On Your Six
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2004
- Posts
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Good times. This is an add-on to the other American thread on this forum. It looks like rough waters ahead for AA and all of its labor groups. Not much growth, tattered airplanes (those MD80s look older and more worn every day), mountains of debt, terrible labor-management relations, etc.
What do Arpey and his cronies expect after their multi-million dollar bonus distributions? That's ludicrous in this type of belt-tightening environment... Why do something that stupid and that visible to everyone else? It's a total lack of respect for labor...
The article below is nothing new in terms of news, but it a pretty good synopsis of the overall situation for those who are unfamiliar:
AP
American Rejects Pilots' Proposal
Friday November 9, 11:17 am ET
By David Koenig, AP Business Writer
American's Most Compliant Union Sounding Less Friendly
HURST, Texas (AP) -- American Airlines on Thursday rejected a pilots' union pay-raise proposal that it said would have cost the company more than $1.4 billion a year.
The airline said the proposal would boost American's pilot cost per work hour above the combined total for its two nearest competitors, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc.
The Allied Pilots Association asked last month for a raise of 2.68 percent per year going back to 1992, which would have totaled more than 50 percent by May, when the union contract becomes amendable.
The pilots' union has been outspoken in its criticism of the company. But also on Thursday, American faced tough talk from the Transport Workers Union, which has been American's most compliant labor group since 2003, with mechanics working with executives to boost productivity to offset fewer workers.
TWU Vice President Dennis Burchette said his members want pay raises next year that will fully make up for pay cuts they took in 2003, when the company was near bankruptcy. Burdette declined to detail how much TWU will seek. The 2003 pay cuts averaged nearly 18 percent, and annual raises since then have been 1.5 percent.
Like members of the airline's other unions, the 25,000 American mechanics and other ground workers represented by TWU are still upset over stock-based bonuses paid to executives the past two years. Unions estimate the shares were worth about $250 million when issued. Union leaders say the payouts violated Chief Executive Gerard Arpey's promise to share the benefits if labor and management pulled together to fix the airline, whose parent, AMR Corp., lost more than $8 billion from 2001 through 2005. "There is a ton of anger out there over the way executives took money out of the company," Burchette said. "We've been doing the heavy lifting for this corporation. Now it's time to do the winning together."
American executives say they must control labor costs to offset rising jet fuel prices, but the union official wasn't sympathetic. "That affects us too," he said. "When the company pays more for jet fuel, our members are paying more for gasoline." He said it's management's job to handle high fuel prices without hurting employees. Burchette comments were a break from TWU's normally positive dealings with American.
Union leaders have spoken glowingly about how they cooperated with American to streamline maintenance operations, such as reducing the turnaround time for overhauls at a base in Tulsa, Okla., from 21 to 12 days. TWU says its members are doing 27 percent more work per employee than they did five years ago. American executives, eager to dispel the image of a company under siege from its unions, often played up their cooperation with TWU. The union's effort in Tulsa will help the company attract outside maintenance work and save jobs, they say.
Sue Gordon, a spokeswoman for the airline, said American officials believe they can reach a deal "that would create opportunities for TWU-represented employees to increase their earnings, as well as offering comprehensive and competitive benefits."
Gordon said the company wants to link higher wage rates to higher productivity. She also said American favors basing some compensation on employees meeting performance and productivity goals.
American's chief negotiator, Jeffrey Brundage, said recently that the company needs to lower its labor costs, which were the highest in the airline industry last year, according to MIT researchers.
TWU represents seven groups of workers, the biggest being baggage handlers and mechanics. The smallest group, fewer than 100 dispatchers, began negotiations with the airline last year, while the other six groups opened talks Wednesday. The ground workers' current contracts can be updated next May. Under federal law, labor contracts in the airline industry can be amended but they never expire -- a quirk that makes strikes less likely, but not impossible. TWU and American representatives talked this summer about avoiding full-fledged contract negotiations by striking a deal to extend their current contract. But the talks broke down in October. American expects to begin negotiations with flight attendants early next year.
