Smisek ready to take on the world

Thanks to Larry Calhoun for sending this link from USA Today, where Jeff Smisek is interviewed about taking over the reins at the merged company.

An excerpt;

Q: How will you keep the United folks from feeling like second-class citizens?

A: One, we've built a management team that's a true merger-of-equals combination of leadership, selecting people from both carriers, as opposed to the arrogance of a takeover. We're partners here, and we need to deal with each other respectfully as partners.

Secondly, I think the folks at United have been through very difficult times, as have we, since 2000. They want to change. I think they're going to embrace change. We're going to offer them ... a culture that will make them enjoy coming to work and be proud of the place they work.

 

Outsourcing article

Dave Sulewski and John Jenkins sent this link to an article on MSN regarding overseas outsourcing. Word is starting to spread on this unsafe practice. Please pass this on to your family and friends.

CAL FA's reach TA

Here is the link.

Dulles Report

General

It has been some time since the last update, and several items of note occurred during that time.

Firstly the passing of Joe Filice was a shock and a real loss. I bring this up again because I would like to thank management for their careful consideration surrounding the viewing, as well as making sure Joe’s remains received an escort from Dulles through Chicago and on to his final destination in Pittsburgh. In addition, I would like to thank the people in those stations that provided the above mentioned escort. The many people that showed up planeside in Dulles, as well as the members of the autoshop in Chicago, were a fitting tribute to a good man.

There have been several incidences of mechanics missing things, as well as getting agitated with each other. I know this is a very stressful period, but it’s important to take care of yourselves while at work. While things will certainly get better at some point, currently none of us has control over the merger, the pace of negotiations towards a new agreement, how the new unit will mold together, or what the final outcome will be. What we can control however is ourselves. Taking that second look, or excusing stress related behavior on the part of your fellow brothers or sisters, could be the difference between having a good day, or spending time in investigations.

Next, there was a development in the House Judiciary committee. The committee passed an amendment to the current bankruptcy reform bill that will require airlines to negotiate with unionized employees in the same manner as the railroads. It was mainly Teamster provided language that made it through the committee and it is a huge win for airline employees covered by the Railway Labor Act. Prior to Frank Lorenzo and the Eastern Airlines bankruptcy, there were no protections provided to airline workers, and our inclusion under chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code was thought to provide protection for the workforce. We can all attest to the fact that that approach was a dismal failure.

Negotiations have been ongoing to try and reach an agreement with the carrier and over the course of the last month some positive changes have been achieved. Next week there will be no session so I will be in IAD trying to clear open items with management. Please follow the link at the top of the page for the most recent update.

The Continental mechanics reached a tentative agreement and it can be found here.

Ken Bater passed this information along. Apparently USAirways is employing a union busting firm to prevent some Piedmont employees from forming a union. Please take the time to click on the link to tell Doug Parker how you feel.

Carlos Barrantes from SFO passed on this interesting information regarding the future state of aircraft mechanics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is well worth the read.

MM

Over the course of the last month three grievances were elevated to the Joint Board level. These grievances involved assignments on light duty, overtime while on light duty, and a personal choice of physician grievance. For the last grievance it is not the same as the certification of the physician which was settled two months ago. This grievance is about the ability to predesignate a physician in an employees’ home state. This affects mostly employees that are either here due to a layoff, or employees that bid here and choose to commute. The Company is maintaining that these employees must choose a physician in the state in which they work for predesignation. Similar to the certification the agreement is silent on this aspect of the process and the local committee feels that this is a violation of the agreement. None of these grievances have yet been scheduled but they have been submitted and are on the docket to be heard.

The time clocks and bus service continue to be a huge issue. I have had several conversations with local management to try and alleviate this problem. We have come to no agreement yet, but I’m hopeful that this issue can be resolved in an equitable manner. It also appears there is an issue surrounding training assignments and the new time tracker system. Several of you have asked if a grievance could be pursued in regards to the new system, and the answer is unfortunately no. Also Continental has used this system for some time so I don’t foresee it going away anytime soon.

There are currently no grievances in the second step of the process.

PV

There are several outstanding first step grievances that have not been answered that I am aware of. I’ve asked Brandon to address these items with the appropriate supervisor, so hopefully these grievances will have been answered upon my return. If not they will be elevated to the second step. There are also some issues regarding the assignment of overtime and parking that are being addressed.

GQ

There are some centralization process issues that members in the shop have brought forward. I plan on addressing these with Tom when I see him next week. There are no outstanding grievances in the shop.

That’s all for now,
Bob

A cautionary tale

Many years ago when the Harley Davidson brand was floundering due to a weak economy and poor business decisions by the Corporation, it appeared that this company was well on its way to closing for good. A radical new plan was proposed which would require major sacrifices, especially on the part of labor, in order to save the company and as many jobs as possible. The plan worked. In fact, the company began to prosper and became a shining light for labor relations. During the turnaround, through cooperation with the IAM, an interesting concept was put in place. The concept was relatively new to manufacturing in the US and was called HPWO or high performance work output. This was essentially "just in time" manufacturing and a continuous improvement program. While the IAM lost many jobs and the remaining members lost a lot as far as pay and benefits, the company was saved, the brand was revived and the workers that were left went on to gain back much that was lost. Because of these great relations at one point around 2000, the plant in Kansas City reached an agreement a full six months before the old CBA expired. Management at the company was invited to conventions and Placid Harbor to work jointly with the Union to ensure all would prosper under this program. Now fast forward a little over twenty years and management has a completely different view towards its Unions and workforce. Here is a very disturbing article that describes the tough choice Wisconsin workers now face. I can tell you after reading the article management forgot who pulled their ass out of the fire. While we all want the company we work for to do well, too often the lunch bucket brigade is targeted unfairly to pay for poor choices and circumstances beyond their control.

So much for that shining light, as this story provides a cautionary tale that sacrifices made today probably won't be recognized in the future.

CAL TA

The IBT and CAL have reached a TA for the Mechanics. It can be found here.

Joe Filice

Details for Joe's wake tomorrow can be found here
All,

Greg Pinelli called me this morning, and it is with profound sadness that I tell you Joe Filice passed away in his sleep last night. I have no details at this time but will relay them when I get them.

Joe was a good man and a good friend. For those that don't know Joe he was a dayshift mechanic in the autoshop where he was also a shop steward. I will miss him very much.

Please keep Joe's family in your thoughts and prayers at this time.
Bob