Huge Cuts at USA Jet

[iaflyer]

I heard that there were massive cuts at USA Jet today. Someone posted in another thread 50% of the employees, including 28 pilots got the cut, including a regular poster here.

I hear they are going to employ 8 full time pilots and have some on-call contract pilots.

Is this correct?

 

[SWA/FO]

They cut Porky...after 17 + years.

 

[iaflyer]

They cut Porky...after 17 + years.

Sorry to hear that - I would of been cut as a pilot, had I stayed. It would of been 8+ years for me.

 

[Way2Broke]

You no longer have to ask who was cut, but instead you just have to ask, who is left.

 

[avbug]

Apparently "porky" was right.

Unfortunately, "porky" could have been right making the same predictions about a lot of companies right now.

 

[papatango]

Maybe Moving the certifcate down to ABQ is the best survival answer right now.

 

[cherry20's]

So is this rumor true or not? Were there more layoff's/furloughs today? Sorry to all effected if its true.

 

[SWA/FO]

I guess no "holiday party" in January...this year. No more brown-nosing speaches from the DO.

 

[Way2Broke]

They still had the summer party the week after they laid me off. I wouldn't put it it past them. I can hear the speech now, it will include things like, "It's been a difficult year, but those of you left are going the extra mile for the company, that is why you are still here." When in fact it should be, "Thank you all for going the FINAL mile for the company, if we sprint to the end, then we can all have a nice long breather while looking for new jobs."

 

[atpcliff]

Hi.

8 line pilots left, to fly 9 airplanes. 5 mechs, 4 dispatchers, ??? FAs.

Who was cut?
RH, MD, Doris, PW, etc., etc.
130 AA employees cut, 115 left.

Mgmt pilots left:
DC, GW, CH, JR

Sad day...

Probably sold, or out of business by the end of the year.

cliff
YIP

PM/email me if U want more info.

 

[canadflyau]

Double dip with the WARN ACT?

So, they want to contract $400/capts $250/fos day... well maybe you can double dip! Get paid your daily rate, if trips pop up, while getting your 60 days pay from their violation of the WARN Act...

From the Los Angeles Daily Journal
"WARN Watch--
Employers Laying Off Workers Must Follow Notice Requirements"
by Richard S. Rosenberg and Eric C. Schwettmann

