhoun – NYC, Jay Koreny – IAD, Mike Pecoraro, Scott Baroni – ORD, Mitch Hunt, Scott Brown – DEN, Roger Apana – HNL, Dion Cornelious - LAX, John Laurin, Don Stevens, Mark DesAngles – SFO, Business Agents, Javier Lectora - 856, Rich Petrovsky, Dave Saucedo, Dave Elmore – 986, John Hennelly – 455, George Graham, Kevin Giegoldt – 781, for the Division Joseph Prisco SFO, Ken Meidinger DEN, Representatives - Clacy Griswold, Paul Alves, Bob Fisher, IBT Legal - Ed Gleason, and Labor Economist - Norman Weintraub.

In attendance for the Company were Doug McKeen, Joe Ferreira, Marcel Delhommeau, Jeff Wall, Anil Khorana, Juan Ruiz, Ray Ames, Anita Davis, Michael O’Dell, Mark Prpich, Kathy Cassley, Gary Kaplan, Kellee Allain

Mechanics Dispatch signup

2011-11-01T19:02:00.002-04:00

Do you want the Mechanics Dispatch delivered to your email address? If so, click here and fill out the form. Please make sure to include your employer to ensure you are on the correct distribution list.

Mechanics Dispatch 11-1-11

2011-11-01T18:52:00.002-04:00

CAL Benefits Review Committee Meets

The CAL Benefits Review Committee held their fourth meeting of the year with the Company on October 6, 2011.

Discussions took place concerning how the employee’s portion of their medical cost is computed. During these past three meetings the CAL benefits committee requested and received countless documents, gathering information on the methodology and cost associated with all plans for all work groups.

The IBT Benefits Department, working closely with the Committee have been making sure the correct information has been requested, and determining if any other documents are needed. A comprehensive analysis is now being undertaken and once the Committee determines that a definitive conclusion can be made on whether or not the medical premium aggregate language is being applied correctly, the findings will be reported and posted. Information on the upcoming benefits election for 2012 was also provided to the committee for review, along with notification that the enrollment period would not open until November of this year.

Other issues discussed for resolution were a hearing problem that has been indentified that is not currently being detected by the yearly testing being conducted by the Company’s vendor. The problem being reported is a high pitch hearing loss, causing the inability to hear in crowds. The Company will be looking into and will be reporting back to the committee on this topic.
Also discussed was a letter has been sent out by Walgreens, informing anyone using them as a provider, indicating that they will no longer accept Express Scripts. Starting January 2012, MedCo will become the prescription provider and the change is expected to be seamless.

In attendance for the Union was committee members, Bob Clever (IAH), Gary Kagel (MCO), Vinny Graziano (EWR), Audrey Scates (LAX), Tommy Esposito (BA LU 769) on conferences was Nick Manicone (IBT Counsel), and for the Company Jeff Wall (Labor relations), Robin Curtis (Staff VP, HR) and Dixon McKenzie.

The committee will meet next in Washington, DC on November 15th, to meet with a pension consultant to start research on different types of pension plans. Once the comparisons are complete the information will be made available to the membership.

UAL Negotiations Update

The parties met starting on the 25th and the Union presented their opening proposal. The proposal included the items addressed in the bargaining survey as priorities including maintaining the current medical coverage, retro pay, buyouts, lead ratios, and the inclusion of an EAP LOA.

The Company made their priorities known later in the day and informed the committee that the overall economic package would need to mirror the previous tentative agreement.

The parties passed counters through the week. Minor progress was made but the parties remained far apart on the major issues at the end of the week.

Due to the Union’s proposal regarding buyouts, the Company engaged it’s accountants to cost out the proposal and expect to have an answer for the Union when the parties reconvene on November 10th in Chicago.

The bargaining committee remains committed to achieving the priorities as expressed through membership feedback over the last several months.

In addition, Marcel Delhommeau announced that previously outsourced B757 sub Continental landing gear work is being brought in house to sub United in San Francisco starting during the month of January.

In attendance for the Union were Local negotiators Larry Calhoun – NYC, Jay Koreny – IAD, Mike Pecoraro, Scott Baroni – ORD, Mitch Hunt, Scott Brown – DEN, Roger Apana – HNL, Dion Cornelious - LAX, John Laurin, Don Stevens, Mark DesAngles – SFO, Business Agents, Javier Lectora - 856, Rich Petrovsky, Dave Saucedo, Dave Elmore – 986, John Hennelly – 455, George Graham, Kevin Giegoldt – 781 and Ralph Salzano – 210. In attendance for the Division were; Joseph Prisco SFO, Ken Meidinger DEN and International Representatives Clacy Griswold, Paul Alves and Bob Fisher. For the IBT Legal department; Ed Gleason and labor economist Norman Weintraub.

In attendance for the Company were Doug McKeen, Joe Ferreira, Marcel Delhommeau, Jeff Wall, Anil Khorana, Juan Ruiz, Ray Ames, Anita Davis, Michael O’Dell, Mark Prpich, Kathy Cassley, Gary Kaplan, and Kellee Allain.

Tech Ops reorganizational additions at sub UA

The negotiating committee was informed by Jim Keenan last week that the company is taking steps to move GSE and facilities maintenance into the fold. The committee was pleased to learn of this development as this has been a priority for the Union as reflected in LOA 26 of the previous TA. When asked if the company planned to now offer the members a clean slate in regards to dependability Jim responded, “We are all one family in Tech Ops, what’s good for one group is good for all. With that said when the changeover is complete we will wipe the slates clean for GQ-PV in the same manner as everyone else.”

Local Unions continues to monitor 757 pylon mod.

Local leaders in both MCO and SFO are monitoring the proposed B757 pylon mod work that has been done in Orlando. BA Tommy Esposito is working with the Local SFO committee to determine when the work actually begins in order to properly process the related grievance paperwork.

NMB responds to application for mediation for CAL and CMI

Responding to the request by UAL management for mediation, this week Lawrence Gibbons, Director of Mediation Services at the NMB replied to the request by the Company to move both Continental and Continental Micronesia into mediation.

In a letter to P. Douglas McKeen, Senior Vice President of Labor Relations at United Continental Holdings; the Board made no ruling at this time but rather requested further comment from the company. In his reply on behalf of the Board, Gibbons wrote:

“Enclosed is a copy of an October 14, 2011 letter from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters stating that Cal-IBT Technicians contract is not yet amendable and believe your application for mediation is not appropriate at this time. Further, the IBT believes your application involving Continental Micronesia is premature.

This letter acknowledges receipt of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters letter and requests comments from the carrier on or before October 31, 2011. The Carrier is also requested to provide the Organization with a copy of its comments.”

United Airlines announces insourcing of B757 landing gear work

This week, UAL management notified the United Mechanics Negotiating Committee that previously outsourced Continental Airlines B757 landing gear work will now be insourced to the SFO landing gear shop. The work is expected to begin starting in January of 2012.

IBT Airline Division joins UAL and CAL mechanics at Safety Round Table in Chicago

On October 27th, UAL Safety representatives Vic Austin, Bob Jensky, PT Thomas and CAL Safety representative Matt Mancini were joined IBT Airline Division Representative Chris Moore, at the Quarterly Tech Ops Safety Round Table meeting in Chicago. Flight Safety Chairperson John Fischbach also joined via conference call. The Tech Ops SRT is an integral part of the new United SMS program.

The company outlined plans and components of the SMS, provided a presentation which included injury trends, discussed fall protection training and ergonomic initiatives. Also discussed were aircraft damage trends and prevention strategies, MSAP update and plans for adopting an industry program titled LOSA (Line Ops Safety Assessment). Vic Austin addressed the IBT’s interest in working with the airline in an effort to improve safety and spoke to the concerns from the UAL rank & file on how LOSA will be conducted with a group of AMT peers mutually selected with management.

Discussions on LOSA will continue with sub-CAL and sub-UAL as they move closer to SOC and a single SMS program.

UAL also gave a brief presentation on a new program it is considering called “Move Smart” which includes teaching mechanics how better motion techniques as well as adding engineering controls can help lower OJI’s.

Negotiation update

2011-10-28T00:18:00.002-04:00

The parties met starting on the 25th and the Union presented their opening proposal. The proposal included the items addressed in the bargaining survey as priorities including maintaining the current medical coverage, retro pay, buyouts, lead ratios, and the inclusion of an EAP LOA.

The Company made their priorities known later in the day and informed the committee that the overall economic package would need to mirror the previous tentative agreement.

The parties passed counters through the week. Minor progress was made but the parties remained far apart on the major issues at the end of the week.

Due to the Union’s proposal regarding buyouts, the Company engaged it’s accountants to cost out the proposal and expect to have an answer for the Union when the parties reconvene on November 10th in Chicago.

The bargaining committee remains committed to achieving the priorities as expressed through membership feedback over the last several months.

In addition, Marcel Delhommeau announced that previously outsourced B757 sub Continental landing gear work is being brought in house to sub United in San Francisco starting during the month of January.

In attendance for the Union were Local negotiators Larry Calhoun – NYC, Jay Koreny – IAD, Mike Pecoraro, Scott Baroni – ORD, Mitch Hunt, Scott Brown – DEN, Roger Apana – HNL, Dion Cornelious - LAX, John Laurin, Don Stevens, Mark DesAngles – SFO, Business Agents, Javier Lectora - 856, Rich Petrovsky, Dave Saucedo, Dave Elmore – 986, John Hennelly – 455, George Graham, Kevin Giegoldt – 781, Ralph Salzano – 210, for the Division Joseph Prisco SFO, Ken Meidinger DEN, Representatives - Clacy Griswold, Paul Alves, Bob Fisher, IBT Legal - Ed Gleason, and Labor Economist - Norman Weintraub.

In attendance for the Company were Doug McKeen, Joe Ferreira, Marcel Delhommeau, Jeff Wall, Anil Khorana, Juan Ruiz, Ray Ames, Anita Davis, Michael O’Dell, Mark Prpich, Kathy Cassley, Gary Kaplan, Kellee Allain

Tea Party tells companies "Don't Hire"

2011-10-23T21:36:00.002-04:00

Here is a story from the local newspaper describing the Tea Party's plan for jobs. It is a disgusting testament to the depths some people will go for political gain. What more needs to be said except that these treasonous bastards should be deported to some uninhabited island so their disease can't be spread.

Mechanics for Change and seniority

2011-10-15T23:51:00.005-04:00

Seeing the latest drivel from the Mechanics for Change regarding seniority, I felt compelled to respond. Like charlatans that pick and chose sentences from well known documents to prey on the unsuspecting masses, the authors of this rag chose to frame a story comparing contracts by selecting only certain sentences in order to make it appear that only they know the true path to perfect contract language.

Now let’s examine some facts as they pertain to this seniority flyer. The protection of seniority goes far beyond a couple of paragraphs in CAL Article 3. True protection takes advantage of multiple elements. In light of that how does the UA agreement fare? First in 2000 we had over 15,700 mechanics and related employed under this agreement. Today we have 4823. During that same time the CAL mechanics never suffered a furlough of any kind, and in fact their numbers increased by 15%. How could the Mechanics for Change claim the seniority language in the UA agreement is better if 70% of the membership has been decimated while the CAL membership increased? Gaining pay seniority while laid off is little comfort if there is limited possibility of return due to the extreme numbers of mechanics on furlough.

Looking at mechanic Jane Doe in their missive, they claim that under the CAL agreement using only the terms they spell out, she would lose 2 weeks of vacation. What they don’t tell you is this would be her choice to be furloughed to the street, because CAL has job security for everyone on the seniority list. LOA 22. This is unlike the UA language which currently provides no protection for 23.5% of the UA membership because the current UA agreement doesn’t protect anyone with less than October of 1989 seniority. In addition CAL Jane Doe would be able to bump anywhere her seniority would hold, Article 6, which would create many paid system bumps, which is and was a deterrent to layoffs in the first place. Of course the UA language requires that Jane Doe could only bump the most junior employee and that mechanic could be all the way across the country. The UA agreement requires a severely reduced exercise of seniority in all situations, including layoffs, when compared to the CAL language. But there is no sense letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

In monetary terms while Jane Doe at United was accruing her extra two weeks of vacation, Jane Doe at CAL, because of her extra protections, was actually receiving wages in the amount of $150,000 if she were on dayshift. Do the Mechanics for Change really advocate the position that the UA membership sacrifices $150,000 for two weeks of vacation? This idea is the very definition of insanity!

Mechanics Dispatch 10-10-11

2011-10-12T01:59:00.003-04:00

Airline Division appoints Negotiators

With support from Local leadership in both cities, the Airline Division last week appointed two additional members to the UAL national negotiating committee.

Joe Prisco from San Francisco was appointed to provide additional input and insight regarding the line mechanics and Ken Meidenger from Denver was appointed to provide additional input and insight regarding the ground equipment and facilities mechanics. Additionally it was announced that Jim Prout from Denver TK will be the coordinator for the simulator technicians and available to the committee as needed.

The full committee will be convening on October 18th, and formal negotiations with United resume on October 24th.

Payroll issues identified at sub United

On the weekly Chief Steward call many cities reported payroll shortages relating to vacation pay. These shortages are affecting all departments as United transitions to a new payroll system. Several cities have contacted the payroll department and have been informed that the company is working to remedy the problem. Please scrutinize your pay during this transition period and notify your steward if you have been shorted.

Facilities work being outsourced systemwide

Many cities are reporting the work to rebrand terminal facilities is being outsourced. Members are encouraged to file grievances when they witness this activity. According to the Chief Stewards on the call this appears to be driven by corporate real estate and they are not reviewing this work with local committees prior to sending this work to the vendors. This is happening at both sub United and sub Continental.

CAL benefits review committee continues to meet

The review committee that was established as a part of the Continental mechanics agreement met again last week. The purpose of this committee is to provide oversight and to ensure that the company provides benefits as described in the agreement.

Boeing

2011-10-05T13:22:00.003-04:00

Former Continental CEO Larry Kellner recently joined the Boeing board of directors. I wonder if that will effect the upcoming narrowbody order process? Here is the article.

AA mechanics and the NMB

2011-10-04T21:32:00.002-04:00

I’m sure many of you are aware that most union groups at American are in mediation and have been for several years. Today an article was shared with me that described the current state of negotiations in some detail, and it is eye opening to say the least. Without releasing the parties to self help, according to the article this is what happened;

“A National Mediation Board mediator recessed talks last month between American and the union for 11,000 mechanics over a lack of progress and didn’t set new sessions, after a similar outcome for baggage handlers in July. An April NMB session ended with no dates for more talks with 17,000 attendants.”

And further down in the article; “The National Mediation Board declined to comment on the status of American’s labor talks. With the freeze, American isn’t getting its sought-after savings, and its work groups don’t have payback for the 2003 concessions or the required federal clearance to move toward a strike.”

