AS Furlough Mitigation

[ClearRight]

NEW Reduced Line Value MOU Fails Membership Ratification - Friday, August 07, 2009
The Reduced Line Value MOU has failed to pass membership ratification, with a vote of 83.3% against and 16.70% for ratification. A total of 1,078 pilots—82.73% of pilots who were eligible to vote—cast their ballot on this issue. Regardless of how you voted, we appreciate that such an overwhelming majority of pilots took the time to participate in the membership ratification process. We realize that there were strong, often emotional opinions on both sides of this issue, especially in light of the fact that this involves the loss of flying positions. Should there be opportunities for other programs to mitigate furloughs or create recalls, we will explore them fully. In the meantime, please remember these pilots and those already on furlough and consider a donation to the recently created Alaska Pilots Assistance Fund, which was created to provide financial assistance to Alaska pilots, including furloughed pilots, in times of financial crisis.

 

[Baze]

This is unofficial, of course, but I just heard that it was voted down overwhelmingly.
Not a big surprise there...

As for the bid results, I don't know. Hopefully they can crank it out later on today.

 

[Baze]

Ah, ClearRight has a quicker trigger finger than me. I hadn't gotten the E-Mail yet either.

 

[ImbracableCrunk]

NEW Reduced Line Value MOU Fails Membership Ratification - Friday, August 07, 2009
The Reduced Line Value MOU has failed to pass membership ratification, with a vote of 83.3% against and 16.70% for ratification. A total of 1,078 pilots—82.73% of pilots who were eligible to vote—cast their ballot on this issue. Regardless of how you voted, we appreciate that such an overwhelming majority of pilots took the time to participate in the membership ratification process. We realize that there were strong, often emotional opinions on both sides of this issue, especially in light of the fact that this involves the loss of flying positions. Should there be opportunities for other programs to mitigate furloughs or create recalls, we will explore them fully. In the meantime, please remember these pilots and those already on furlough and consider a donation to the recently created Alaska Pilots Assistance Fund, which was created to provide financial assistance to Alaska pilots, including furloughed pilots, in times of financial crisis.

"should there be other opportunities...." Ha! I'm sure there will be a chance that there might be something - to the extent possible.

 

[Going2Baja]

As predicted...MOU FAILS with 83.3% of voters saying NO. Kind of like the CBA eh? What a JOKE!

Baja.

 

[Going2Baja]

Posted Today from the VP of Flt Ops:

I have had many questions over the past few days regarding the Line Reduction Program MOU. Some of you seem confused over the timing and the terms of the MOU and wonder why the Company felt the need to amend work rules and the bidding process to mitigate 30 furloughs and 13 downgrades.

First you should understand that the Company told your Negotiating Committee that we did not consider a Line Reduction Program very attractive because the only way to manage the costs associated with the furlough would then be to change or modify work rules and trading processes contained in our brand new CBA. Having this information, your MEC then contacted me over the weekend and asked that a Line Reduction Program be reconsidered because ALPA believed that the pilots should have a say regarding the mitigation of furloughs through a Line Reduction Program under the new language contained in Section 23.A.

After much debate on whether we could manage the costs, a term sheet was developed and presented to members of the negotiating committee as well as the MEC. At this meeting ALPA asked us to reconsider several terms and while we could not accommodate all of their requests we were able to modify a few of the requirements. The Company was not pleased with the MOU but felt your MEC Chairman made some good points so we left it up to ALPA who chose to put it out for vote.

Why the removal of 2nd step trading? The bidding process was simplified to allow the Crew Planning department the time necessary to work out conflicts and trades under the Line Reduction Program. As I mentioned earlier the Company had to feel confident that they could obtain the same or nearly the same cost savings through this program as they could through a furlough. This prerequisite also required removing the provisions in the CBA that allowed a pilot to fly above the monthly maximum for pay only.

The timing of this program admittedly could have been better but the negotiating committee and the Company had been meeting nearly everyday as outlined in Section 23.A to develop programs to mitigate the October 1 furloughs. The cost analysis related to lower bib blocks was given to ALPA within the 30 day discussion period, and although the numbers changed after the 30-day negotiating period the costs savings did not change significantly.

While the rumors continue to fly to the contrary there is no hidden agenda. The Company is not trying to get “things” they could not get in the negotiation process. We are not trying to set a precedent or find a way to take back the ability for you to increase your W-2`s. We are simply trying to find a way to mitigate furloughs and still realize the costs associated with the furlough. The final decision was left with the pilot group.​

 

[Mea25000]

If things don't get better the company wants us at 1250 pilots by Jan 2010... I don't know how many more that would be but I think that might mean there could be a few more. On a lighter note we had more then 200 pilots above 88 this month... way to go guys keep helping out. I am sure everyone is picking up to send money to Sean.

 

[QCappy]

I love how GB put out this message after the voting was closed.

 

[Mamma]

just found out I am furloughed. Found out thru different means. List comes out tomorrow.

 

[Old School 737]

just found out I am furloughed. Found out thru different means. List comes out tomorrow.

TOMARROW?? How about today when the bids are awarded? Sorry to hear that you are getting furloughed. Any word on how many??