Oil Speculation

It appears Congress is going to start holding hearings on excess speculation. Here is a link to the article.

Pension info

Here is my estimate from Fidelity for an annuity plan that will guarantee a monthly stipend of 1100 dollars a month for the rest of my life. This is close to what I could hope to achieve in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan. Please note that for the cheapest plan Fidelity is looking for 237,000 dollars. For those arguing that they want to keep only the 401k option I have a question. Are you going to be able to turn your 4000 dollars a year into 237,000 between now and retirement? The answer is simple for me. Here is a link so you can see for yourself.

I had to cut the results because the table took too much space. If anyone would like to see either printed or electronic versions of my estimates let me know. My inputs were for myself and my wife given our age and we got six plan options. There were three options for 100% payout upon my death and three options for 50% payment upon my death. The first three would cost me around 254,000 with different guarantees and the second three would be around 237,000. These appear to be upfront payments, but to me either upfront or payments into this plan are equally unreachable financially.

Airline Bankruptcy Article

No, it's not as bad as the title suggests. Here is an analysis of the current state of the airlines financially.

FWIW Merger Rumor

An article out today in the Chicago Tribune talks about why a merger may happen this winter. Here is the link.

Another atricle adding fuel to the fire is here. Note the last paragraph.

Weekly report 7-4-09

General Items

First of all I hope you and your families have a safe and fun Fourth of July celebration.

This is a two week combined report as there was none last week.

I would like to talk a little about the possible overhaul of the Health Care Industry. I admit I haven't followed the debate on this as closely as I should have, but I do have some opinions on the matter. As the IBT has pointed out people that already have benefits at work should not be taxed for having an employer paid plan, or a partial paid plan as is our case. Here is a link to the Teamsters Take Action page on the issue. My next thought on this is from an admittedly selfish standpoint and that is that I would like to see a public option included in the overhaul plan. The reason this is selfish is that we have members laid off that need an affordable plan, as well as the likelihood that a public option would reduce overall costs to both the Company as well as the members. This would translate into an increase in annual salary because of the savings and also reduce the money drain on the Company allowing the Union to attempt to recoup those savings for the membership in the form of higher wages or increased pension contributions. (Note: we currently have no real pension plan but I am hopeful that will change)

I'm hearing rumors that the new time clocks will be online soon. Here is a quote regarding this system from an e-mail I received from a Chief Steward in SFO this week;

"Time Tracker is expanding in Airframe. I will repeat my earlier directive to you and our members. If you have any problems clocking out JUST LEAVE and put in a payroll exception the next day.

Time Tracker, EPS, MPS, AVMS, roto-gates, D.I.G. (Discipline Issuing Group, formerly the Attendance Management Group.) How do you prove your records are correct? The BEST way to protect ourselves is to keep thorough records and copies of all documents related to your job or pay. Every irregularity in your pay you should have a signed exception. This includes but is not limited to overtime, sick, industrial, FMLA, ANP, holidays, D.A.T. It makes it a whole lot easier for Stewards to correct the mistakes of the D.I.G. group, especially when that group only communicates with our members when they issue discipline. I thank all of you for doing your best to hold the D.I.G. to task when they attempt to issue discipline that has mistakes and errors. Keep up the vigilance."

It looks like this program is going to require diligence on our part to ensure we are paid correctly.

Nick Manicone, our attorney, was at Dulles on Tuesday for prep work on the next phase of the station closing arbitration to be held next week. The next session will be held on the 8^th and 9^th of July in Chicago.

MM

Several items were addressed with local management over the last two weeks. The most important of these is the issuance of Letters of Concern for delays usually under five minutes. Speculation of who is pushing this doesn't matter much in my view because the result is what affects the membership. I will continue to defend anyone caught up in this minutia but you can also help yourselves. When running into a possible delay situation call for help. This is what the Company is looking for and it will help keep you out of the line of fire. If you feel the Company is pushing you into a compliance issue tell the supervisor your concerns. If those concerns go unheeded have them sign off the item if they think it is not an issue involving compliance.

The next thing is seniority and its application in regards to work areas. This has become a big issue and we need better language to help our cause. The opening proposal has language that attempts to address this subject.

GQ

I spoke with Brian McNichols on Thursday the 2^nd and he was attempting to have the other two positions filled through the recall process. As you know one spot was filled during the recent RIF and two more are potentially available because of the two extra bids to MM.

PV

The Labor Management meeting happened as scheduled. I received one second step answer and two more were introduced as well as the Jetway outsourcing grievance. Management was informed that there will be an increase in grievance activity due to the large amount of work being outsourced in the shop.

 

That's all for now,

Bob