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=45&articleid=20110929_45_0_AMRCor308390

It’s no wonder the NMB won’t comment. The NMB knows the parties are at an impasse. The NMB knows the next obvious step is release. The truth is the TWU mechanics at American won’t be able to achieve their bargaining goals until allowed to strike. The NMB won’t allow it to happen and instead just put them on ice. So now it appears it’s the TWU mechanics, and all the union employees at American, against the company and the government. The RLA is set to continue interstate commerce but there is an ultimate end provided by that statute. In researching the law, I can’t find the provision that removes forever all leverage from the represented groups at the airlines. Again, it’s no wonder the NMB won’t comment.

Mechanics Dispatch 10-3-11

2011-10-03T18:31:00.000-04:00

Welcome!

In order to better keep the mechanics at United, Continental, and Continental Micronesia informed as the merger progresses, this e-newsletter has been developed by the Airline Division and will include updates from the Division as well as Locals.

BA and Chief Steward Calls Established

Systemwide; from Guam to Boston, Business Agents from ten Local Unions have been participating in conference calls with the Division for the last three weeks. Many merger related issues have been discussed including; communications, SOC concerns surrounding attempts by the company to cross utilize the membership in several areas, ensuring that the respective seniority lists are accurate, and station reports from each Local.

Two results from the communications discussions are this Mechanic’s Dispatch and the establishment of weekly systemwide Chief Steward calls. The first Chief Steward call was held on September 29th. The main focus of the call was an overhaul of the way information is distributed to the membership. Similar to the BA calls, the Chiefs requested a single website to distribute relevant information to the membership as well as this ongoing e-blast.

UAL Bargaining to Resume

The parties will return to the table October 24th to attempt to reach an agreement before entering mediated talks in February.

Continental Micronesia Talks Scheduled

The parties will convene November 7th through the 9th to attempt to reach a transition agreement.

License Protection Program

On September 30th, the Airline Division and the TAMC announced the implementation of the Teamster Aircraft Mechanic License Protection Program.

As aviation maintenance professionals we take safety very seriously. Unfortunately there are times when; due to circumstances we sometimes cannot control, we find ourselves in a position where we are accused of violating the FAR’s, or have unfortunately actuallyviolated the FAR’s. And despite the fact that many of our workplaces do have robust ASAP and MSAP programs, they sometimes are not enough.

In recent months the FAA is taking a more punitive approach to FAR violations and in some cases denying ASAP and MSAP cases they once accepted. They are now also vigorously pursuing License Action and fines.

For that reason, the Teamsters Airline Division and the TAMC are proud to present, at no cost to the members, Legal Representation for those who find themselves receiving a LOI (letter of investigation) from the FAA.

Here’s how it works:

When a mechanic (licensed or not) receives a LOI from the FAA he or she should immediately contact their Business Agent. If this is the first time they have become aware of the violation they should fill out the MSAP/ASAP form. If the MSAP/ASAP program does not automatically refer your filing to ASRS/NASA; or if your airline does not have such a program, you should make that filing immediately. (It must be done within 10 days of your
knowledge ofthe incident)

You and your Business agent will discuss the circumstances surrounding the LOI and then a decision will be as to whether or not to contact attorney Richard Edelman from O’Donnell, Schwartz and Anderson. Only the Business Agent should contact Mr. Edelman at first. If the case is to be referred to the attorney, you should draft a response, explanation or justification for the work the FAA is investigating which will be sent to the attorney for him to use as a basis to answer the LOI. (If possible the draft response should be sent by e-mail) The attorney may have questions or need additional information that he may request by phone or e-mail. You will also get a letter explaining the arrangements for the attorney to represent you through the Union.

Mr. Edelman will help you craft your response to the FAA to make sure that the situation is clearly explained.In many cases the LOI responseends the investigation. Should the FAA decide to continue to the next step, you and your BA or Program Administrator will discuss next steps with the attorney. If the decision is be made by your Program Administrator to proceed to the Informal Conference step with the FAA, the Attorney will help to prep you for the meeting and he will be present in person or via conference call for the meeting.

If the matter cannot be resolved at the Informal Conference and the FAA proceeds with a certificate action before the NTSB; you, your Program Administrator and Attorney Edelman will decide the best course of action, and should the parties decide to go in front of the Administrative Law Judge for a hearing, Attorney Edelman will represent you.

This program is open to mechanics whether you are licensed or not and is at no cost to the employee. The Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition (TAMC) and the Airline Division are committed to providing the best representation in the Airline Industry and we will continue to develop programs like this.

SMC, MOR, MOC Update

As a result of the BA calls it was brought to the Divisions attention that the mechanics on the United side who answer the crew radios in their respective city control center were still scheduled for elimination. Representatives of the Division met with the Company on September 29th and this issue is now resolved. While there will be an addition of supervisors to these positions, all current mechanic positions will be grandfathered to keep these jobs. As supervisors are hired they will be responsible for the delay reporting and handling station budget resources as well as any discipline related issues that may arise.

Cross Utilization of Training

Local 210 was notified that the company intended to use DST’s to cross train United and Continental mechanics in the New York point. Business Agent Ralph Salzano notified the company this would be a violation of both agreements. The company agreed with Ralph and the issue is now resolved.

Cross Utilization of Ground Radio and Facilities Maintenance

There is an ongoing issue with the cross utilization of the members that service the ground radios across the system. In addition through the BA calls the Division learned that field service work on Continental facilities was being performed by United mechanics. At the September 29th meeting Representatives of the Division informed the company that using the membership in this manner was a violation of the respective agreements.

SFO visit

2011-09-26T21:35:00.002-04:00

Over the last four days I got to see many members at SFO in both the craft meetings as well as the steward training over the weekend. I would like to thank the members for their hospitality and great questions during the visit. The feedback received regarding what was needed for communications tools moving forward was invaluable. In addition the energy and focus of the stewards during the training session was inspiring.

The local action committee in SFO relayed that last Monday they passed out 4000 flyers to passengers at the airport. Their facebook page can be found here.

Lobbying effort

2011-09-15T11:28:00.005-04:00

As previously posted, on Tuesday several members along with representatives from the International and our lobbyists the Albertiens' lobbied on behalf of passage of the FAA reauthorization bill. We met with both Democrats and Republicans. There are several items of importance in passing a bill but it looks like congress will pass the 22nd continuing resolution for short term funding if Senator Coburn allows it to come to a vote. Otherwise we will see another partial shutdown of the FAA on Friday. Here is the article describing the current blockage to short term funding.

Why is it important for us that this bill passes? For us there are two key provisions, one that we need, and one that we oppose in the bill. A change in NMB voting procedures was instituted by the agency last year which Delta, JetBlue and the ATA oppose. As a favor to these entities Congressman Mica attached a rider to the House version of the bill which would force the NMB to use the old voting rules. If congress had to run under these conditions there would be few in elected office right now. This rider has no place in a funding bill for the FAA. If the Congressman would like to amend the Railway Labor Act then perhaps that's the direction he should go. If that law is opened I could think of several elements that should be changed. Of course this has nothing to do with actual governing and is only an attack on organized labor.

The piece of this bill that we need adopted is the single standard of maintenance which is found in the Senate version of the bill. To provide a worldwide standard for training, background checks, drug testing, and oversight would help the nation as well as our profession. If overseas facilities were subject to the same level of training and scrutiny it would be difficult for those MRO's to provide such cut rate maintenance plans. Once passed this standard would provide equal footing for us to compete. So this single standard of maintenance would provide much needed jobs at a time when we have 3300 people on the recall list, piece of mind that the work is being done correctly, and dramatically reduce the threat of some nefarious device being planted by a terrorist while an aircraft is wide open in overhaul. That seems like a pretty common sense idea. Even Republicans agree this would be good for the country. So why don't we have a bill? See the above paragraph. The fact that politicians are willing to put at risk the lives of their constituents and the American people, as well as returning good paying jobs to America, over partisan politics is DISGUSTING! Please take the time today to ask your Congressmen and Senators to pass the Senate version of the reauthorization bill.

EDIT: President Obama signed the extension today. Here is the article.

Facebook

2011-09-11T01:29:00.002-04:00

Are you on facebook? If so here is a suggested page to like. The page appears to have the purpose of educating the public about United's policy of outsourcing aircraft maintenance.

EDIT: link updated to reflect correct page instead of general facebook page

FAA Reauthorization Bill

2011-09-08T21:07:00.001-04:00

As I watched the President's speech tonight with its focus on jobs, including those in transportation, it really made me think about the FAA reauthorization bill. Here is a bill which would provide the stimulus for thousands of jobs with spending on projects that will upgrade many aspects of aviation and the air traffic control system. Funding on this the 21^st continuing resolution expires on September 16^th. The last amendment holding up passage looks to be Congressman Mica's
provision to change voting rules at the NMB for employees to unionize. I would urge you to call and write your members of Congress and ask them to pass the Senate version of the bill which does not include Congressman Mica's amendment.

Next week the TAMC along with several Chief Stewards and Safety Reps, as well as Reps from the Airline Division, the TWU, and our Lobbyists will spend time on the hill urging support for passage of this much needed overhaul. There is no reason for a 22^nd Continuing Resolution. Now is the time to get this bill passed.

The fact that members of Congress would hold up important legislation in order to make it more difficult to unionize shouldn't be shocking. We've seen it all over the country recently. The thing that surprises me is that they are so blatantly trying to destroy the middle class for a few sheckels from their sponsors. I will give a quick update after our meetings here on the blog.

Update from Summit meeting

2011-09-02T13:26:00.002-04:00

Thursday the parties met to discuss merger issues moving forward. The meeting was very productive and as a result the parties agreed to meet prior to the commencement of mediated negotiations, pending NMB approval, to attempt to reach an agreement. Stay tuned for further details.

Here is a link to the press release from 9-2

Bargaining survey

2011-08-25T17:13:00.001-04:00

The Airline Division bargaining survey is posted here. Please take the time to participate.

Guam

2011-08-17T21:22:00.001-04:00

Hafa Adai!

This week members of Continental Air Micronesia, Local 986 and the Airline Division worked towards finalizing contract proposals which would work to pre amalgamate the existing mechanics and related agreement. In addition there were craft meetings with various crafts and many issues were addressed surrounding the merger.

I would like to thank everyone that made us feel at home this week.

Actions vs. Words

2011-08-04T12:54:00.001-04:00

A long time ago I learned that the old adage "actions speak louder than words" was true. Recently I saw a flyer from the Mechanics for Change where they called David Bourne and Ed Gleason liars (again) regarding what Linda Pachula told the parties. The flyer is incorrect on many levels. The first point I'd like to address is the fact is this statement was made at every road show in exactly the same manner not just SFO and IAD. After the fact a letter was written to the NMB and counsel for that agency answered that the NMB would never violate the law or the rules. Of course in the aftermath of the rejected TA the results speak for themselves. The TA was rejected by a margin of 600 votes and given recent bargaining history at UAL it would probably have taken only a few tweaks to get a ratified agreement. However the Company applied for mediation three business days after the vote effectively ending any hope of a quick resolution to the major sticking points. The NMB, as required by law, accepted the Company's application for mediation. (as of this writing we are still waiting for the NMB's decision regarding the Company's application to go straight to amalgamation) Then the NMB set a schedule where we will not begin real negotiations until next February. That is nine months from the date of the rejected TA. Why would the NMB do this? The NMB saw the results of the vote and also the TA. The NMB which is severely understaffed and overworked could have gotten the parties together immediately to see if there were some adjustments to be made to get a ratified agreement. That is their purpose. Instead they put us on the backburner. So did the meetings take place? You can judge for yourself. For me I know the meetings, first with the Company and then with the Union, happened and I'm not ashamed that I shared this information.

The next point I'd like to address is scope. Are these guys serious? A loss of 11000 mechanics isn't enough to convince these folks that our scope sucks? Prior to 1994 and the ESOP we didn't have the greatest scope, but it worked because there was no real domestic or foreign competition to take our jobs. During the negotiations leading up to the ESOP the Union (IAM) realized that our scope did little to protect us. Once the flight kitchens were sold, the IAM recognizing that we were extremely exposed, agreed to a 20% cap on outsourcing. This concession was made at the time to try and protect our jobs. In addition a letter of protection for those with greater than 1994 seniority was also agreed upon. The amount of work being outsourced remained flat for a time and then began to increase dramatically at the end of the decade. Bankruptcy through two hearings further eroded our scope as well as the 1994 protection date. In the first of the bankruptcy "negotiations" in 2003 the protection date was moved to October of 1989 based on a formula of retirees. Also during this time period Indy and OAK were closed resulting on huge numbers of furloughs. Further "protections" were added in the second round of "negotiations". At that time we were already down to about 9000 mechanics and the Union (AMFA) believed adding the shop protections and line protections would stop the bloodletting. It didn't. This very same language continues to keep us down yet the MFC steadfastly want to cling to it. Do they not understand basic math? If that's the case here is a quick lesson 15700>4700. Under very similar language (the United TA scope language was better than the CAL CBA scope language because of the SFO point protection provision) Continental mechanics enjoyed a 15% increase in jobs. In other words protecting the work instead of the jobs hasn't worked and vice versa. The results speak for themselves.

Unlike the continued garbage spewing from the Mechanics for Change, proudly signed,

Bob Fisher

Update 8-2

2011-08-02T15:09:00.001-04:00

Last week there were two days of Joint Board hearings as well as the quarterly meeting with the members in SFO.

For the quarterly meetings there were several committee reports and each of the five meetings had at least thirty minutes devoted to Q&A's. Many topics were discussed such as the future negotiations schedule as well as many questions regarding benefits, pensions, retro, seniority integration and various other topics. Each of the five sessions had over two hundred attendees. In my opinion the meetings were productive.

The Joint Board heard four cases over the two days involving terminations, scope and seniority issues. As a result of this new process SFO now has approximately 39 open third steps. This represents a huge reduction in grievances as when we started SFO had over 150 outstanding third steps dating back to 1998. The next hearing schedule is being formulated for later this month in Chicago.

In Dulles last week five ramp personnel were fired for taking food off the galleys. What is significant here is they were caught by an outside law enforcement agency that had been watching them for some time. Across the system it seems we have had several of these cases of eating from the galleys spring up in the mechanics group lately. There is really only one thing you can do to protect yourself. It should be obvious but stay out of the galleys. If you make this very serious mistake and get caught, as the five apparently were, admit it. Don't compound the problem by making up a story or denying it if caught red handed. There are never any guarantees in the grievance process, but honesty and contriteness are two huge mitigating factors if you have to appear before an arbitrator. The number of theft cases won by any Union is extremely small and it generally comes down to the arbitrator weighing a couple of mitigating factors if the Union prevails. It really is different than it was years ago when management turned a blind eye to this as they are now taking it very serious. Now the flight kitchen people are being trained to immediately call their supervisors if they witness anyone taking things from the carts as well as the above mentioned law enforcement group watching for this activity. Please protect yourself, there is nothing in those carts worth the anxiety you will bring to yourself or your family if you're caught.