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Employers contemplating facility closings or reductions in force as a means of coping with the current business downturn must be aware of their legal obligations under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ("WARN"), 29 U.S.C. Sections 2101, et seq., and interpretative regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor, 29 C.F.R. 639.1-10.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Overview. Generally, WARN provides that larger employers (those with 100 or more employees) may not order a "plant closing", or "mass layoff" until at least sixty calendar days after giving written notice to the affected employees, their bargaining representative (if any), the State Dislocated Worker Unit, and the chief elected official of the local government where the WARN event is to occur. 29 U.S.C. Û 2102(a). [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]For the WARN act to apply, there must be a so-called employment loss which results in either a plant closing or mass layoff. "Employment loss" is defined as (1) a layoff of more than six months; (2) a termination (excluding terminations for cause, voluntary terminations, or retirement); or (3) the reduction of work hours of more than fifty percent during each month of any six month period. "Plant closing" is defined as an action resulting in an employment loss within a 30 day period for at least 50 or more employees at a single site of employment or one or more facilities or operating units, within a single site of employment. The term "facility" refers to a building or buildings, while the term "operating unit" refers to an organizationally or operationally distinct product, operation, or specific work function (such as an organizationally distinct department or operating division) within or nearby facilities at a single site. "Mass layoff" is defined as a layoff at a single site of employment where at least 33% of the workforce and at least 50 employees are laid off for a period of six months or more.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]In determining the applicable WARN threshold, not every employee is counted. WARN specifically excludes part-time employees from the calculation. "Part-time" employee under WARN includes those employees working less than twenty (20) hours per week and those employees who work more than 20 hours, but who are employed for a total of less than six of the twelve months preceding the day on which notice otherwise is required. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]WARN has a ninety day look back rule to capture non-WARN events which, in the aggregate, exceed the WARN threshold where separate employment losses occur within a ninety day period, each of which involves fewer than the number of employees necessary to trigger coverage, but which add up to the WARN minimum, WARN notices must be given to all employees who have or will suffer an employment loss. This is so, unless the employer can demonstrate that the individual actions arose from entirely separate and distinct causes. 29 U.S.C. Û 2103(d). The aggregation rule requires the WARN notice even where there was no contemplation at the time the individual events occurred that the layoff would trigger WARN.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Notice. The regulations under WARN contain specific notice requirements, both in terms of the content of the notice and to whom the notice must be sent. Note also that part-time employees are due the requisite notice if they are to be laid off or terminated as the result of any plant closing, even though they are not counted when determining the WARN act trigger levels. There are four elements required in the employee notice, which must be written in a language understandable to the employee: (1) a statement as to whether the planned action is expected to be permanent or temporary and, if the entire plant is to be closed, a statement to that effect; (2) the expected date when the plant closing or mass layoff will commence and the expected date when the individual employee will be separated; (3) an indication of whether or not seniority ("bumping") rights exist; and (4) the name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information. The notice also may include additional information useful to the employee such as information on available dislocated employee assistance, transfer opportunities, severance entitlement, retention bonuses and, if the planned action is expected to be temporary, the estimated duration, if known. Notice to the State Dislocated Worker Unit and to the chief local elected official have similar (but not the same) required elements. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]There are times when a full sixty day notice is not possible or desirable. While WARN does not contain any express exclusions, it does provide for a truncated notice where an employer's business is faltering, or if the WARN event is a result of unforeseeable business circumstances or a natural disaster. 29 U.S.C. Û 2102(b); 29 C.F.R. Û 639.9. In such an event, the employer bears the burden of proof that conditions for the exception have been met. The faltering company exception requires the employer to prove that the employer was actively seeking capital or business which if obtained, would have enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the shutdown and the employer reasonably and in good faith believed that giving the notice required would have precluded the employer from obtaining the needed capital or business. 29 U.S.C. Û 2102(b). The natural disaster exception includes floods, earthquakes, droughts, storms, tidal waves or tsunamis and similar effects of nature. 29 U.S.C. Û 2102(b)(2); 29 C.F.R. Û 639.9(c). An unforeseen business circumstance is a business circumstance that was not reasonably foreseeable as of the time the notice would have been required. 29 U.S.C. Û 2102(b). The relevant regulations go on to state that the unforeseen circumstances must be some sudden, dramatic and unexpected action or condition outside the employer's control, such as a principal client's sudden and unexpected termination of a major contract, a strike in a major supplier, an unanticipated and dramatic major economic downturn, or a government ordered closing of an employment site that occurs without prior notice. 29 C.F.R. Û 639.9(b) The test for determining when business circumstances are reasonably foreseeable states that the employer must exercise such commercially reasonable business judgment as with similarly situated employers in predicting the demands of its particular market. The employer is not required, however, to accurately predict general economic conditions that also may affect demands for its products or services. 29 C.F.R. Û 639.9(b).[/FONT]

 

[canadflyau]

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.michigan.gov/mdcd/0,1607,7-122-1678_2665-5966--,00.html[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act [/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The federal WARN Act was enacted August 12, 1988 and became effective February 4, 1989.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]General Provisions:
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The WARN Act offers protection to workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers to provide notice at least 60 days in advance of covered business closings and covered mass layoffs. This notice must be provided to either each individual worker who will be affected or to the labor representative (e.g., a labor union) where applicable. Written notice must also be provided to the State of Michigan's dislocated worker unit (Rapid Response Section) and to the chief local elected government official.[/FONT] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
Scope of Coverage:
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]In general, employers are covered by the WARN Act if they have 100 or more employees, excluding employees who have worked less than six months during the last 12 months or who work an average of less than 20 hours per week. Private, for-profit employers and private, nonprofit employers are covered, as are public and quasi-public entities which operate in a commercial context and are separately organized from the regular government. Federal, state, and local government entities that provide public services and Indian tribal governments are not covered under the Act.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]What Triggers a Notice?

