And So It Begins

[gutshotdraw]

Unionized Employees Picket NetJets Corporate Office
Members send unequivocal message of solidarity





COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In a powerful display of solidarity, approximately 200 unionized NetJets employees participated in an informational picket across the street from the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK) subsidiary's corporate headquarters to focus attention on escalating attacks on their pay, benefits and working conditions amid record profits. The event was hosted by the NetJets Unions Coalition (NUC) whose formation was announced earlier this month.
The Coalition is an alliance of the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), which represents the 3,000-plus NetJets pilots, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 284 whose members include approximately 500 NetJets dispatchers, flight attendants, maintenance controllers, mechanics and stock clerks.
"Today's picket was a watershed moment," NJASAP President First Officer John Malmborg said. "Coalition members sent the message they are firmly aligned and will not stay silent while our separate collective bargaining agreements are attacked." Added Teamsters Local 284 President Paul Suffoletto, "In each negotiation, NetJets has made it clear they want concessions: They are focused on wringing every cent possible from employee agreements while posting record profits, aggressively paying down debt, and making profit-sharing payouts to non-union employees. The irony is not lost on anyone, and our members will not consider regressive agreements."
All four of NetJets's organized employee groups are currently engaged in collective bargaining, and the progress of each negotiation has been anything but brisk. For instance, the Flight Attendants are scheduled to begin government-supervised mediation on Monday in Dallas after more than three years of talks.
Malmborg and Suffoletto agreed their members, standing shoulder-to-shoulder along Bridgeway Avenue, sent a very powerful message. "A spirit of unity has spread like wildfire throughout our ranks, infusing our members with a sense of resolve unlike any we have ever seen at NetJets," Malmborg said. "As a Coalition, our efforts to focus public attention on how management greed has tarnished the luster of the world's leading fractional ownership program provider is just beginning. Several events have been planned through the spring and beyond."
About NJASAP Founded in 2008 as an independent labor affiliate, the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) represents the professional interests of the 3,000-plus pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation, Inc. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the Association is governed by a nine-member Executive Board, who is supported by seven professional staff members and a network of 150-plus volunteers who manage more than 20 committees. For more information, visit us at www.njasap.com or www.facebook.com/njasap.
About the IBT Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico including more than 80,000 workers throughout the airline industry in every craft and class. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.



Hold on folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride....

 

[shanes123]

Not trying to hijack thread. Just want to say headline reads solidarity. That's why flops will never succeed nj guys got it flops guys don't. Never have never will. Good luck nj pilots. You are the superior group and deserve the best

 

[pilotyip]

Will this affect recalls?

 

[jonjuan]

Will this affect recalls?

If they squeeze hard enough, it will.

 

[JustPlaneTruth]

And So It Begins......

Hold on folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride....

It began quite some time ago when management decreed their 4 pillars of concessions and then bargained in bad faith with the NJA flight attendants. There is a reason that pre-DS (and his mini-me JH) there were 2 bargaining units and post now there are 5. More want to so before long you may see most of the rank and file employees organized.

 

[JustPlaneTruth]

If they squeeze hard enough, it will.

Your right, with continued unity and strength, the NUC members will squeeze managers to decisions that should have been made long ago and the furloughed will be recalled sooner rather than later.

 

[gutshotdraw]

It began quite some time ago when management decreed their 4 pillars of concessions and then bargained in bad faith with the NJA flight attendants. There is a reason that pre-DS (and his mini-me JH) there were 2 bargaining units and post now there are 5. More want to so before long you may see most of the rank and file employees organized.

Absolutely agree. It's just that this was the first shot across the bow delivered by the EMPLOYEES. Long overdue.

 

[imacdog]

And yet they still won't unify with the furloughees.

 

[Some guy]

When the message states "management greed is destroying this company", who is being referred to? Executive management? Mid-level management? When it just says 'management', that includes quite a few people.

 

[FR8DOG777]

Hopefully this thread does not evolve to "and so it begins, the race to the bottom" hold those management pukes feet to the fire. None of them would survive a day in the life, let alone a week in the shoes of their pilots.

 

[billybob]

Look out. Billybob is going to walk with you!!!

When do I need to be in Omaha ?

I'll bring 460 sum of my brothers, get in eary cus, my car is small

 

[CRAWDADDY]

The turn out must have been big enough to provoke this:

http://tinyurl.com/PuzzlePalaceNews

 

[el raton]

Hopefully this thread does not evolve to "and so it begins, the race to the bottom" hold those management pukes feet to the fire. None of them would survive a day in the life, let alone a week in the shoes of their pilots.