Congress as of this post has not passed an FAA reauthorization bill.

Please take the time to participate in the FAA fatigue study for mechanics. This important study will eventually lead to changes in duty time limits for mechanics that will most likely affect your ability to work overtime. Here is the link.

That's all for now,

Bob

UA earnings conference call

2011-07-24T12:15:00.001-04:00

An archived copy of the UA earnings call which was held on Thursday the 21^st 2011 can be found here. I'm sure most of you read the highlights of the call as reported in the various newspapers, but there are two sections of the call lasting several minutes apiece regarding the ongoing negotiations at United. The first can be found beginning around the six minute mark and the second begins at the 52:40 mark. In between there is one other quick reference to bargaining and the question was "why are you dragging out negotiations?" at the 34:04 mark and that Q&A lasts for about a minute.

If you have the time the call lasts about an hour and it is certainly worth listening too.

Historic plane order

2011-07-20T10:39:00.001-04:00

American just ordered a mix of Airbus and Boeing planes totaling 460. Here is the article.

It’s only money

2011-07-19T23:54:00.001-04:00

Here is an article describing the ongoing battle regarding the Metro station at Dulles. While it appears much work has been done while traveling up the Dulles toll road, my guess is it will be many more years before this vital transportation link is completed. The article describes the debate about an above ground station as opposed to a below ground one. The difference looks like only one billion dollars.

TSA groping with a twist

2011-07-16T19:54:00.001-04:00

Here's an interesting twist on groping at airport security.

Autism Speaks

2011-07-11T13:56:00.001-04:00

Some of you know, and others do not but my two youngest sons are deaf and both also suffer autism spectrum disorder. When my wife and I first learned this, it truly felt like a death sentence. However as time went by and we learned how to help them manage their lives, we both realized it was not a death sentence, only a different path in life. Along the way we learned sign language, advocacy and patience along with other skills that made us into the people we are. Normally I wouldn't share this but I witnessed a young man at the convention in Las Vegas who is blind and autistic sing the National Anthem and Lean on Me. His performance was inspiring to say the least. One thing I know, having lived it, even given the challenges he faces he will be successful in life because of his drive. My middle son had the same determination and eventually received a full scholarship at Gallaudet University. My youngest son still continues the struggle with autism but he grows more every day. Here are the links to Christopher Duffley singing at the convention. The National Anthem and Lean on Me.

If you would like to learn more about Autism please visit Autism Speaks. And if you are looking to donate money please consider this fine organization.

Propaganda and brainwashing

2011-07-05T22:31:00.001-04:00

I recently read an excerpt from "Truthout" by Dr. Cynthia Boaz where she laid out 14 propaganda techniques used in brainwashing. The piece was an analysis of modern media outlets and how they skew the message. Two statements struck me "Thus, to the degree that access to quality information is willfully or unintentionally obstructed, democracy itself is degraded.", and "These individuals are hostile and angry precisely because they don't feel confident in their own veracity. And in general, the more someone is losing their temper in a debate and the more intolerant they are of listening to others, the more you can be certain they do not know what they're talking about." As I read the excerpt I realized this was parallel to what we just witnessed with the TA. Fox News (read Mechanics for Change and other agents of anarchy) screamed "our scope is gutted". It didn't matter that it wasn't true and was easy disproven, what mattered was only the message. They were and are trying to sell something. You all saw things like "seniority rights will be destroyed" "there is no automatic snapback for severance pay" "there is no easy hour" "we may have to test where we didn't before". Each of these items was also easily disproven by simply reading the agreement but again the message was what was important and not the facts. Simply put the message was kill the TA for one reason, it fit with the agenda to change unions. I wouldn't have believed we could be subject to such manipulation if it weren't for the fact that many members have contacted me telling me they never read the TA, they only listened to what was said on the floor. Of course that is all water over the dam and we are now in a several year process to trying to reach a deal. Were you the victim of these propaganda techniques?

What follows is the Dr.'s piece and it is well worth the read;

14 Propaganda Techniques Used to Brainwash

Saturday 2 July 2011

Excerpts from a news analysis by: Dr. Cynthia Boaz, Truthout

There is nothing more sacred to the maintenance of democracy than a free press. Access to comprehensive, accurate and quality information is essential to the manifestation of Socratic citizenship - the society characterized by a civically engaged, well-informed and socially invested populace. Thus, to the degree that access to quality information is willfully or unintentionally obstructed, democracy itself is degraded.

It is ironic that in the era of 24-hour cable news networks and "reality" programming, the news-to-fluff ratio and overall veracity of information has declined precipitously. Take the fact Americans now spend on average about 50 hours a week using various forms of media, while at the same time cultural literacy levels hover just above the gutter. Not only does mainstream media now tolerate gross misrepresentations of fact and history by public figures (highlighted most recently by Sarah Palin's ludicrous depiction of Paul Revere's ride), but many media actually legitimize these displays. Pause for a moment and ask yourself what it means that the world's largest, most profitable and most popular news channel passes off as fact every whim, impulse and outrageously incompetent analysis of its so-called reporters. How did we get here? Take the enormous amount of misinformation that is taken for truth by Fox audiences: the belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that he was in on 9/11, the belief that climate change isn't real and/or man-made, the belief that Barack Obama is Muslim and wasn't born in the United States, the insistence that all Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists, the inexplicable perceptions that immigrants are both too lazy to work and are about to steal your job. All of these claims are demonstrably false, yet Fox News viewers will maintain their veracity with incredible zeal. Why? Is it simply that we have lost our respect for knowledge?

My curiosity about this question compelled me to sit down and document the most oft-used methods by which willful ignorance has been turned into dogma ...propagandists disguised as media.

The good news is that the more conscious you are of these techniques, the less likely they are to work on you. The bad news is that those reading this article are probably the least in need in of it.

1. Panic Mongering. This goes one step beyond simple fear mongering. With panic mongering, there is never a break from the fear. The idea is to terrify and terrorize the audience during every waking moment. This of course raises the question: why terrorize your own audience? Because it is the fastest way to bypasses the rational brain. In other words, when people are afraid, they don't think rationally. And when they can't think rationally, they'll believe anything.

2. Character Assassination/Ad Hominem. An opponent using this technique does not like to waste time debating the idea. Instead, they prefer a quicker route to dispensing with their opponents: go after the person's credibility, motives, intelligence, character, or, if necessary, sanity. No category of character assassination is off the table and no offense is beneath them. This form of argument - if it can be called that - leaves no room for genuine debate over ideas, so by definition, it is undemocratic. Not to mention just plain crass.

3. Projection/Flipping. This one is frustrating for the viewer who is trying to actually follow the argument. It involves taking whatever underhanded tactic you're using and then accusing your opponent of doing it to you first. It's often called upon when the media host finds themselves on the ropes in the debate.

4. Rewriting History. This is another way of saying that propagandists make the facts fit their worldview. Why lie about the historical facts, even when they can be demonstrated to be false? Well, because dogmatic minds actually find it easier to reject reality than to update their viewpoints. They will literally rewrite history if it serves their interests. And they'll often speak with such authority that the casual viewer will be tempted to question what they knew as fact.

5. Scapegoating/Othering. This works best when people feel insecure or scared. It's technically a form of both fear mongering and diversion, but it is so pervasive that it deserves its own category. The simple idea is that if you can find a group to blame for social or economic problems, you can then go on to a) justify violence/dehumanization of them, and b) subvert responsibility for any harm that may befall them as a result.

6. Conflating Violence With Power and Opposition to Violence With Weakness. This is more of what I'd call a "meta-frame" (a deeply held belief) than a media technique, but it is manifested in the ways news is reported constantly. For example, terms like "show of strength" are often used to describe acts of repression, such as those by the Iranian regime against the protesters in the summer of 2009. There are several concerning consequences of this form of conflation. First, it has the potential to make people feel falsely emboldened by shows of force - it can turn wars into sporting events. Secondly, especially in the context of American politics, displays of violence - whether manifested in war or debates about the Second Amendment - are seen as noble and (in an especially surreal irony) moral. Violence become synonymous with power, patriotism and piety.

7. Bullying. This is a favorite technique of certain opponents. That it continues to be employed demonstrates that it seems to have some efficacy. Bullying and yelling works best on people who come to the conversation with a lack of confidence, either in themselves or their grasp of the subject being discussed. The bully exploits this lack of confidence by berating the guest into submission or compliance. Often, less self-possessed people will feel shame and anxiety when being berated and the quickest way to end the immediate discomfort is to cede authority to the bully. The bully is then able to interpret that as a "win."

8. Confusion. As with the preceding technique, this one works best on an audience that is less confident and self-possessed. The idea is to deliberately confuse the argument, but insist that the logic is airtight and imply that anyone who disagrees is either too dumb or too fanatical to follow along. Less independent minds will interpret the confusion technique as a form of sophisticated thinking, thereby giving the user's claims veracity in the viewer's mind.

9. Populism. This is especially popular in election years. The speakers identifies themselves as one of "the people" and the target of their ire as an enemy of the people. The opponent is always "elitist" or a "bureaucrat" or a "government insider" or some other category that is not the people. The idea is to make the opponent harder to relate to and harder to empathize with. It often goes hand in hand with scapegoating. A common logical fallacy with populism bias when used by the right is that accused "elitists" are almost always liberals - a category of political actors who, by definition, advocate for non-elite groups.

10. Invoking the Christian God. This is similar to othering and populism. With morality politics, the idea is to declare yourself and your allies as patriots, Christians and "real Americans" (those are inseparable categories in this line of thinking) and anyone who challenges them as not. Basically, God loves Fox and Republicans and America. And hates taxes and anyone who doesn't love those other three things. Because the speaker has been benedicted by God to speak on behalf of all Americans, any challenge is perceived as immoral. It's a cheap and easy technique used by all totalitarian entities from states to cults.

11. Saturation. There are three components to effective saturation: being repetitive, being ubiquitous and being consistent. The message must be repeated cover and over, it must be everywhere and it must be shared across commentators: e.g. "Saddam has WMD." Veracity and hard data have no relationship to the efficacy of saturation. There is a psychological effect of being exposed to the same message over and over, regardless of whether it's true or if it even makes sense, e.g., "Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States." If something is said enough times, by enough people, many will come to accept it as truth. Another example is Fox's own slogan of "Fair and Balanced."

12. Disparaging Education. There is an emerging and disturbing lack of reverence for education and intellectualism in many mainstream media discourses. In fact, in some circles, higher education is often disparaged as elitist. Having a university credential is perceived by these folks as not a sign of credibility, but of a lack of it. In fact, among some commentators, evidence of intellectual prowess is treated snidely and as anti-American. Education and other evidence of being trained in critical thinking are direct threats to a hive-mind mentality, which is why they are so viscerally demeaned.

13. Guilt by Association. Here's how it works: if your cousin's college roommate's uncle's ex-wife attended a dinner party back in 1984 with Gorbachev's niece's ex-boyfriend's sister, then you, by extension are a communist set on destroying America. Period.

14. Diversion. This is where, when on the ropes, the media commentator suddenly takes the debate in a weird but predictable direction to avoid accountability. Any attempt to bring the discussion back to the issue at hand will likely be called deflection, an ironic use of the technique of projection/flipping.

These individuals are hostile and angry precisely because they don't feel confident in their own veracity. And in general, the more someone is losing their temper in a debate and the more intolerant they are of listening to others, the more you can be certain they do not know what they're talking about.

A representative democracy

2011-07-04T22:14:00.001-04:00

Today a very dear friend from Michigan sent me a copy of a letter to his Congressman. It is fitting that it was sent on the 4^th as the right to free speech is fundamental to our very foundation. Hopefully his Representative will listen even though it seems it is politically correct nowadays to tear down any safety net put in place to protect the middle (working) class. To be honest, at times it seems we have traded one form of tyranny (the King) for another (corporations). The letter follows;

Re: Congressman Bill Huizenga's statement on Budget and Spending

"Yet the U.S. is in the red for $14,000,000,000,000 - yes, that's 12 zeroes in one trillion dollars. Our nation's long-term deficit and current national debt level is both unfathomable and unsustainable. We simply must change the trajectory of spending in Washington. In the short-term, Congress can begin immediately by enacting sensible cost-cutting measures and eliminating wasteful and duplicative federal programs. In order to prevent crippling deficits and debt over the long-term, federal entitlement programs must be reformed in a way that protects current beneficiaries and allows current workers to enjoy a safe and stable retirement. We must restore fiscal sanity."

"As a matter of principle, taxpayers must have the right to a federal government that does not grow beyond their ability to pay for it and the right to expect a balanced federal budget. And Congress must create an atmosphere in our country that will foster job growth."

Social Security is not responsible for one penny of the deficit. By law, Social Security cannot barrow money to fund its operations and operates very efficiently from its own revenues. My question to you is, why you feel that Social Security is such a big fiscal problem that it has to be dealt with so urgently? Perhaps it is the projected growth balance of $3.67 trillion by the year 2022. That sure would make a tempting Congressional gift to a handful of Wall Street Execs for their next round of bonuses rewarding them for their fiscal failures. Or some Mega-Corporation could use it to build new factories in some foreign country and market their products "Tariff Free" in the United States.

The United States has given away billions in aid to many of the richest foreign countries in the world. Countries that hold trillions of dollars in US Treasury Bonds. The list includes; Mexico $316.7 million, Columbia $461.2 million, Egypt $255.7 million, Philippines $128.2 million, India $126.6 million, Brazil $25 million, China $27.2 million, Russia $71.5 million, Thailand $16.75 million.

In 2010 the Defense Department reported that a little over $9 billion was un-accounted for in Iraq. This is obvious mismanagement and complete lack of accountability on the part of government. This money was earmarked for re-construction. Billions for re-construction in Iraq while the infrastructure in the United States continues to deteriorate for lack of funds……………..I see no evidence of responsible government in this policy.

Now it would seem, from what I have read in your budget statement, that your solution to this blatant wasteful spending is to cut what you refer to as "Entitlement Programs" that were instituted to serve and assist the people of the United States. You know, the working folks that built this country in the first place.

"We The People" have a right to a Government that represents the interests of all the citizens of The United States, not just the largest campaign donors, mega corporations, special interest groups, or foreign nations.

