Weekly report 04-26-09

This will be another short report.

For general items, last week the first part of the station closing arbitration was held in Chicago. I really can't go into great detail at this time because the hearing is not finished. The Union had to present first because this is a language interpretation case. Our Attorney Nick Manicone did a great job of putting this case together. All the witnesses did well for our side, and Nick was able to finish the Union's side pending cross examination and potential rebuttals. The next session will be in the beginning of July.

Negotiations will start on Tuesday the 28^th. I imagine the Company will post their opener on their website in the same manner as the other Unions on the property. After our opener is presented it will be posted here.

Here is the Actuary's letter certifying the funding levels of the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund. The Fund took a big hit last year, like all of them, but it was positioned well and is still certified in the "Green" at 84.7%. In addition the Actuary saw no issues six years into the future.

The Obama Administration is seeking input from Federal Employees similar to one of United's old programs, "Let's Make it Happen". Here is a link to the article. This program was one of the few successful programs at United. Hopefully the Government won't give up on it if it produces results the way United did.

Here is another link to research how your members of Congress have voted on items important to you. It is from the Washington post and allows you to research historical votes all the way back to 1991.

In MM this week one grievance was advanced to second step.

For GQ/PV the decision on the station closings is out. Only two of the nine will close and they are BOS and HNL. I don't have any numbers but the layoffs will have an effective date of June 7^th. On Wednesday the 29^th the PV Labor/Management meeting will be held at 2pm.

That's all for this week,

Bob