That race was won when you guys claimed the bottom with your below industry standard contract. Way to hold KR's feet to the fire!

 

[gutshotdraw]

When the message states "management greed is destroying this company", who is being referred to? Executive management? Mid-level management? When it just says 'management', that includes quite a few people.

The Executive Management.

Mid-level management learned under Sokol to shut up, put their head down, and do what they were told or else they could expect a pink slip in short order. Most of us understand that and don't envy the position they are in.

The MetricJet mentality that has pervaded the operation for the last 4 years has damaged the service product and DESTROYED employee morale, which in turn drives away Owners. That mentality originates in OMAHA with the full knowledge and approval of the MAN himself. Hansell (and Sokol before him) is nothing more than the man wearing the black hat to take the arrows for Mr. B.

Unless and until he is publicly embarrassed by the EPIC FAILURE of metrics, nothing will change.

 

[FR8DOG777]

That race was won when you guys claimed the bottom with your below industry standard contract. Way to hold KR's feet to the fire!

That was the first time around. Have you drowned yet from your snob ass holding your head too high? Thanks for holding a 300 seat open for me. Mother bombardier has popped her precious to titty out of your mouth.

 

[FR8DOG777]

ACTUALLY after posting that I can't believe you dragged me down to your level. I have no designs for conquering anybody's seat above me. You perpetuate management's desire to create conflict and your shallow demeanor and derogatory post proves it. We will hold uncles feet to the fire this time around and thanks for being such a big man and proving to management that you are a no ******************** operator in your previous career endeavors rats ass

 

[Some guy]

The Executive Management.

Mid-level management learned under Sokol to shut up, put their head down, and do what they were told or else they could expect a pink slip in short order. Most of us understand that and don't envy the position they are in.

The MetricJet mentality that has pervaded the operation for the last 4 years has damaged the service product and DESTROYED employee morale, which in turn drives away Owners. That mentality originates in OMAHA with the full knowledge and approval of the MAN himself. Hansell (and Sokol before him) is nothing more than the man wearing the black hat to take the arrows for Mr. B.

Unless and until he is publicly embarrassed by the EPIC FAILURE of metrics, nothing will change.

Got it. The morale is all but gone. The group I'm associated with organized because of 9-11. That is 95% of the reason...they want protected via seniority. The man himself is concerned with the bottom line, as is any businessman. I believe there are numerous paths that can be taken to get there. Although we've been profitable, I think we're on the wrong path and at the expense of employee qol. I hope you succeed in changing that before things get too nasty. Thanks for the perspective.

SG

 

[CALRepublic]

I don't know how to feel about the "picketing"

Pro- we show solidarity, we get the point across that we are not a freaking commuter where they'd take away pay and benefits for the right to have a job, specially while profits increase

Con- i wonder what Mr. Buffett would think/say. " that f*****n place is not worth the trouble anymore, pull the plug"

I see why we're picketing, but its a bit risky

Cheers

 

[el raton]

I don't know how to feel about the "picketing"

Pro- we show solidarity, we get the point across that we are not a freaking commuter where they'd take away pay and benefits for the right to have a job, specially while profits increase

Con- i wonder what Mr. Buffett would think/say. " that f*****n place is not worth the trouble anymore, pull the plug"

I see why we're picketing, but its a bit risky

Cheers

The contracts you have with the customers would make it very difficult for Buffet to pull the plug.

 

[gutshotdraw]

The contracts you have with the customers would make it very difficult for Buffet to pull the plug.

^^^^^ Ding!^^^^^^

Let's say we have 4000 owners. If BH pulled the plug tomorrow, those 4000 owners would file a class-action, breach of contract suit the next day. Even if each of those owners was only awarded ONE million dollars (a bare minimum in what would be a slam-dunk case), that's FOUR BILLION DOLLARS.

Even Uncle Warren would hiccup over that number.

The threat of Berkshire "closing the doors" at NetJets has ALWAYS been overblown. To me, it was NEVER a possibility.

Moving forward, there IS money to be made here. Serious money. But REAL growth and REAL profit won't be possible until the man in Omaha realizes you make MORE money with a happy, professionally respected, and well-compensated work force than with bitter, angry, fearful employees.

 

[jonjuan]

The contracts you have with the customers would make it very difficult for Buffet to pull the plug.

Didn't Cessna do so with shares? How many multi million dollar lawsuits there?

 

[doh]

Didn't Cessna do so with shares? How many multi million dollar lawsuits there?

It's not a plug pull. They simply close the sales department and fly out the contracts they have, retiring airplanes and laying off as contracts expire.

 

[jetwash]

Didn't Cessna do so with shares? How many multi million dollar lawsuits there?