It is generally understood by most of the citizens of this country that the "Super Rich" corporations and financial institution and their lobbyists wield the power to influence government and in so doing, control the destiny of the nation. With this in mind, I write this, not expecting change or even acknowledgement that what I have written is accurate. I write this as a reminder those individuals in government that are not responsive to the needs and welfare of its citizens and not mindful of the phrase "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed…………….." (2^nd paragraph, Declaration of Independence) will not succeed.

What most Americans know is, our nation's wealth has been squandered on Wall Street bailouts, millions of our jobs have been moved overseas, a practice that remains un-challenged by our government. The cost of health insurance will soon be out of reach for many more millions of Americans, and now it appears that Social Security and Medicare are the targets for "Reform". Reform meaning that the financial resources from these programs will be shifted to the private sector elite in the form of obscene profits, bonuses for CEOs and other forms of subsidy's for the corporate aristocracy while the people that have supported these programs will have to carry more of the financial burden. The American people are now becoming fully aware of the fact that our way of life and standard of living is in danger of disappearing for present and future generations.

I am encouraged by the fact that the "Spirit" of America is alive and strong and that "We the People" will not stand idly by and see our country further diminished and her citizens indentured to the corporate elite. We live in a Representative Democracy and I believe that now, in view of all the negatives in our economy, the people are more determined than ever to take a pro-active part in the careful selection of their representatives at all levels of government. We will not "go quietly into the night" and allow our freedoms and way of life to be handed over to the corporate elite, the Wall Street bankers, or the Washington lobbyists. We read, understand, and most important of all, we vote.

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T14:14:00.001-04:00

Wishing you all a fun and safe 4^th of July. Happy Independence Day!

Convention

2011-06-26T12:35:00.004-04:00

This week I am attending the 28^th Convention of the Teamsters as an elected delegate from Local 210. I will try to give updates as the Convention progresses but I will at least make a final report after its adjournment.

I look forward to this process which will nominate candidates to run for all positions of the General Executive Board. Each nominee will then be elected by the membership this fall.

EDIT: Here is the press release from the IBT on the opening of the convention. There have been several interesting aspects but one that really impressed me was the serious work being done with Unions around the globe. These Unions are thinking strategically about globalization and how best to use their respective resources to combat the world wide war on workers.

EDIT 2: The current election results can be followed here and clicking the "What's new" link

Final EDIT: Here are the results of the delegate votes for General President and General Secretary Treasurer; In order to be considered on the ballot for either position, a candidate was required to receive five percent, or 81 of the available votes. The voting for General President yielded three candidates; James P. Hoffa (1,326 votes), Sandy Pope (137 votes) and Fred Gegare (141 votes).
The balloting for the office of General Secretary/Treasurer also yielded three candidates; Ken Hall (1,269 votes), Jim Sheard (156 votes) and Gary Marquart (143 votes). In addition George Miranda our Principal Officer was nominated for and received over 1300 votes for Vice President at Large. All results can be found here and clicking on "Whats New". More information on voting will be conveyed to the membership prior to the vote, which is scheduled for later this year.

Doubt?

2011-06-24T11:57:00.002-04:00

I received a copy of this email today. The email speaks for itself and answers the question from the company perspective for those that doubted the IBT was committed to securing a standalone United agreement prior to amalgamating. In my opinion the original author was hoping for a different answer to add fuel to his arguments. The only thing removed were the email addresses but it's interesting to note that the author of the original email included his web address (perhaps to show the company there is no solidarity which begs the question, is he an agent for the company working against the mechanics or perhaps not very bright? I leave that for you to decide). Email follows;

From: Keenan, Jim [SFOVO]
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2011 9:04 AM
To: 'GT Davis'
Subject: RE: Amalgamation Negotiations

GT,

Thanks for your note. I'm happy to help clear this up. Not only is it NOT true that I said the IBT expressed the desire to pursue amalgamated negotiations, but that is the exact OPPOSITE of what I said. The Company pushed hard from the beginning to negotiate an amalgamated contract, but the IBT held firm that we needed to first negotiate a UA-only agreement. The Company agreed but stated that if we were unsuccessful we would push to file with the NMB for mediation on an amalgamated agreement.

Jim

From: GT Davis
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 7:11 PM
To: Keenan, Jim [SFOVO]
Subject: Amalgamation Negotiations

Mr. Keenan. I am a UAL Mechanic out of Denver and I have heard you made a statement in Chicago to the affect the IBT expressed they wished to negotiate an amalgamated contract and not a single UAL contract. In order to stop false rumors I would appreciate it if you could confirm or deny this. Thank you.

The-UALMechanics.com

GT Davis

NMB Update

2011-06-24T11:38:00.001-04:00

This was posted this morning on the Seattle Blog and it is copied here;

The Mediation Board has assigned Jim Mackenzie as the mediator for United Airlines and the IBT that represent the mechanics and related. Case number A-13605, here is MR. Mackenzie's bio.
Jock

Jim Mackenzie joined the National Mediation Board as a Mediator in March, 2009. In this capacity, he serves as a mediator in Airline and Railroad cases.
Prior to joining the NMB, Jim completed 31 years as a commercial pilot for a number of major airlines, retiring from Northwest Airlines in 2006 as an Airbus Captain. Following retirement, Jim was a Captain B-777/787 Instructor pilot for Alteon, a Boeing Company and an aviation consultant.
Jim's labor relations experience included 30 years working in various positions for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). During his career with the airlines, Jim served as Chairman of the NWA Pilot Retirement and Insurance Committee and was successful in maintaining the pilots defined benefit plan though Congressional legislation. In addition, he gained bankruptcy and workout experience serving as a member of the NWA Unsecured Creditors Committee. His extensive labor relations experience also includes being elected to the Master Executive Council of Braniff International Airlines, Co-Chairman of the Peoplexpress Pilot Merger Committee and serving on various ALPA committees at the local and national level. In addition, he served as President of the Board of Directors of the Air Line Pilots Mutual Aid Association, which provided disability benefits for all ALPA pilots.
Jim's military career with the United States Navy included 5 years flying the A-4 Skyhawk on active duty in the Western Pacific and 9 years in the Reserves as an adversary pilot.
Jim is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Source:
http://www.nmb.gov/activ-rpts/od.html#1
http://www.nmb.gov/directory/dirmed.html

Air Canada strike to be outlawed

2011-06-23T14:23:00.002-04:00

Here is an article from AVweb describing the situation. And Canada is supposed to be labor friendly.

Further misinformation and insanity

2011-06-18T13:36:00.001-04:00

The following post was sent to me this morning from a mechanic in SFO. He was reading it on GT's site. It is quite obvious that the poster knows nothing about the RLA. The fact is EITHER SIDE has the UNILATERAL RIGHT to invoke mediation. In fact during the road shows members were demanding that the Union demand mediation so we could get to a PEB. Now that, as the Union explained many times, the possibility of a PEB has been revealed to be non-existent in the near term and several years at best in the long term, this poster cries foul. Was it underhanded to explain the facts as they were on the road show? Was it underhanded to explain if this TA was rejected we would be years in negotiations given what the NMB said to the parties? At this point the NMB sending us back to the table outside the purview of mediation is as much a possibility as seeing Santa Claus in the flesh.

Here, I'll type it out, "has argued that the agency must proceed with mediation on a single contract basis involving only the UAL mechanics and related."
Of course the Teamsters deliberately ignore other possibilities, deliberately mind you, like the mediation board rejecting United's request and the mediator sending the company back to the bargaining table. Sending us back to the bargaining table is a legitimate possibility, yet the Teamsters don't even mention it. Instead they virtually support the company's request for mediation, going so far as to say "it MUST proceed" into mediation, but in a underhanded way, by saying that the issue is one contract group at this time and not amalgamation. Why is the union pushing for mediation in their statement? The union's response and letter to the mediator should say, "The company's request for mediation should be rejected at this time because they are asking for mediation on the amalgamation issue, and they haven't settled negotiations with the mechanics and related at UAL yet." That's what the Teamster's response SHOULD say, but what they actually said in fact supported the company's request for mediation. The mechanics and the company don't NEED mediation at this time. United's use of mediation is a stalling tactic. It's punitive. It's bargaining in bad faith and it is a slap in the face to the mechanics. In the old days mechanics would know how to respond to such a slap in the face.

Mediation schedule revealed

2011-06-17T16:56:00.004-04:00

The following release is from the Airline Division and it now appears likely that there will be no finalized deal this year;

The Airline Division reached out to the NMB today and learned that the NMB has taken the Company's and the Union's positions regarding amalgamated mediation under advisement, and that it will provide the parties with an answer once it makes a decision. The Union has opposed the Company's request that the UAL mediation take place on an amalgamated basis, and has argued that the agency must proceed with the mediation on a single contract basis involving only the UAL mechanics and related.

Additionally, as Airline Division Director Captain David Bourne had predicted, the NMB has set a mediation schedule that will not commence until much later this year. The NMB has advised that it will conduct its initial conference with the parties in November, 2011, and will set formal mediation dates to start thereafter. The Airline Division is extremely disappointed but not at all surprised with the NMB's scheduling order, and will be using all means necessary to accelerate this schedule. To that end, the Airline Division and the UAL Local Union Principal Officers are establishing, an action committee to develop strategies in coordination with the membership to persuade the NMB to set an expedited mediation schedule.

Amalgamation appealed

2011-06-13T11:53:00.001-04:00

As discussed in the previous post the Company's position to amalgamate the agreements immediately has been appealed. Here is the letter.

Face saving

2011-06-12T09:16:00.001-04:00

I just read a flyer allegedly sent from Joe Prisco labeled TRUTH. He claims to have consulted a "well respected labor lawyer" in compiling his facts for the flyer. Of course the well respected labor lawyer does not put his name to his position.

His main assertion is that the IBT should have vigorously fought the Company's filing for amalgamated talks. Of course this is the political equivalent of "heads I win tails you lose". The well respected lawyer should have told Joe that the Union has a right to object but that's not really the point. The point here is either move the Union makes, Joe will make a claim of 1) "see the union is weak and went along with the filing", or 2) "see the Union didn't know they could object to this and I brought it to their attention". In either scenario he will attempt to save face from his previous incorrect position. This becomes more obvious when you read the entire notice from David Bourne on 6-8 after the company filing where he states "This does not mean, however, that we agree with the Company's effort to push for an immediate amalgamation of the United and Continental contracts." Ignoring this part of the release was intentional.

Of course the real reason for the flyer is that, contrary to his previous assertion, it turns out the IBT was telling the truth during the road shows. The meetings described at the road shows of first the Company, and then the Union with the NMB occurred. The outcome was entirely predictable and it happened. The bottom line here is no matter which course of action the Union ultimately takes, the members lost an opportunity, we will be in talks for multiple years, and from the calls and emails I'm receiving many voted no because they felt the Union lied to them and the Company would not go to mediation. A quick look at the talks for the American mechanics bears out the fact that we will be talking for years. They have been in mediation for four years and the most recent economic pass from American was less than their previously rejected TA. Do you know when the NMB is going to release them? I haven't seen a date announced.

The only thing that surprised me about the filing at United is that they waited three whole business days until Tuesday to do it.

As relayed at the road shows

2011-06-07T17:56:00.002-04:00

As expected, and relayed to the membership as the most likely course of action, the Company filed for mediation this afternoon. They are seeking to amalgamate the groups. Here is the letter.

Week in Review 6-5-11

2011-06-05T21:49:00.001-04:00

UAL Mechanics Reject TA, Negotiating Committee Prepares to Return to Table

Voting on a transition agreement that provided a substantial pay raise, a reduction of out sourcing as a result of stronger scope language, the reopening of many stations and never before agreed to recall and furlough protection that was designed to provide negotiators a better starting point in upcoming amalgamation talks, the UAL mechanics have rejected the proposed agreement in a vote counted this week.

"We respect the vote of the membership," said Division Director David Bourne. "We also understand the desire to regain the losses of their previous contracts. Our goal for the mechanics was to get them initial raises, ensure they had job protections and other improvements in the interim as we moved into the contract amalgamation; a process which would keep the company from going to mediation and dragging the discussions out for years. Once that interim step was done, we could then go immediately into the amalgamated discussions for the combined UAL/CAL group and gain even more," said Bourne. "We are now standing ready to get back to the table and negotiate the items as directed by our members.

On Friday, the following letter sent on Friday to UAL management.

June 3, 2011

P. Douglas McKeen

Senior Vice President

Labor Relations, United Airlines

77 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60601

Dear Doug:

This letter is to serve as a confirmation of our telephone discussion this morning. As I advised you, in a vote count yesterday, the UAL mechanics represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division have rejected the Tentative Agreement that was reached by the union negotiating committee and the company.

I believe it is in the best interests of our membership and the company to return to the bargaining table as soon as possible to address the outstanding concerns raised by our UAL membership. The union negotiating committee and International representatives from my office stand willing and able to meet with you and your designees immediately, beginning Monday, June 6^th and on through any dates throughout the month and beyond, if necessary. I would ask that you contact me as soon as possible with your list of all available dates so that we can begin the process of scheduling the meetings and beginning new discussions to conclude a new agreement.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 202-624-6848 or by email.

Sincerely,

/s/

David P. Bourne

Director, Airline Division

"The negotiating committee's work continues," said Clacy Griswold, Business Agent for Local 986. "We had hoped to plan our steps now for upcoming amalgamation discussions based on higher wages and improved job protections for UAL mechanics. The biggest disappointment now is that the company will now have the ability to increase outsourcing and furlough employees with no rights; something we had stopped with this agreement."

TA rejected

2011-06-02T18:19:00.001-04:00

Here is the link.

First reports from Air France 447

2011-05-27T14:35:00.001-04:00

Here is a report that outlines some initial data recently recovered from the recorders.

NMB Investigated

2011-05-19T21:46:00.004-04:00

Here is an interesting letter from the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform requesting information from the NMB on its practices as it relates to several Unions and their treatment surrounding the new voting rules. According to the letter the Committee is focusing on whether Unions may have received preferential treatment or insider information from Board Chairman Hoglander or Board Member Linda Pachula. The Unions mentioned in the letter are ALPA, AFA/CWA, and the IAM.

EDIT: Of course only some kind of simple MORON (like the authors of the recent circulating BS) would believe these allegations to be true given the recent response from the General Counsel of the NMB to a recent inquiry into statements made by Counsel for the IBT.

Air France black box data

2011-05-16T17:04:00.001-04:00

According to Reuters investigators have found data on the black boxes recently recovered from Air France flight 447. Here is the article.

Join the Call and Participate

2011-05-02T21:48:00.002-04:00

Join your negotiating committee and Teamsters representatives for a
“Tele Town Hall” to review our tentative agreement (TA) at UAL.