[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Business closing:
A covered employer must give notice if an employment site (or one or more facilities or operating units within an employment site) will be shut down and the shutdown will result in an employment loss* for 50 or more employees during any 30day period.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Mass layoff:
A covered employer must give notice if there is to be a mass layoff which does not result from a business closing, but will result in an employment loss* at the employment site during any 30-day period for 500 or more employees, or for 50-499 employees if they make up at least 33% of the employer's active workforce.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]*An "employment loss" is defined as:
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]1) A termination other than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement, or
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]2) A layoff exceeding six months, or
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]3) A reduction in an employee's hours of work of more than 50% during each month of any six-month period.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]An employer must also give notice if the number of employment losses which occur during a 30-day period fails to meet the threshold requirement of a plant closing or mass layoff but the number of employment losses of two or more groups of workers, each of which is less than the minimum number needed to trigger notice, reaches the threshold level during any 90-day period of a business closing or mass layoff. Job losses within any 90-day period will count toward WARN threshold levels unless the employer demonstrates that the employment losses during the 90-day period are the result of separate and distinct actions and causes.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]WARN Notices

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]WARN notices must include, at a minimum:
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The name and address of the employment site where the closing or mass layoff will occur;

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information;

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The expected date of the first separation;

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The number of affected workers.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The following information must either be included in the WARN notice or maintained on site and readily accessible to the State Dislocated Worker Unit (Rapid Response Section):

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]A list of the job titles of positions to be affected and the number of affected employees in each job classification;

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]An indication as to whether bumping rights exist;

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The name of each union representing affected employees and the name and address of the chief elected officer of each union.

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Written WARN notifications should be addressed to:

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Chong-Anna Canfora, Director
Rapid Response Section
Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth
611 West Ottawa Street, 4th Floor
P.O. Box 30004
Lansing, Michigan 48909
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Additional details regarding these requirements may be obtained by contacting the Rapid Response Section at (517-373-6234 (voice) or (517-373-4648 (fax).

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]It is recommended that employers review the Act and seek counsel to discuss its provisions, including scope of coverage, penalties, exceptions, and enforcement.[/FONT][/FONT]
[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[canadflyau]

Here is a non-profit Law Firm right here in SE MI that deals with WARN Act violations

http://www.sugarlaw.org/workplaceconcerns.html

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

What about this exclusion for the 60 days notice...

There are times when a full sixty day notice is not possible or desirable. While WARN does not contain any express exclusions, it does provide for a truncated notice where an employer's business is faltering, or if the WARN event is a result of unforeseeable business circumstances ...
In such an event, the employer bears the burden of proof that conditions for the exception have been met. The faltering company exception requires the employer to prove that the employer was actively seeking capital or business which if obtained, would have enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the shutdown and the employer reasonably and in good faith believed that giving the notice required would have precluded the employer from obtaining the needed capital or business. 29 U.S.C. Û 2102(b)., or
An unforeseen business circumstance is a business circumstance that was not reasonably foreseeable as of the time the notice would have been required. 29 U.S.C. Û 2102(b). The relevant regulations go on to state that the unforeseen circumstances must be some sudden, dramatic and unexpected action or condition outside the employer's control, such as a principal client's sudden and unexpected termination of a major contract, a strike in a major supplier, an unanticipated and dramatic major economic downturn

cliff
YIP

 

[canadflyau]

Let the WARN folks decide that. Let them audit USAJ and decide what level of compliance should have occurred.

The fact is airlines that filed BK are not even exempt. This precedent has already been set. ATA, Kitty HAWK, and more have been victorious with WARN ACT claims.