Saturday, January 7, 2006 Union calls Comair arrogant
Flight attendants balk at pay cuts up to 26%
By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer
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ERLANGER - Comair's flight attendant union Friday said it was "outrageous" for the company president to blame the union for a lack of progress in concession talks.
At the same time, new details emerged about the regional carrier's proposal. Specifically, management wants pay cuts of between 20 percent and nearly 26 percent, depending on seniority, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Enquirer.
In a statement to its 1,100 members, the local branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said that management has given no justification of the need for cuts the union says are worth up to $14 million to $15 million, including recent job reductions.
"On the contrary - they admit Comair is profitable," the message said. "It has arrogantly put forward extreme proposals without any financial justification. It has repeatedly refused to provide any assurances of job protection. It has refused to even consider the counterproposals by your Union."
Top pay for Comair flight attendants averages $40,500 under a scheduled raise that went into effect in November. Starting flight attendants earn less than $16,000 annually because of a concessionary deal that calls for lower pay scales for new hires.
But most of those workers are gone because of recent job cuts.
The union message was sent out in response to a memo issued Thursday by Comair president Fred Buttrell, who said that the company was "not making the substantive progress necessary" with the flight attendants. He added that the company may pursue other options in bankruptcy court.
That could include asking a federal bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 reorganization of Comair and its corporate parent Delta Air Lines to void the existing contract and allow management to impose its own new terms. If that happens, the union could conduct its own action, up to and including a full strike - although that has never been legally tested under bankruptcy.
In a new memo to flight attendants issued Friday by two senior executives at Comair, the company acknowledged that it had given the union a proposal that could be used if Comair were to turn to the courts for help. The memo also stated the concessions are needed now to cut Comair's costs so it can stay competitive with other regional carriers for Delta Connection routes.
"We have shared detailed financial information to help them understand the seriousness of our situation," wrote Joel Kuplack, Comair vice president of inflight services, and Stephanie Scott-Rivera, human resources director. "Unless we reach a consensual agreement, this is the portion of the Chapter 11 process that would lead to court-ordered adjustments" to the contract.
Comair is seeking concessions from all its union groups, including the pilots and mechanics. Parent Delta, which has lost nearly $12 billion in the last four years, included Comair in its bankruptcy filing in September.
Comair's pilots will soon begin voting on a company concession proposal worth $17.3 million a year, and talks continue with the mechanics.
Delta last year asked the court to void the contract with its pilots. But last month, the airline reached an interim deal outside of court that kept the company from imposing its own terms - and also staved off a potential strike by the pilots.
Comair reported a $9.2 million operating profit for the third quarter of 2005 to the federal government. The airline declined comment on its finances beyond saying that those figures do not include interest, taxes and other costs that make the net results much lower.
Management values its concessions proposal for the flight attendants at $8.9 million a year. But flight attendant union officials say the company's valuation does not include job reductions. More than 150 began this month - all through voluntary layoff.
The proposal is part of Comair's effort to cut $27.2 million from labor, under a plan to trim $70 million in annual overall costs. Those cuts include eliminating up to 1,000 jobs, most of them locally based.
The airline employs about 7,000, with about 5,000 based locally at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
E-mail [email protected]
Flight attendants balk at pay cuts up to 26%
By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer
ADVERTISEMENT
ERLANGER - Comair's flight attendant union Friday said it was "outrageous" for the company president to blame the union for a lack of progress in concession talks.
At the same time, new details emerged about the regional carrier's proposal. Specifically, management wants pay cuts of between 20 percent and nearly 26 percent, depending on seniority, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Enquirer.
In a statement to its 1,100 members, the local branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said that management has given no justification of the need for cuts the union says are worth up to $14 million to $15 million, including recent job reductions.
"On the contrary - they admit Comair is profitable," the message said. "It has arrogantly put forward extreme proposals without any financial justification. It has repeatedly refused to provide any assurances of job protection. It has refused to even consider the counterproposals by your Union."
Top pay for Comair flight attendants averages $40,500 under a scheduled raise that went into effect in November. Starting flight attendants earn less than $16,000 annually because of a concessionary deal that calls for lower pay scales for new hires.
But most of those workers are gone because of recent job cuts.
The union message was sent out in response to a memo issued Thursday by Comair president Fred Buttrell, who said that the company was "not making the substantive progress necessary" with the flight attendants. He added that the company may pursue other options in bankruptcy court.
That could include asking a federal bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 reorganization of Comair and its corporate parent Delta Air Lines to void the existing contract and allow management to impose its own new terms. If that happens, the union could conduct its own action, up to and including a full strike - although that has never been legally tested under bankruptcy.
In a new memo to flight attendants issued Friday by two senior executives at Comair, the company acknowledged that it had given the union a proposal that could be used if Comair were to turn to the courts for help. The memo also stated the concessions are needed now to cut Comair's costs so it can stay competitive with other regional carriers for Delta Connection routes.
"We have shared detailed financial information to help them understand the seriousness of our situation," wrote Joel Kuplack, Comair vice president of inflight services, and Stephanie Scott-Rivera, human resources director. "Unless we reach a consensual agreement, this is the portion of the Chapter 11 process that would lead to court-ordered adjustments" to the contract.
Comair is seeking concessions from all its union groups, including the pilots and mechanics. Parent Delta, which has lost nearly $12 billion in the last four years, included Comair in its bankruptcy filing in September.
Comair's pilots will soon begin voting on a company concession proposal worth $17.3 million a year, and talks continue with the mechanics.
Delta last year asked the court to void the contract with its pilots. But last month, the airline reached an interim deal outside of court that kept the company from imposing its own terms - and also staved off a potential strike by the pilots.
Comair reported a $9.2 million operating profit for the third quarter of 2005 to the federal government. The airline declined comment on its finances beyond saying that those figures do not include interest, taxes and other costs that make the net results much lower.
Management values its concessions proposal for the flight attendants at $8.9 million a year. But flight attendant union officials say the company's valuation does not include job reductions. More than 150 began this month - all through voluntary layoff.
The proposal is part of Comair's effort to cut $27.2 million from labor, under a plan to trim $70 million in annual overall costs. Those cuts include eliminating up to 1,000 jobs, most of them locally based.
The airline employs about 7,000, with about 5,000 based locally at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
E-mail [email protected]