What: Tele Town Hall to learn more about our TA
When:Wednesday, May 4, 2011
at 11:00 a.m. ET or 7:00 pm. ET.
How: Dial 877-229-8493 and access code 14111

To learn more about this transitional
agreement and future negotiations.
Ballots will be mailed to homes on Tuesday, May 3 and will be counted
on Thursday, June 2 at 11 a.m. ET.

If you received a prior notice with different dates, please note this
change to the balloting schedule. Opening the ballots on June 2 will
allow any interested members, business agents and officers to attend
the count in Washington, D.C. after the Memorial Day weekend. If you
are interested in attending the count, please contact your local union.
We look forward to having you on the call on May 4th.

Your Negotiating Committee

Director Bourne video

2011-04-30T19:59:00.004-04:00

Airline Division Director David Bourne adresses the membership on the upcoming TA vote;

A question of honesty

2011-04-29T14:09:00.001-04:00

After reading the latest IAM flyer I felt compelled to respond. If you read the last blog post you already know their position on scope is entirely inaccurate b.s., so for this post let's talk about their assertions regarding sick time.

Here is a fact that has equal truth and merit which they forgot to add; 9 out of 10 leprechauns prefer unicorns as a means of travel when heading to the end of a rainbow. In other words Brothers and Sisters their claims are complete malarkey (lies).

The authors hope you won't call the Business Agents at CAL to confirm their preposterous statements. Well you can if you wish but I already did and here are the answers from the largest Locals. On both coasts neither Agent can remember a dependability related discharge in the last 13 years. In Houston the Agent there told me in the last five years there have been about five discharges due to dependability related issues. In a group of 3700 that represents about .03% of the entire membership affected annually by discharge due dependability.

In my mind there is no reason to dig further into their claims. I call B.S. and stand by my claim that these folks are nothing more than political hacks that long ago sold their principles for potential personal gain. That brings to mind another profession where anatomical attributes are sold for personal gain, and the authors are as believable as those that ply that trade. It really is a question of honesty. How can anything they spew be believed?

Our Scope’s been GUTTED?

2011-04-28T01:10:00.001-04:00

I just read the latest IAM flyer regarding the gutting of scope and I thought at first this was meant to be a satirical piece. As I read further however I realized this is the typical blather and misdirection that this group uses to communicate its political message. When reading these missives lately I always half expect an ad from Lyndon LaRouche screaming "Let's colonize Mars because it's good for the economy!"

Let's examine the substance of the flyer for a minute and that is the gutting of the Scope of the Agreement. Brothers and Sisters as I've said in many past blog posts there are virtually no protections left in our current Agreement. In fact we would have an easier time gutting "Harvey the Rabbit" than gutting our protective provisions. The only substantive protection left in the agreement is the LOA that provides for 10/89 seniority protection. In examining that Letter however it has to be read in conjunction with Article X of the current Agreement where the layoff and recall provisions currently reside. Certainly the Company has to provide you a job if you have greater than 10/89 seniority but in reading Article X you are limited to bumping the most junior person on the system if you wish to maintain employment. We've all witnessed the devastating effects of members having to move across the country to maintain employment and in the last round of layoffs fewer than 40% of the members chose to follow the work due in no small part to this provision. Much of the destruction of the scope article occurred in bankruptcy and it's disingenuous at best, and an outright bald faced lie to be more accurate, to claim that what is proposed in the TA is in any way worse than what we currently have.

In examining scope language it is important that as many members are protected as possible, there are provisions for the reclamation of work, and that there are provisions to explore new work. The presence of exception clauses should be limited and if they are in the agreement they should have parameters around them. I believe this TA has achieved that goal and this is why; the scope in the TA protects the members against outsourcing new work, but if the Company does outsource there are several provisions to protect against the exception clauses. The first is expedited arbitration, the second is if work is outsourced no member can be laid off as a result, the third is an LOA protecting everyone (this includes members currently laid off who return to work) and not just those with greater than 10/89 seniority, the fourth is point protection for the largest of the unit in the San Francisco Maintenance center (which provides stability to the rest of the system), and the fifth is the new layoff and recall rules that allow members to truly exercise their seniority making it very difficult and costly for the Company to furlough people to other stations. As far as the reclamation of work and exploration of new work there is language regarding both of these contained in the article and therefore subject to the provisions of expedited arbitration if the Union feels they are violated. In our current agreement there are similar provisions, but they are constructed using precatory language in letters of agreement or in other words they are worthless. For the TA before us anyone that understands scope language, unlike the authors of the recent IAM piece, knows this is how scope should be constructed.

What is the measure of scope given what I've claimed in the above paragraph? I could rely on conjecture, whimsy and fabrication like the authors of the other piece, but let's try to examine my claims with some facts. The first fact is that United has decimated our craft and class much more than any other group within the Company. We have gone from a high of over 16,000 to approximately 4700 currently. This represents close to a 75% reduction in head count while the Company shipped our jobs overseas as well as to other domestic MRO providers. Contrast this to Continental mechanics since they have achieved similar scope language. During the last decade while every other carrier shed mechanics, of the major trunk carriers, only CAL actually added jobs. In fact they added about 15% more in head count throughout the decade growing by over 500 despite the looming specter of bankruptcy. These are a couple of very basic and striking facts and if the retort is the IBT can't defend the scope at United, my question is how did they accomplish this task at Continental? To me the answer is simple; one clause is defensible and the other is nonexistent.

Previous Unions on this property as well as Unions on other properties have tried to protect work instead of jobs. This seemed a worthwhile goal but it has produced mostly poor results throughout the industry. These types of positions don't produce the real results we need to attain in order to provide stability for the membership. One only needs to look at the explosion in the MRO industry over the last twenty years to see that's true. The real goal should be not to protect the work, but rather the jobs. We've all seen firsthand how the Company can manipulate the current nonexistent work protections. We only need to examine the 20% provision to see that these types of clauses are worthless. I say that because the work is gone under this provision and the Union is always left chasing the Company's numbers while more members go out the door. It is a never ending cycle of despair for those that are gone waiting to return as well as those still here waiting to be cut. Another example of protecting the work in our current agreement is protecting the C check lines. What happens when the OEM's decide to change from letter checks to something else? I bring this up because as I stated in a recent post Airbus stated in the MRO America's conference that they will be moving away from letters to something that they feel makes more sense and it sounds like they are getting initial buy in from the FAA. So let's say we kept the language protecting that work, but that work no longer exists, what protections have we secured for the membership? You know the answer already.

It really is disturbing that these very same people that forced the IAM out by claiming they were worthless, have now changed their tune and claim the IAM is the premier vehicle we need to use to restore our former glory. What's worse is they are using the same tactics which they previously employed to depose the IAM. Their shameless political cynicism Brothers and Sisters is the very definition of the term disingenuous.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T10:45:00.001-04:00

Wishing you and yours a Happy and Blessed Easter

A letter from Roger Apana

2011-04-22T19:32:00.001-04:00

What follows is a letter from negotiator Roger Apana from Hawaii. I certainly agree with his position;

THE MAIN EVENT

Mechanics at UAL are in a position along with their CAL brothers in getting the very best contract of all legacy airlines. The way to achieve this goal is to get to the Main Event in the shortest way possible right after a YES vote on this UAL TA. The Main Event I am talking about would be our final negotiation in which both UAL and CAL would be joined under a single carrier contract. By getting to the Main Event, we would have been the only labor group at UAL to be in position to move into amalgamation with 75% of our contract already resolved.

In the past couple of weeks, the UAL negotiating team traveled across the system to explain our Tentative Agreement. We faced very emotional crowds and listened to their complaints of what this TA lacked. The list in order of priority was all the same, Medical, Wages, Retirement and Retro. These items are also very important to your negotiators and we will continue to fight for all of this in the Main Event.

The fact of the matter is that we cannot work under Continental's agreement as well as they cannot work under our United TA. We need to have one contract that would combine both mechanic groups into single carrier status.

VERY IMPORTANT! When this UAL TA passes, CAL would team up with us and go IMMEDIATELY to the MAIN EVENT.

This is where the big fight begins; Medical, Wages, Retirement and Retro. These are the items that we need to focus on without being distracted by the other 200 pages of articles and letters of agreement. Those other non main issue items have already been settled in this TA. The reason for a YES vote on this TA is to move forward with a big portion of our contract in our pocket. Never in my 40yrs with UAL have we ever been able to reap benefits while still continuing to negotiate. This is an opportunity that should not be squandered.

We understand there is a lot of negative talk coming from a person who once headed AMFA and now is pushing the IAM. The IAM with its weak scope left us with just under 5000 mechanics from 15000. They allowed the use of our pension surplus to buy Pan Am yet never increased the pension plan while the Pacific route was so lucrative. They pushed for and gave us the failed ESOP. Finally they assigned someone from US Air to a seat on the board of UAL who later was the swing vote in favor of a failed merger which probably helped UAL go into bankruptcy. These new IAM people have never sat in our negotiations but declare themselves the authority on this contract. I have sat in these negotiations from the start and the #1 proposal was job security. We got the strongest job security and scope in the industry. Also we had to start from scratch because the previous contract out of bankruptcy had no snapback clause. The company was not going to give any of it back but we got most of it, plus more.

This a critical time in our careers where we must all take the initiative in gathering factual information. If you look at Northwest and Delta or US Air and America West, you will see the mediation process can really drag on. Also here at UAL our Flight Attendants, Pilots and Ramp are all under mediation and not moving. I really do believe that our position to vote YES and take advantage of 75% of our completed contract now would strengthen our position to move forward.

TIME is on the company's side and is the reason why the other groups that chose mediation are not talking. The longer they make them wait the longer UAL gets to use their money. Our contract is worth millions and you can believe me they will make us wait if this contract fails.

I cannot emphasize more; it is easier to move forward and focus on Medical, Wages, and Retirement alone than it is with 200 plus pages of articles and LOAs. Please vote YES

Mahalo, Roger Apana

MRO America’s Conference.

2011-04-14T14:23:00.001-04:00

This week as part of my duties with the Airline Division, I attended the MRO America's Conference in Miami. I am working on a detailed report but would like to quickly share some items with you.

My first initial thought upon entering the trade show was that the amount of vendors and the scope of work they perform were truly overwhelming. Literally every part or aspect of any aircraft had some provider offering maintenance services or repair to the operators. I say this not to scare anyone; rather this is to inform because we need to know the competition we face so we can develop sound strategies on how best to counter these potential outsourcing attempts.

This was the 16^th year of this conference and there were over 400 vendors with over 8000 attendees. By all accounts, worldwide, annually this is an over $50 billion dollar industry. Most MRO providers were expecting an increased workload over the course of the next five and ten years. The one caveat was oil and a speaker from Aerostrategies stated that with oil at $110/bbl airlines would remain flat as far as profit was concerned however the losses would accelerate exponentially the higher oil climbed. The purpose of his report was to outline the potential challenges MRO providers may face and should take into account. The speaker told the audience with oil over $120/bbl in his opinion "all bets were off".

As far as the MRO providers were concerned they were encouraged as several airlines indicated they were willing to entertain nose to tail airframe maintenance contracts. This trend could lead to a windfall for the OEM group. That trend could also work to the benefit of other MRO providers as they work to become contractors for the OEM manufacturers. For us this means we have to be very careful with the scope clauses of our agreements as we move forward.

When my detailed report is complete I will post it here.

Bob

Committee Recommendation

2011-04-13T06:52:00.001-04:00

The Tentative Agreement that is now before you comes after two years of negotiations, both pre and post merger announcement. During this process we made a couple of major strategic decisions that were beneficial to the process.

The first decision was not to invoke federal mediation. This decision enabled us to continue the negotiations at a pace that we had more control of. While the other Unions made an early decision to invoke mediation, in our view, mediation is a process that you invoke only when nothing is being accomplished through direct negotiations. This was not the environment we were in, and that led to our determination that mediation would not be beneficial for us. That decision paid off by enabling us to freely schedule the negotiation dates and continue to make progress. While we wish our colleagues at the other Unions the best in their mediation sessions, we do not envy the current pace of their mediated negotiations.

The second decision was to not go into amalgamated negotiations without first completing our "Section 6" negotiations for a "stand‐alone" UAL contract. Last year, after the merger was announced and then again when the merger was approved by the government, the Company very strongly expressed its desire to enter into formal amalgamation negotiations to combine the UAL and CAL Mechanic contracts. The Company wanted to do this because it wants to set the upper bar or standard for a long‐term, amalgamated contract at the current CAL mechanics' agreement. We opposed the company's effort in part because of the large number of changes that needed to be improved in the current UAL CBA and because we fully intend to obtain economic and work‐rule improvements in amalgamation that are higher and greater than the current CAL mechanics' contract. There are so many differences between current CAL and UAL contracts that it was far better to fix a good portion of the contractual provisions and language in these pre‐amalgamation Section 6 negotiations, and then focus on the remaining, very important but uncompleted items when we are in amalgamated negotiations.

The TA immediately recovers many of the contractual rights and protections that were conceded and lost in the existing and prior contracts. The TA also has many improvements that will be beneficial to all of our UAL members. We have lived far too long under the existing wages that were a result of bankruptcy concessions, and we have seen too many of our coworkers laid off while our work has been outsourced due to the current weak scope language. But this TA is not the end of the road. It takes care of the more immediate need to raise our incomes and protect our work and our jobs as we go through this merger, while giving us an advantage going into the amalgamated negotiations, our second bite of the apple.

The decision that is now before you ‐‐ to either vote yes or no on this TA – comes during an extremely unusual situation that will not likely be repeated in our careers: both options will result in further negotiations. A yes vote means that we will immediately enter into the amalgamated negotiation process, and within 30 days, a joint committee will be established to work on alternative Health and Welfare options. Ultimately, a yes vote will allow the joint negotiating committee to focus on the core items – the compensation and benefits that we intend to obtain in amalgamation.

A no vote will also mean a return to negotiations, but the Company will almost certainly move those negotiations into NMB mediation, and those mediated negotiations will start at the existing UAL contract terms and will therefore be without any of the wage and work‐rule recoveries and improvements that are contained in the TA. In that no‐vote scenario, the Company will most likely slow the process down for what could be a very long time because the existing UAL contract is far cheaper for the Company than the CAL contract and the TA (in spite of the fact that the TA does not provide all of the compensation and benefit items that we want and deserve); and that savings could outweigh the Company's benefits of completing the amalgamation process.

In our view, if the TA is ratified, the Company will not be able to slow the process down nearly as long as it otherwise could. That's because the TA forces the Company to enter into amalgamation negotiations from a higher economic starting point. The Company therefore cannot stop or delay the amalgamation because the TA imposes additional costs without providing it with any of the benefits of a fully integrated operation. For the same reason, Wall Street will also push it to complete the amalgamation. The TA is, quite simply, a necessary, short‐term transitional step toward achieving an industry leading, long term contract. With its scope and other job‐related improvements, the TA places us solidly at the top of the legacy passenger airline industry and allows us to finish the job of amalgamating the contract from a higher level of wages, better work rules and much stronger job protections.

