I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
WCT Pension news
The 2010 actuary's letter on plan funding status and funding certification is out. The fund remains in the green zone at 89 percent. This is up from the 2009 status of 84.7 percent. The funding status letter can be found here.
Monday, March 29, 2010
What has the Union done for you lately?
This article describes the lobbying expenses the IBT incurred during the fourth quarter of last year. I urge you to read the third paragraph in particular as it relates to aircraft maintenance. Are you a member of D.R.I.V.E.? If you would like to contribute to the lobbying effort, it's easy to sign up. See Tom or myself for the forms.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Latest UAL update for Flight Attendants
For those that don't follow UAL's negotiation update site the following is the update from 3-23-10. My thanks to Kevin Giegoldt from Chicago for pointing this out. Of particular note is the Company's repeated offer to throw out the Agreement and use the CAL's FA Agreement as a template. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure appears that we are headed for a merger;
Most Recent Update: March 23, 2010
The United and AFA Negotiating Committees met in Chicago with mediator John Livingood on March 16-18. The agenda was Sec. 2 (Definitions), miscellaneous letters of agreement at the end of Sec. 35, a review of AFA’s pay proposal in Sec. 5 (Compensation), preferencing for reserve move-up lines, reduction in personnel processes, and uniforms. A handful of small issues were resolved in Sec. 2 and in the Sec. 35 letters of agreement, but overall progress was negligible.
United management and AFA extensively discussed their ideas regarding preferencing for reserve move-up lines, reduction in force issues, and uniforms. While nothing was firmly resolved, there is a reasonable chance of progress in these three areas when the parties meet again on April 20-22 in Chicago. Also on the agenda will be preferencing for reserve assignments, critical coverage, the attendance point system, and miscellaneous open issues in Section 4 (General). The mediator also instructed the parties to begin the process of prioritizing their bargaining objectives, and articulating the rationale of their priorities.
On March 18, United management repeated their invitation to use Continental’s Flight Attendant contract as a model for our negotiations. This would result in significant pay and per diem increases for United Flight Attendants, and would also yield work rule productivity improvements and savings in the area of Benefit costs. AFA negotiators continue to reject this approach -- as they have for months.
The Company continues to meet with every union other than AFA outside of dates where the mediator is available, based on continued negotiating progress and a willingness of the other unions to engage in meaningful negotiations. United has advised that it will meet with AFA outside of mediation when there is likelihood of progress during discussions, and a willingness of the AFA Negotiating Committee to conduct actual negotiations.
Most Recent Update: March 23, 2010
The United and AFA Negotiating Committees met in Chicago with mediator John Livingood on March 16-18. The agenda was Sec. 2 (Definitions), miscellaneous letters of agreement at the end of Sec. 35, a review of AFA’s pay proposal in Sec. 5 (Compensation), preferencing for reserve move-up lines, reduction in personnel processes, and uniforms. A handful of small issues were resolved in Sec. 2 and in the Sec. 35 letters of agreement, but overall progress was negligible.
United management and AFA extensively discussed their ideas regarding preferencing for reserve move-up lines, reduction in force issues, and uniforms. While nothing was firmly resolved, there is a reasonable chance of progress in these three areas when the parties meet again on April 20-22 in Chicago. Also on the agenda will be preferencing for reserve assignments, critical coverage, the attendance point system, and miscellaneous open issues in Section 4 (General). The mediator also instructed the parties to begin the process of prioritizing their bargaining objectives, and articulating the rationale of their priorities.
On March 18, United management repeated their invitation to use Continental’s Flight Attendant contract as a model for our negotiations. This would result in significant pay and per diem increases for United Flight Attendants, and would also yield work rule productivity improvements and savings in the area of Benefit costs. AFA negotiators continue to reject this approach -- as they have for months.
The Company continues to meet with every union other than AFA outside of dates where the mediator is available, based on continued negotiating progress and a willingness of the other unions to engage in meaningful negotiations. United has advised that it will meet with AFA outside of mediation when there is likelihood of progress during discussions, and a willingness of the AFA Negotiating Committee to conduct actual negotiations.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Continental employee testifies at Concorde trial
The title says it all. Here is a link to the article. Be careful out there.
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