Rumors around Flops is that DAC bought out the contracts from Citation Air and is flying their former owners until they expire with hopes of signing them to a Flops contract in the future.
Already a few Pax who were at CA mentioned that to our crews.
So the frax contracts can apparently be out sourced, the pax may not like it but as long as they are provided with a service I guess all is possible.

 

[gutshotdraw]

Didn't Cessna do so with shares? How many multi million dollar lawsuits there?

As mentioned, Shares was much smaller and was able to gradually spool down until DAC picked up the pieces.

Similar situation with Avantair. Niche player and there was no money left for a lawyer to chase.

NetJets, on the other hand, is too big to close overnight and Berkshire is HUGE with REALLY deep pockets. Lawyers LOVE deep pockets.

 

[luckydog]

Sounds very similar to the illusion of 'too big to fail'.

As mentioned, Shares was much smaller and was able to gradually spool down until DAC picked up the pieces.

Similar situation with Avantair. Niche player and there was no money left for a lawyer to chase.

NetJets, on the other hand, is too big to close overnight and Berkshire is HUGE with REALLY deep pockets. Lawyers LOVE deep pockets.

 

[BentOver]

Not saying it would happen....

But I'm pretty sure Warren Buffett and his lawyers, execs, CEO's etc etc, can pretty much do whatever they want...

Pilots are pretty smart, but I'm fairly certain the 3rd-4th richest man in the world is a bit smarter when it comes to business

 

[el raton]

Might I humbly beg that you guys push to make a 12 hour max duty day a new industry standard.

 

[BlueNose]

As mentioned, Shares was much smaller and was able to gradually spool down until DAC picked up the pieces.

Similar situation with Avantair. Niche player and there was no money left for a lawyer to chase.

NetJets, on the other hand, is too big to close overnight and Berkshire is HUGE with REALLY deep pockets. Lawyers LOVE deep pockets.

There's a fine line between confidence and hubris. Any company or division can be shut down. Sure there's risk to it, but it's quantifiable. If the ongoing operating risk becomes greater than the wind-down risk, don't think WB won't pull that trigger. BH is at heart an insurance company, so I think it's safe to say WB already has a detailed study of the risk ($) involved in winding down NJ. The future operating risk has a much greater degree of uncertainty, but ultimately comes down to projected costs vs projected revenues.


Employee future compensation isn't the only, and certainly not the biggest cost factor, but sure can become the tipping point if it's a finely balanced difference. You need to extract the max compensation without threatening the future viability of the business. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to tell what that is until several years after the contract is signed. But if you don't acknowledge that it could go either way, you might be in for a rude surprise. Good luck.

 

[gutshotdraw]

Oh, I absolutely agree a wind-down is possible at NetJets. I harbor no illusions that the company is "too big to fail."

But it would be exactly that: a wind-down. The current legal exposure for an "overnight" shutdown is far too great.

The bigger risk at the moment is that the management team seems to be actively DIScouraging share sales in favor of ENcouraging Marquis card sales. This presents a number of concerning issues.

1. It dilutes the "exclusive" service mentality that originally built the company and replaces it with a "block charter" concept that can be purchased at any number of reputable charter carriers.

2. Opens the door for the company to sell off trips more easily in the event of work slowdown or stoppage. It's easier to blow off a card holder than the folks that actually OWN the airplane.

3. Makes it MUCH easier (eventually) for Berkshire to cut bait if they do decide the business is no longer worth the opportunity cost of their investment dollars.

4. Reduces the legal exposure because the OWNER of a share can demonstrate much greater financial harm to a jury than can a card-holder that merely owns some time in a plane in the event of a shutdown.

Bottom line: A potential long-term threat to the leverage and career prospects of all NetJets pilots.

That's why we need to act relatively quickly to extract an improved but viable contract and push Hansell the HE11 out the door before he completely destroys the place.

 

[Some guy]

BH bought us for what, 800m? Last I heard we're valued at 2 billion? The debt is getting paid down quickly, possibly by the end of the year. Uncle Warren isn't getting any younger. What happens when he passes? Will the board see a no debt, 1.2b ROI get out now while the gettin's good and sell us off? I certainly hope not, but I don't know how businessmen think either.

On another note, while numerous contracts are in negotiation there is one difference I've noticed from the '05 '06 (or whatever the date was) talks. Last time the company was talking about how much money was being lost even though it wasn't necessarily true. (Company negotiating tactics?) Now they've continued speaking about profits. Does this mean the powers that be are negotiating a more fair game this time around? Sure they've asked for concessions, but isn't that what they're supposed to do? They ask for less, you ask for more, and then meet in the middle.

SG