It's important to have a good understanding of the meaning and the benefits of the new language in this TA as you make your decision. We will be communicating through membership meetings, an online teleconference, and written publications in order to properly disseminate the information. Please take the time to learn all you can as we enter the voting process.

For all the above reasons, your negotiating committee strongly recommends a YES vote.

Sincerely,

Your Negotiating Committee

Full TA

2011-03-25T16:58:00.001-04:00

Here is the link to the full TA as well as the summary sheet.

TA bullet point highlights

2011-03-20T20:08:00.002-04:00

Summary Sheet for the Amended International Brotherhood of Teamsters – United Airlines CBA for Mechanic and Related Members March 20, 2011

This document highlights some of the most important elements of the Tentative Agreement that has been reached between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Airlines for the Mechanics and Related craft. It is meant only to be a summary describing what the Negotiating Committee believes are some of the more important changes to the contract. It should not be read in isolation, and is not itself the Tentative Agreement: the Tentative Agreement will soon be posted on IBT Airline Division website, and you will be able to review it then. In addition, the Tentative Agreement will be mailed to each member, along with voting instructions, in the near future. Membership meetings to discuss the Tentative Agreement will also be scheduled around the system shortly.

COMPENSATION

Technicians
BASE HOURLY PAY: 2010-2012 TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
With 13 or More Years of Service, 2 Licenses and Line Premium
Effective Dates:	Day Shift	Afternoon Shift	Evening Shift
Date of Ratification	$35.22	$35.73	$35.80
July 1, 2011	$36.06	$36.57	$36.64
July 1, 2012	$36.92	$37.43	$37.50

$3,000 past wage credit payment
Moving expenses now spelled out with $12,000 cap
Increase in line premium .30 DOR, .40 7/1/2011, .50 7/1/2012
Increase in longevity pay $1.00 after 12 years
Increase in shift pay swings .51 and Midnights .58 (leads .54 and .61)
Per Diem $1.95 Domestic $2.50 International
Increase in License pay
Grandfather of license pay PV/GQ
Increase the number of employees receiving second license pay
Annual Tool allowance

SCOPE

Furlough protection for all employees on the System Seniority List
Point protection for the SFO Maintenance base for all Employees on active or on approved leaves of absence as of the effective date of the New Agreement, and for all Employees furloughed from the San Francisco Maintenance Center who are recalled to the SFO Point within 60 months following the effective date of the New Agreement.
Retains the prohibition on the sale, lease, etc. of the SFO Maintenance Center
Reestablishes Aircraft Mechanics in EWR and PHL
Reestablishes PV/GQ in HNL and BOS
Opens LAS and PHX to PV/GQ
Expressly prohibits the Company from contracting out work, subject to limited exceptions.
Limits the Company's use of the "traditional and customary" outsourcing exception to station-by-station histories, as opposed to system-wide histories
Adds new contracting out limitations containing trigger provisions requiring the Company to hire additional full-time personnel
LOA establishing local scope and contracting out committees for PV
System committees for Aircraft and GQ on scope and contracting out issues
Expressly prohibits Supervisors and other managerial personnel from performing bargaining unit (scope) work.
Provides for an expedited dispute resolution procedure to resolve scope disputes
Employees working on International Field Trips are now covered for most purposes under the Agreement
Retains existing (2005-2009) Agreement's provision to honor lawful picket lines of the Company's (domestic) employees at domestic locations.

DEFINITIONS

New Article
Clear definition of emergency

CLASSIFICATIONS

Establishment of bid areas
MPA's added to agreement
Grandfather of all former qualifications (except in MM if employee leaves voluntarily, need A&P to return)
No expiration of bid area qualifications

SENIORITY

Retention of lifetime recall rights
Management cannot displace employees on return from full time promoted status

REDUCTION IN FORCE

New Article on layoff and recall
Significantly Enhanced exercise of seniority rights
Enhanced severance pay

HOURS OF SERVICE

Bi-annual shift bids
New day and shift trade policy
Definition of adverse conditions (e.g. weather conditions)

HOLIDAYS

Two additional floating holidays
Provision to move holiday if it falls on day off
Increased pay for Holidays worked

VACATION

Retained accrual rates
Unlimited DATs
DAT by the hour
Variable use option (e.g. 401k or sick bank non occupational)
Enhanced bidding rules (slots)

LEAVES OF ABSENCE

Increase to 5 days for death in family
5 days for family emergency
Increased options for leaves

SICKTIME

Elimination of paragraph 14 G
Non occupation sick bank increased 1600 hours
Sick pay at 100%

FIELD SERVICE

New Article allowing 1 ¾ pay block to block
International Field Service selected the same as domestic

TRAINING

New Article directing training selection by seniority
Overtime rate paid for all training outside of regular work hours
Lead pay for OJT training of more than two other Mechanics
Training LOA for full time trainers based on seniority and qualifications

SAFETY AND HEALTH

LOA flight safety committee
Pay for safety shoes if required

BENEFITS

401(k) increase for transition period, until eventual DB plan is negotiated.
Keep current Medical, Dental and Vision till 1/1/2013
Keep current Retiree Benefits till 1/1/2013
LOA on committee to explore alternative health and medical coverage

OVERTIME

Reinstate double-time
Call-in Overtime minimum of 4 hours
Improved distribution rules

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE/DISCIPLINE

Improved grievance procedure
New Third Step Joint Board of Adjustment
Letters of discipline removed after one year
Progressive Discipline to run on different tracks for different types of offenses (e.g. Sick time, Job performance, etc.)

BOARD OF ARBITRATION

New Article allows selection process for Arbitrators

GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS

Two years to get required licenses
Increase to $7000 for tool box replacement
If 20 minute travel time to employee parking, parties discuss alternatives
Reduction in force badging protection

TRANSPORTATION

New paragraph allows employees with 20 years of service who resign 7 domestic and 1 international space available passes

DURATION

Amendable date of 12/31/2012

TRANSITION

Grandfather current employees in current work areas
Commitment to explore a defined benefit plan
Profit sharing
PV/GQ will ultimately report to Tech Operations

AMALGAMATION

Within 120 days of ratification file for single carrier status
Commence and complete integration as soon as practicable
As soon as practicable, enter into negotiations for joint agreement

TA

2011-03-19T21:24:00.001-04:00

By now you all know that a TA has been reached. The press release can be found here.

I apologize for the lack of updates lately, the hotels we were staying in had poor internet access and when I got home on weekends I just spent time with the family.

As details are released I will post them here as well.

Take care,

Bob

Union

2011-03-06T18:15:00.003-05:00

It's difficult to watch the attack on organized labor in this country without getting angry. Obviously if the attacks on collective bargaining rights are successful in Wisconsin and Ohio we won't be far behind. I can hear it playing out in the press now; If only those airline workers didn't have collective bargaining rights airfares would be lower!

Here is a link to a YouTube video thanking the 14 senators in WI for standing up to the administration with the only tool left for them to use, fleeing. I found this link as it was posted by the Teamsters on Facebook.

Yesterday Ralph Ortiz from SFO sent a very interesting article form CNN titled "America's union story: Blood, struggle and bargaining for good and bad". It is a good read and can be found
here.

I can't imagine the prospect of losing these precious rights. The one thing that encourages me as this plays out is that it appears labor is responding to this attack in a very different manner than when the Air Traffic Controllers Union was destroyed. We have to stand together! That is what being UNION is all about!

What can you do to help? Please visit this link to Stop the War on Workers.

EDIT: Not that anyone should be surprised, here is a link from the Washington Post that gets to the heart of the matter

War on workers

2011-02-23T18:03:00.001-05:00

How many of you thought the Republicans would stand by working men and women when they were elected last fall? The answer is probably very few of us. Here is an interesting link from YouTube where the Governor of Wisconsin lets his guard down because he thinks he's talking to David Koch. It's pretty disturbing the deceit that he is willing to employ to achieve his goal of busting unions. If anyone thinks that a union loss here won't affect the rest of us, you haven't been paying attention.

Encouraging poll

2011-02-22T20:10:00.001-05:00

Here is an encouraging USA Today/Gallup poll that states 66% of the public would oppose a law similar to the one the Governor is trying to cram through in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin

2011-02-22T10:37:00.002-05:00

I received an email last night from David Sulewski regarding what's happening in Wisconsin in specific and the country in general. For those that don't remember David, he is a retired UA fleet service worker out of IAD by way of CLE, and a dedicated trade unionist. The email follows;

"Many of our recently elected officials, when asked to explain their proposed budget cuts, (which to many seem excessive and un-reasonable) answer, "This is what my constituents elected me to do".

In taking such an arrogant and shortsighted stance they have, in effect, eliminated any possibility of negotiation and completely ruled out compromise, as a means of reaching a more equitable and sustainable plan that will negatively affect the least amount of people. Many of our elected officials seem more intent on discrediting the opposition party and advancing the agenda of their major campaign contributors then representing the people.

I, for one, disagree with their idea of why they were elected. I feel that the people elected them to office to restore responsible government for the benefit of all the people. I am sure that tax breaks for mega corporations and the richest one percent of the population at the expense of the rest of the country is not what their "constituents" consider responsible government.

In the second paragraph of the Declaration Of Independence can be found the sentence that best describes the foundation for the type of government that was to be established in our new nation. "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the Consent of the Governed……………".

David"

Thank you for sending this David.

It appears that labor is not going quietly into the night in Wisconsin, and for good reason. As workers we should keep a close eye on this fight and support our northern Brothers and Sisters in any way we can.

Update

2011-02-18T23:56:00.001-05:00

The negotiation update is out and can be viewed by following the link at the top of the page.

The declining middle class?

2011-02-16T22:11:00.001-05:00

Here
is an interesting article on the decline of the middle class. One of the several reasons cited for the middle class decline is the decline of organized labor. The article is a stark look at the present status of the blue collar worker.

Seattle Blog

2011-02-11T22:28:00.001-05:00

I couldn't agree more with Jock's latest post regarding Congress and jobs. Here is the link.

Tough times in Wisconsin

2011-02-11T20:30:00.001-05:00

Here
is a link to a very troubling report that the Governor of Wisconsin "is prepared to call in the Wisconsin National Guard to respond if there is any unrest among state employees in the wake of his announcement that he wants to revoke nearly all of their collective bargaining rights."

There is really no need to explain why he would be concerned.

Super Bowl

2011-02-06T22:34:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to the Packers on their win. I thought the Steelers would pull it off, but turnovers did them in.

This week

2011-02-06T12:27:00.001-05:00

I will be out of town all this week with limited internet access. Please direct your questions to Jay Koreny as he will be filling in for me.

Update

2011-01-31T13:58:00.001-05:00

WEATHER POSTPONES NEGOTIATIONS

Due to inclement weather in Chicago, negotiations have been rescheduled for February 14, 15 and 16.

Latest negotiation update 1-27-11

2011-01-27T23:26:00.001-05:00

This week in Chicago the Union and Company engaged in intense negotiations over the remaining open items. The parties made significant progress and have agreed to meet next week in an effort to make a final push to conclude negotiations.

Upcoming Negotiations:

Negotiations will continue February 1, 2011 in Chicago.

In attendance for the Union:
Airline Division: David Bourne, Clacy Griswold, Ed Gleason, Paul Alves IBT Benefits Department: John Slatery and Hemant Berry. IBT Actuary: Jim Holland (Cheiron Inc.) Negotiating Team: Kevin Giegoldt, Javier Lectora, Harvey Wright, Dominic Gully, Larry Calhoun, Dion Cornelius, Bob Fisher, George Graham, Roger Apana, Ramon Gonzalez, Ken Meidenger. Business Agents: John Hennelly, Dave Elmore, Dave Saucedo, Ralph Salzano, Rich Petrovsky, Paul Molenberg, Peter Finn

In attendance for the Company: Doug McKeen, Mike Bonds, Jim Keenan, Joe Ferreira, Bob Madigan, Marcel Delhommeau, Gary Kaplan, Kathy Cassley, Paul Darrow, Mark Prpich, Anita Davis, Anil Khorana, Kellee Allain, Anuj Singhal, Clint Stephen, Darren Fehring, Lincoln Lounsbury, Sue Rowan (Towers)

Outsourcing goes too far

2011-01-21T13:32:00.001-05:00

Here is an article from Daily Finance talking about the continuing problems with the Boeing 787 and the decisions to outsource much of the work on this plane.

In other Boeing news, 1000 workers are to be laid off in southern California. Their Long Beach plant has gone from 20000 employees in 1990 according to the article to 7000 today. Here is the article.

Frontline report on outsourcing

2011-01-19T23:00:00.001-05:00

If you weren't able to catch the original broadcast of the Frontline report "Flying Cheaper" it can be found
here. The report is close to eighteen minutes long and it highlights what those of us in the industry already know; and that is outsourcing will cost lives. This is video should be shared with everyone.

Dale Beetler

2011-01-16T21:54:00.002-05:00

Jay Obst sent me this email today;

"To all:

Retired UAL mechanic Dale Beetler passed-away this Sunday morning, 16 January 2011 at 12:49am. Details for Dale's viewing and funeral will follow shortly"

When I get more info I'll pass it on.

EDIT: Jay sent the following information today,

To all:

Viewing for Dale Beetler will take place at Adams-Green Funeral Home. Visitation will be on Saturday January 22, 2011 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm. Adams-Green Funeral Home is located at 721 Eldon Street Herndon, VA 20170. Phone (703) 347-1764.

Per Dales’ request all are invited to a remembrance gathering at Omia’s Pub and Grill from 3:30pm until 6:00pm. Omia’s address is: 1015 Dranesville Road Herndon, VA (703) 444-6666.

Congrats Again Pittsburgh!

2011-01-15T21:13:00.001-05:00

I have to admit I was fairly despondent at the end of the first half, but WOW what a comeback!

Seniority

2011-01-11T20:46:00.002-05:00

In any collective bargaining agreement there are three basic tenets that must be achieved for the members. We need scope to define our work, seniority to award positions, and just cause to protect us from the whims of management. Of course there are many more things to be negotiated such as wages, benefits, and work rules but without those first three, everything that follows becomes worthless. Experienced unionists understand that these three things are the true "meat and potatoes" of any agreement. With that said I would like to take a moment to discuss only one of these, and that is seniority.