What do Arpey and his cronies expect after their multi-million dollar bonus distributions? That's ludicrous in this type of belt-tightening environment... Why do something that stupid and that visible to everyone else? It's a total lack of respect for labor...
The article below is nothing new in terms of news, but it a pretty good synopsis of the overall situation for those who are unfamiliar:
AP
American Rejects Pilots' Proposal
Friday November 9, 11:17 am ET
By David Koenig, AP Business Writer
American's Most Compliant Union Sounding Less Friendly
HURST, Texas (AP) -- American Airlines on Thursday rejected a pilots' union pay-raise proposal that it said would have cost the company more than $1.4 billion a year.
The airline said the proposal would boost American's pilot cost per work hour above the combined total for its two nearest competitors, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc.
The Allied Pilots Association asked last month for a raise of 2.68 percent per year going back to 1992, which would have totaled more than 50 percent by May, when the union contract becomes amendable.
The pilots' union has been outspoken in its criticism of the company. But also on Thursday, American faced tough talk from the Transport Workers Union, which has been American's most compliant labor group since 2003, with mechanics working with executives to boost productivity to offset fewer workers.
TWU Vice President Dennis Burchette said his members want pay raises next year that will fully make up for pay cuts they took in 2003, when the company was near bankruptcy. Burdette declined to detail how much TWU will seek. The 2003 pay cuts averaged nearly 18 percent, and annual raises since then have been 1.5 percent.
Like members of the airline's other unions, the 25,000 American mechanics and other ground workers represented by TWU are still upset over stock-based bonuses paid to executives the past two years. Unions estimate the shares were worth about $250 million when issued. Union leaders say the payouts violated Chief Executive Gerard Arpey's promise to share the benefits if labor and management pulled together to fix the airline, whose parent, AMR Corp., lost more than $8 billion from 2001 through 2005. "There is a ton of anger out there over the way executives took money out of the company," Burchette said. "We've been doing the heavy lifting for this corporation. Now it's time to do the winning together."
American executives say they must control labor costs to offset rising jet fuel prices, but the union official wasn't sympathetic. "That affects us too," he said. "When the company pays more for jet fuel, our members are paying more for gasoline." He said it's management's job to handle high fuel prices without hurting employees. Burchette comments were a break from TWU's normally positive dealings with American.
Union leaders have spoken glowingly about how they cooperated with American to streamline maintenance operations, such as reducing the turnaround time for overhauls at a base in Tulsa, Okla., from 21 to 12 days. TWU says its members are doing 27 percent more work per employee than they did five years ago. American executives, eager to dispel the image of a company under siege from its unions, often played up their cooperation with TWU. The union's effort in Tulsa will help the company attract outside maintenance work and save jobs, they say.
Sue Gordon, a spokeswoman for the airline, said American officials believe they can reach a deal "that would create opportunities for TWU-represented employees to increase their earnings, as well as offering comprehensive and competitive benefits."
Gordon said the company wants to link higher wage rates to higher productivity. She also said American favors basing some compensation on employees meeting performance and productivity goals.
American's chief negotiator, Jeffrey Brundage, said recently that the company needs to lower its labor costs, which were the highest in the airline industry last year, according to MIT researchers.
TWU represents seven groups of workers, the biggest being baggage handlers and mechanics. The smallest group, fewer than 100 dispatchers, began negotiations with the airline last year, while the other six groups opened talks Wednesday. The ground workers' current contracts can be updated next May. Under federal law, labor contracts in the airline industry can be amended but they never expire -- a quirk that makes strikes less likely, but not impossible. TWU and American representatives talked this summer about avoiding full-fledged contract negotiations by striking a deal to extend their current contract. But the talks broke down in October. American expects to begin negotiations with flight attendants early next year.
imp:
TC