I recently received a couple of email trees that included what looks like an original post, followed by a comment by GT Davis, and then further commented on by Horse Tayles. In these messages is a claim that the IBT was allowing supervisors that didn't make the cut to return with "full seniority" and the original poster even added one of the contract provisions to decry the violation. The provision he missed, intentionally or otherwise, was the Consent Decree found on the last two pages of the agreement. In the Decree (which the IAM signed in the 1970's) item 1. d. it talks about promoted employees having their seniority adjusted pursuant to the seniority provisions of the agreement. So for us to believe the ludicrous claims found in the email which follows this paragraph, the IBT would have to change the seniority provisions in article ten, and then have to have the provision reapplied to all members that have had their seniority adjusted after Nov 1^st of 1969 or be in violation of Federal Decree. Of course this makes no sense at all, but there is no sense letting the facts get in the way of a good story. Brothers and Sisters seniority is sacred and needs to be treated as such. I challenge anyone involved in this following asinine email tree to either provide proof what is claimed has happened, or admit you lie for your own political gain. I won't hold my breath for either. Email tree follows;

--- On Tue, 1/11/11, Horse Tayles <horsetayles@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Horse Tayles <horsetayles@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fw: Bye bye seniority
To: horsetayles@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 3:22 AM

Looks like the cheapsters are at it again. Giving away our seniority and violating our contract with another secret deal. This means when layoffs come a supervisor stays and a dedicated AMT or AET hits the street...And those on layoff suffer another organizing lie by the ibt.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: GT Davis <gtd53@comcast.net>
To: GT Davis <gtd53@comcast.net>
Sent: Fri, January 7, 2011 9:13:12 PM
Subject: FW:
Perhaps a closed door deal. What did we give up for this agreement? The ibt at work, and don't forget, don't make the company angry. Perhaps the ibt battle cry now should be, "kiss the company's ass."

To: gt davis
Subject:

Received confirmation the other day by our chief steward and business agent that UAL supervision WILL retain FULL seniority if not selected after their target selection process. They will be offered a position on the floor with FULL seniority. UAL-AMFA contract Article X chapter M paragraph 2 strictly states a mechanic getting a supervisory position will stop accruing after 6 months. Are the ibt letting UAL break the contract again???? It's happening here also.

Dulles report 1-8-11

2011-01-08T23:03:00.002-05:00

All

I was finally able to convince the Company that a replacement is needed when I'm out of town. Jay Koreny is the Steward that will be performing this task. Jay has been training with me for a while and is doing a great job. When I'm not in town please direct your concerns to Jay. His email is arcangl7@aol.com.

As far as a grievance report we currently have three grievances waiting for third step and four grievances waiting for second step hearings. These grievances are all language violations and none are for discipline or discharge.

The Stewards had a conference call on Friday and we discussed the Joint Counseling program. If you're not aware, Joint Counseling is discussed in LOA 82-2 and its purpose is to try to address possible member issues prior to discipline being imposed. The idea is that the supervisor will tell the steward the concerns he has with a member, then the steward will talk with that member to determine if there is a legitimate concern and if there is, see if there are any factors that are contributing to the issue. After the steward and the member discuss the issue and determine whether or not there is a legitimate concern they then will discuss the matter with the supervisor. Nothing will be recorded in the member's file as a result of any of these sessions.

The last negotiation session in December went well and I am looking forward to getting back to the table. Like you, it is my hope that we finish soon, and it now seems like that is possible.

That's all for now,
Bob Fisher

AFCN Champs!

2011-01-02T16:12:00.001-05:00

Congrats to the Steelers!

A review of the year that was as well as a look forward

2010-12-31T14:54:00.001-05:00

I was considering some of the things that happened over the last year and thought I would compile them here.

In every negotiation there are ups and downs. We started off the year in an accelerated fashion going about six weeks making a great deal of progress until we ultimately we hit a road bump in February while waiting for information requests from the Company. A huge dynamic during this period was the rumor of a possible merger with US Airways. Had that happened this review would be a dismal one. Negotiations continued after that mostly through subcommittees until April when a TA was reached on Article 16 Transportation. That was the last TA reached prior to the announcement of the merger with CAL. There was a collective sigh of relief on the committee when CAL was announced as the merger partner. Throughout the rest of the spring and summer negotiations continued and we were able to TA eight articles including two new ones, Field Trips and Training. Then as readers of the blog are aware, we hit another slightly rough patch around the end of September which continued into December. In December after the summit was held things turned around in a positive fashion. As I write this we are slated to meet again in Chicago on the last week of January. I'm hopeful given the tone of the last session that we will continue to make progress and finalize the agreement sometime in 2011.

It is impossible to police an agreement without a working grievance process. As the saying goes "Justice delayed is justice denied". The IBT inherited hundreds of third steps from both previous Unions dating back to 1998. These grievances were being heard at a rate of between 2 and 4 every month. At the end of 2009 the parties agreed to a new third step process that overhauled our decades old system. The first session of third steps was held in December of 2009 and continued for the most part each month throughout 2010. We started the year with those hundreds of grievances in the third step and through hard work by both sides we now have around seventy five grievances system wide. I say about because there is resolution on some but they have not yet been finalized and removed from the docket. One case that sticks out in my mind was a discharge that took six weeks from IRH to resolution at the third step. Under the old system that would have been almost impossible. To be fair the process is not perfect and we continue to iron out wrinkles as we go, but it is a much better system than we previously utilized.

A centralized management system was instituted for the auto shops across the system. The move away from the respective station managers was a positive for the group. Station managers tend to think of the operation without consideration of the maintenance required to accomplish station tasks. In fact when I approached the local manager here two years ago regarding insourcing she told me if she made a nickel in profit from the GQ shop she would spend it on CSR's and Ramp personnel as that is what the customer wants. It will be interesting moving forward to see which method of oversight will be used for the GQ group as CAL does it differently.

In July for everyone in United Services a clean slate was granted for dependability. Although much effort has been made the VP of North America continues to be a hold out on this issue. This was a huge issue, and still is for our Brothers and Sisters in GQ/PV. At the point of the clean slate there were many grievances waiting to be heard regarding dependability. It should be noted that the clean slate was granted without the imposition of a point system such as the Ramp and CSR's agreed to. There are better ways to manage dependability including but not limited to, day and shift swaps, more lenient vacation usage, and some sort of reward system for not using this valuable insurance program. It is my hope that the Company will move in this direction across the departments to achieve both the cost savings they need as well as a positive work experience for us by not having to constantly answer for our absences.

Looking forward, for the first time in a while I'm truly hopeful. We have many new managers at the top level and they seem to have a positive approach towards the employees. I'm not so naïve as to say everything will be alright and we can ignore what's happening around us, but its nice coming to work feeling that there is positive change in the air. We also have a union that is responsive to our needs, and this is borne out by the above paragraphs as they were involved with each mentioned item. Most of the issues above took decades to get out of whack and will take some time to fix completely, but the IBT took these issues head on and proposed ideas that would work both for the Membership as well as the Company. We're going to need that dedication and responsiveness in 2011 as we finalize our agreement and then merge the seniority lists and amalgamate the two separate agreements into one agreement that we can all live with.

I would like to wish each of you a very prosperous and Happy New Year.

The beginning of the end for the TSA?

2010-12-31T01:23:00.001-05:00

Just a little over 8 years after its inception, it appears the TSA is in for some tough times.
Here is the article.

A partnership on our behalf

2010-12-28T23:42:00.001-05:00

I received a letter today that was sent to Chairman Costello of the House Subcommittee on Aviation. The letter was jointly sent by Airline Division Director David Bourne as well as TWU Administrative International Vice President John M Conley and a copy can be found here. The letter is in response to a follow up request by Chairman Costello to the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation to continue investigating the oversight of repair facilities.

If you haven't already seen the news that prompted Chairman Costello to request additional action, Jock posted it on the Seattle blog on the 22^nd of December.

It's good to see the two largest Unions of airline mechanics working together on our behalf. Hopefully this is a partnership that continues to grow and benefits us years into the future.

Retirement article

2010-12-27T19:25:00.001-05:00

Here
is an interesting article on the retirement status of the boomer generation. The article states what most of us already know, and that is that we will have to work longer to better ensure the ability to pay for things, especially health care related, when we retire.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T10:23:00.001-05:00

I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Bah Humbug!

2010-12-23T22:21:00.003-05:00

I was catching up on all of my emails this week and a couple of them caught my eye. Before I get to that I wasn't sure whether to title this post "Bah Humbug" or "Sell Out". "Selling out" refers to the compromising of one's integrity, morality and principles in exchange for money, "success" (however defined) or personal gain. It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience. ... that definition is found here, and "Humbug" is defined as 1 a : something designed to deceive and mislead b : a willfully false, deceptive, or insincere person 2 : an attitude or spirit of pretense and deception 3 : nonsense, drivel… found here. Because of the season I went with Bah Humbug even though either would work.

The first one of these that I read was an email tree from Horsey tales and GT Davis promoting as "good information" a flyer from Jim Sietz and crew that really went past the limits of believability. As I read the flyer regarding the loss of the 20% outsourcing grievance and saw the blame for the loss was placed squarely on the shoulders of the IBT without regard to any previous failures, I knew that these individuals in their war against windmills had reached new depths and went beyond spin into outright lies. In his missive Jim tells of the IBT attorney not listening to him (this is done in third person to confuse the reader) as well as blaming the IBT for not being able to defend our horrendous scope language. (while I'm at it Jim, how many scope grievances did you successfully defend when you were the ACAC?) Having served as a board member on arbitration cases I can say if what Jim's saying was true (unlikely given past flyers), shame on you Jim. If Jim believed the union was making a mistake, he should have pointed it out either in caucus, or in session by cleverly asking a clarifying question of the parties. Of course if true, I guess Jim's shortcomings in this regard are either a result of inexperience or incompetence. Since he was recalled once in a previous Union for performance related issues, I assume both are understandable conclusions so take your pick.

Brothers and Sisters, when I wrote of the need for good defensible scope language this case is one of the reasons for my position. Let's look at the language of the 20% as negotiated in 1994 for the ESOP. Pre bankruptcy Article II D started with "The Company may contract out up to 20% of all maintenance work annually as measured by the sum of the Maintenance Operations Division's gross annual budget plus those portions of stations' total gross annual budgets attributable to building maintenance and ground equipment maintenance…." followed by some exception language. I agree with Jim in the narrow sense that this seems to be fairly straightforward language. The problem is the formula's numerator and denominator was not clearly defined in the language so that it could be easily defended. As a result the Company claimed they had a meeting with someone in the IAM and told them the calculations were not done correctly; therefore they were changing the formula to calculate the percentage. Whether the meeting took place in my mind is still in question, but what is not in question is the fact that the Company changed the calculation and the IAM missed it for several years followed by AMFA missing it for two years. This created enough of a practice in the arbitrators mind that he awarded the grievance to the Company. Had all the variables been outlined, even with the poor policing of the agreement, this case may very well have had a different outcome.

Like you, this decision disappointed me greatly. But you would think that even Jim knows the agreement is defined in negotiations, not in arbitration. To constantly rely on a neutral to tell you what the agreement the parties' negotiated means, is a failure on both sides. That's why arbitration is used as a last resort remedy. That's not to say arbitration should never be used. There are fights worth having even if the language is less than defensible, and this was certainly one of them. The results of these cases by any competent Union should be and are used as a basis for future negotiations.

The other email I received was apparently authored by GT Davis pleading with Louie Key of AMFA to ask help from the IAM which GT has espoused to despise, and it follows;

From: gtd53@comcast.net
To: Louie.Key@amfanatl.org
Subject: AMFA & IAM
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2010 14:23:42 -0700

Louie. As I write this email the IBT has been going hot and heavy organizing anyone and everyone. They're like a steamroller plowing everything down including those who are already organized by other unions. The Teamster's "Organizing Division" spends ten's of millions of dollars and will say and do anything to win those votes. They are unethical and a union that only represents their own interest. Sad truth is there is nothing stopping them and as we all know those workers they recruit are mostly uninformed and gullible.

AMFA was a victim of the ibt and could possibly be a victim again at SWA. My point is I fear AMFA's future could be put into question and their future success organizing Airline Mechanics and Related ended without an aggressive plan to fight the evil ibt. Bottom line is it costs money and takes a lot of clout in doing so. I am urging AMFA to reconsider meeting with the IAM leadership and coming to some kind of agreement that will benefit AMFA and the IAM and rid us of the IBT.

Currently the ibt has begun campaigning here in Denver going after the UAL Ramp personnel which are IAM and if they are successful could do quite a bit of damage to the IAM as the IBT did to AMFA. I am sure the IAM would be willing to at least talk about the possibility of some kind of an agreement or affiliation.

Our card drive here in Denver is going very well but I believe a card drive with the IAM involved could be the decisive act that could turn the evil ibt. I am going to forward this email to those at the IAM and hopefully something will come of it. GT Davis, a very concerned AMT.

Talk about politics makes strange bedfellows!

Do you read snopes.com or other similar sites that debunk what is basically folklore or legend, like the flashing of your headlights will result in your death because of gang initiations? If there is a question, I generally go to a second source when these emails surface just to check. Rarely are these things true. Why do they continue you might wonder? Really I think they continue because they play on our fears and the authors are entertained by, or derive some other benefit from those fears in some way. The email tree from the above group followed by the individual one is no different. Given our tumultuous history it's easy to believe that everyone is out to get us. This is especially true during stressful periods like negotiations. Hopefully however, you do your homework and find out that your uncle's, friend's, sister's, cousin Jim or GT is just an entertainer playing on your fears for his own entertainment and benefit. To do as these emailers implore, and regress, is insanity on a grand scale. And to them I say Bah Humbug!

Rumor control

2010-12-22T13:52:00.002-05:00

Apparently there is a rumor that our negotiating committee crossed a picket line at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago last week. To be clear, we did not cross the line! We found out about the strike the night before the one day strike was to take place. Clacy Griswold our Chief Negotiator immediately called the Company to inform them that negotiations would not take place at the Palmer House the next day. Arrangements were made to meet at the law offices of Seyfarth Shaw several blocks from the hotel. We also worked with Officers and Stewards of UniteHere Local 1 asking them what kind of support they would like from us. We were asked to man the picket line with the members from Local 1 the next morning. Every member of the Committee walked the line for over an hour prior to the beginning of negotiations on the 16th. We were unable to return to the line later in the day as Local 1 finished at 8:30pm and we were negotiating long after their line went down. The hotel workers thanked many of us the morning of the 17th for our support and show of solidarity. I hope this helps to clear up the rumor that is to the contrary.

In addition Here is a link to the press release and a video in which you can see a quick shot of Ramon Gonzalez from Denver as well as Clacy Griswold walking the line. There were three entrances to the hotel and rest of the committee walked the line at different entrances.

IAD bag room

2010-12-20T20:13:00.001-05:00

Over the last two weeks a concern surfaced regarding the potential outsourcing of the mechanical services for the bag room at Dulles Airport. The timing of the discovery of this information definitely cast a pall over the negotiations. But I would contend that there was some good that came out of this incident. One very positive thing that occurred was that the bag room RFP was rescinded from the airport authority website.

Another positive thing that happened was that I got to witness three men in action working towards a quick resolution of the situation. David Bourne advocated the position of the Union, while Doug McKeen and Mike Bonds worked to get the facts surrounding the RFP. As we worked during the first week I was given assurance from both Doug and Mike that there would be no outsourcing of the shop. Then at the beginning of the second week of negotiations a manager from JBT came through the shop looking for information on what exactly our mechanics do as well as how many were currently assigned to the task. After David took this information to Doug and Mike, within a couple of hours the RFP was removed.

How the RFP was issued in the first place appears to have come from the Airport Authority as part of a much larger project. I would like to thank all three of these men for their hard work towards this quick resolution that ended up protecting the jobs of 13 mechanics.

Negotiations Update 12-13-10

2010-12-13T17:45:00.001-05:00

Last week a negotiations summit was held in Chicago. The summit was attended by senior leadership of the Airline Division of the IBT, as well as senior leadership representatives from the Company. The parties discussed the resolution of the outstanding work rule items in an effort to move negotiations forward. Both sides felt this summit was productive and as a result of this collaborative effort, full committee negotiations will resume Wednesday the 15^th in Chicago.

In addition to negotiations, at the beginning of the week a meeting between the Union, the Company and the outside Auditors was held. The substance of this meeting was to discuss the outstanding information requests by the auditor regarding the 20% outsourcing audit. A follow up leadership summit was held Friday and the parties worked towards resolution of the outstanding requests.

During the week there was also a leadership summit of the parties to attempt final resolution regarding the EWR/PHL station closing grievance.

In attendance for the Union; Captain David - Bourne Airline Division Director, Ed Gleason - IBT Attorney, Clacy Griswold - Chief Negotiator, Paul Alves - Airline Division Representative

In attendance for the Company; Mike Bonds - Executive Vice President Human Resources and Labor Relations, Doug McKeen - Senior Vice President Labor Relations, Jim Keenan - Senior Vice President Technical Operations, Marcel Delhommeau - Managing Director Labor Strategy, Gary Kaplan - Attorney Seyfarth Shaw LLP

In addition each side had several staff members in attendance for technical support

SFO visit 12-6

2010-12-08T23:55:00.002-05:00

On Monday, while waiting for the meeting between the auditors and the Company to address outstanding information requests, Larry Calhoun from JFK and I visited with members in several different areas. We talked to people mostly on dayshift as well as some on swingshift in the narrow body docks, the wide body docks as well as the Jet Shop. We were later joined by Clacy Griswold, Paul Alves, Rich Petrovsky, Ken Meidenger, Harvey Wright, and Javier Lectora. Each one us enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with the mechanics at the base. The visit was a great chance to meet people and listen to their concerns regarding negotiations.

I would say after talking to the members we spoke to, there were some common concerns and frustrations. The big frustration is obviously that we don’t already have a deal in place. A couple of the overarching concerns were a return to a defined benefit pension plan as well as retro pay and job security. We explained these are all negotiable items but that the Committee is determined to achieve these positions when we reach the economic phase of the process. The visit was also a great opportunity to dispel some myths. One Brother approached us, I believe it was in Dock 4 or Special Routes (sp?), asking why we are negotiating away two weeks of vacation. We explained to the Brother that we are not in concessionary bargaining, and no one on the Committee would support any position that resulted in a loss of our vacation benefits.

Rumors are unfortunately typical during every negotiation. Knowing that, how can you keep informed so that you don’t succumb to the rumor mill? Reading the negotiation updates is a start. If you haven’t already done so signing up on the negotiations website is simple, and the emails come to you every time an update is given. If you have further questions asking a Steward or other Representative is a good way to get clarifying information. Please don’t fall victim to rumors.

On a personal note I would like to thank all of you that read the blog who gave feedback and encouragement during the visit. Your kind words were greatly appreciated.

Stay strong Brothers and Sisters. Together we will succeed in achieving an agreement that provides for a decent lifestyle while working, as well as retirement security when we’ve completed our careers.

An interesting 401k study

2010-12-03T00:39:00.003-05:00

According to this study "The average participant, relying on their 401(k) as a primary retirement vehicle, will not be able to retire until the age of 73"

Yet another reason we shouldn't and can't rely on a 401k plan alone. The full non commercial report is available for free download after registration. A key finding; we need to contribute more to have a better retirement. In other news water is wet. Sorry for the sarcasm, but the massive shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans is one of the worst things that have happened to the middle class in this country.

EDIT: Today I received an email from Terry Shipp in LAX reminding me about the genesis of the 401k plans. After doing a little research I came across this from Wikipedia. Along with the origins of these plans was an interesting paragraph. It follows;

“A primary reason for the explosion of 401(k) plans is that such plans are cheaper for employers to maintain than a defined benefit pension for every retired worker. With a 401(k) plan, instead of required pension contributions, the employer only has to pay plan administration and support costs if they elect not to match employee contributions or make profit sharing contributions. In addition, some or all of the plan administration costs can be passed on to plan participants. In years with strong profits employers can make matching or profit-sharing contributions, and reduce or eliminate them in poor years. Thus 401(k) plans create a predictable cost for employers, while the cost of defined benefit plans can vary unpredictably from year to year.”

So basically this sums up the idea that the worker shouldering the entire burden for his retirement security is a great thing for Corporate America. But is that fair to us? While 401k's are, and should be, a great supplement to our retirement plans, they should not be the only tool we have. We deserve a reward after sacrificing most of our productive lives to a company. It's a shame for companies that it costs more, but in the last thirty years what have CEO and Corporate Officer pay done in general? Well we all know from reading the papers that they've skyrocketed. It's time we start reversing that trend and begin getting decently compensated for our sacrifices.

CAL Ramp deal

2010-11-29T19:57:00.001-05:00

The IBT and CAL have reached a tentative agreement for the Fleet Service group. Details, including a full copy of the agreement, can be found
here.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T13:29:00.001-05:00

I'm hoping you all have a Happy Thanksgiving with family, friends, or co-workers.

U.S. airlines seen earning $4 billion in 2010

2010-11-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

The article speaks for itself and can be found here.

United Labor issues cloud merger

2010-11-19T22:16:00.001-05:00

An interesting article on the current state of labor relations at the new United from The Street can be found here. Thanks to Allen Cosides from New York and Robert Lavenuta from IADGQ for passing this on.

A policy of indifference

2010-11-18T01:24:00.003-05:00

Last week in San Francisco, following on the heels of his Dulles meeting in which he told the members there that they would never again see a defined benefit pension at the Company, CEO Jeff Smisek appeared to be trying to backtrack a bit from his prior remarks. At the San Francisco meeting, Mr. Smisek said that he was "indifferent" as to whether the membership secured a defined benefit pension, and that this was a matter of bargaining and not pissing off the PBGC. I think Mr. Smisek was genuinely trying to remove from his mouth the foot that he inserted at the Dulles meeting, and for that I was somewhat pleased. But afterwards, I got to thinking about what he said there, and now I am not so pleased.

The definition of the word indifferent is: 1 lack of interest or concern, 2 unimportance; little or no concern. This information was found on Dictionary.com. As I related in my recent posts about Mr. Smisek and the pension mess that he inherited, some might think that pensions are the only thing on my mind. They are not. The establishment of a defined benefit pension is of critical concern to me and most of you, and I am absolutely serious when I state that there will not be a contract unless and until we have a defined benefit pension. I am not sure that Mr. Smisek understands how important this issue is to us, and am very concerned when a very smart, well educated, successful and gifted speaker like Mr. Smisek claims to be "indifferent" about pensions or anything else that concerns the workforce.

Pre-Smisek UAL has been indifferent towards our needs for decades. The Company didn't care when they fired 10,000 mechanics, jettisoned our pension, destroyed our ESOP stock, or when they slashed our wages, our benefits and our work rules. Now, with the UAL-CAL merger, there is a great opportunity for all of us, labor and management alike to forge a new relationship. To do so requires a radical departure from the indifference and poison that has marred the bargaining relationships at this Company for so long. When Mr. Smisek says he is indifferent to our needs and our rights to retirement security, I am forced to conclude that he is also indifferent to our need to protect our jobs, reverse the outsourcing of our work to outsiders, and to protect and restore our other benefits. That makes me sad and frankly it pisses me off. I have worked here a long time and, like you, have taken many hard lumps from a Company whose management style is one of indifference and even callous disregard and disrespect for me, my family and my union brothers and sisters. Mr. Smisek is a very smart man, but his claim of indifference seems to me to be a very stupid and unproductive remark. I would rather have a hands-on CEO who tells us he actually understands how screwed up things have been here and who will roll his sleeves up to fix the problems.

I don't know whether Mr. Smisek golfs or not, but if he does, perhaps he should consider taking a mulligan and let us know that the days of indifference and disrespect at this carrier are over, and that he is personally committed to restoring the dignity that the Company and its Bankruptcy thieves stole from us as well as righting the wrongs that were done to us. Without that effort and commitment by Mr. Smisek, I fear we will be stuck in the same warped relationship with management here at the merged carrier that we suffered prior to the merger. And that is not good for anybody. So, I hope Mr. Smisek takes that mulligan and empowers his team to move on, making good on restoring and replacing the work, wages, benefits, dignity and respect that was ripped from us and from every person who has worked at this Company. We deserve nothing less! In fact, we DEMAND it! Tell your supervisor ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! RETURN TO THE TABLE AND FINISH THE DEAL! Anything less is entirely unacceptable!

Contract 2011?

2010-11-15T10:11:00.002-05:00

Well Brothers and Sisters, it seems pretty clear we will not see a new agreement prior to the New Year. By now you have read the Bargaining Committee Update for this past week's negotiations in San Francisco. As noted in the Update, the Union Committee fully expected to reach a deal with the Company over lead ratios and 7-day coverage. As difficult and emotional as those issues are, the Committee has worked long and hard to find a way to accommodate the Company's need for flexibility while protecting against the encroachment and loss of work and jobs, and while ensuring fair and workable schedules. The Company's negotiators have worked hard on these issues too, but at times over the last couple of months, it has seemed that the Company had bitten off more than it could chew: when push has come to shove on these issues, the Company wasn't able to explain what exactly it wants or how, with any level of detail, it expects to use the "flexibility" it is seeking. All the Company knows is that it wants "flexibility" but it won't – or simply can't -- explain how that flexibility will help the Company. At the same time, while the Union has worked hard to accommodate the Company's repeated requests for "flexibility," the Company has paid only lip service to the Union's job security needs. The Company's actions and failures concerning these matters have caused a lot of frustration and have caused many of us to question whether the Company's negotiators have fallen victim to the old-style UAL method of ram-and-jam "bargaining" that has helped fuel so much labor-management distrust over the years. Like all of you, we were given hope through testimony to congress as well as reports in the media that change was on the horizon. And with that, all of us truly want the new management team that the Company has assembled over the last couple of years to succeed, because it is much better to negotiate with a successful Company as opposed to one in bankruptcy. But it does not give us much confidence and does not make us feel very comfortable when the Company snubs our job security needs, refuses to deal realistically with our retirement security needs, and finds time to set aside only one week in December to bargain with us.

I told many of you during the summer that I felt we were on pace to possibly achieve an agreement this year, but things slowed to a crawl after September. It seems obvious to me as I related in an earlier post, that the Company would rather merge the agreements than negotiate a new one for us. The entire negotiating committee agrees this is not the best course for the membership.

It would be easy to go on a rant and complain about the process, but what could I tell you that you don't already know? The Company obviously doesn't respect either the concessions we made to save them, nor do they respect us. How can I say this? Well actions speak much louder than words, and if they truly felt it was in their best interest to make us feel proud to work here they would step up and reach an agreement with us that recognized our sacrifices. They haven't done that and they don't appear willing to do that.

Is this really the treatment we deserve? And if not, what can we do? I think the obvious answer is to continue to express your displeasure to your supervisor. The Company has to understand that respect is a two way street.

Last Monday I attended a second Jeff Smisek presentation in SFO. Mr. Smisek told the audience at that time he was indifferent as to whether we got a pension and would leave that up to each work group's negotiating teams. Indifferent? It seems like a theme is beginning to develop here. We truly deserve our own agreement! We've paid for it! Inaction on the Company's part is unacceptable! Remember tell your supervisor; WITH NO PENSION THERE IS NO AGREEMENT, WITH NO AGREEMENT THERE IS NO HAPPINESS!

An addendum to the last message

2010-11-08T16:40:00.002-05:00

Over the course of the weekend, and following my last blog post, I was in touch with each rank and file member of the negotiating committee. Brothers and Sisters I can proudly tell you that without hesitation or question, each of us is resolute in our position to achieve an agreement for the United Mechanics and Related prior to amalgamation. Each member also steadfastly indicated that a defined benefit pension plan is a must in order to achieve that goal. These members include Roger Apana HNL, Larry Calhoun JFK, Dion Cornelius LAX, Ramon Gonzalez DEN, George Graham ORD, Kevin Giegoldt ORD, Dominic Gulley SFO, Javier Lectora SFO, Ken Meidenger DEN, and Harvey Wright from SFO.

This should really come as no surprise to anyone. After all, every one of us is a mechanic and we have, and continue to suffer the same hardships as each of you.

In line with what's happening currently, a very dear friend recently sent a quote from Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Paine and it follows;

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God."

As I read this, I thought with some very minor changes this passage describes our current plight. However, long gone are the summer soldiers and sunshine patriots from amongst our ranks. Those of us left have been refined in the crucible that is United Airlines. We have been hardened and polished by an extended bankruptcy. United, in much the same way as King George used his armies to keep his subjects under thumb, used the bankruptcy courts to enforce her tyranny on us her subjects, but now is that time, instead of the freedom mentioned above, to be rewarded for our sacrifices with an acceptable agreement! In other words, this tyranny must be now be conquered!

The feedback I've received over the last couple of days is tremendous and I thank you all for the kind words. However, a couple of emails indicated that sending our message to our supervisors would gain nothing. I couldn't disagree more. Soon after the CAL mechanics finished their TA, several members of management approached me and informed me station by station what the feedback was surrounding that agreement on the UAL system. Your supervisor is a direct conduit to the CEO. Believe me, they share your stories, and if our tale is one of apathy, they will steamroll us so fast it will make our heads spin. I'm anything but apathetic at this point, and I can't believe it's any different for any of you! Tell your tale! Our hope for a decent agreement lies with the Union, the committee and you. Working as a team we will be unstoppable and we can, and we will, achieve our collective goals!

Remember; WITH NO PENSION THERE IS NO AGREEMENT, WITH NO AGREEMENT THERE IS NO HAPPINESS!