satpak77
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maybe by end of the week we will get some news?
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/0312sbizdelta.html
Delta, pilots go to showdown
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM , and DAVE HIRSCHMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/12/06
Delta Air Lines' latest showdown with its pilots union over contract concessions heads into uncharted territory this week.
A three-man panel is scheduled to start an unusual hearing Monday that could determine the outcome of the two sides' dispute over Delta's effort to get long-term pilot cost cuts. The company says the cuts are vital to its Chapter 11 recovery effort.
Meeting in Washington, the panel will hear several days' worth of arguments over the company's request for more than $300 million in annual savings from a new pilot deal. The panel members, all experienced arbitrators, are supposed to rule by April 15 on whether to allow Delta to void the pilots' existing contract and impose new terms.
Pilot union leaders have said imposed terms could trigger a strike. Delta says such a strike would be illegal and that it would probably seek a court injunction to stop one.
Delta contends its concession demands — which include a wage cut of about 18 percent — are a critical part of its bid to wring a total of $3 billion in annual savings or revenue gains from various restructuring moves.
The Air Line Pilots Association contends the airline is really seeking deeper cuts than stated, and that the demands exceed how much it needs. The pilots' counteroffer has been valued at around $115 million. ALPA leaders accuse Delta of "intransigence toward any meaningful movement" in the contract talks and of basing too much of its recovery on employee cutbacks.
Delta says it has adjusted its proposal to the pilots in several ways. The airline says it cut the overall request from $315 million to $305 million; enhanced a profit-sharing proposal; cut the length of the proposed deal from five to four years; and offered two wage increases of 1 percent to 1.5 percent at the end of 2008 and 2009.
The airline also says it is offering pilots an equity stake when it emerges from Chapter 11, and a $330 million note the union could use to offset pilot pension losses if the company terminates its pension plans.
The Delta arbitration hearing comes about a week after Northwest Airlines reached a deal with its ALPA unit.
"Our proposal offers higher pay rates and is an all-around better deal than the tentative agreement that Northwest reached with its pilots," said Bruce Hicks, a Delta spokesman. "We're not asking Delta pilots to take the kinds of pay and benefit cuts that Northwest is looking at."
Delta and Northwest filed for Chapter 11 protection the same day, and both have been negotiating contract terms in bankruptcy court. Northwest's deal still must be ratified by pilot union members.
The current dispute between Delta and its pilots started late last summer, when Delta asked for a new round of concessions just before filing for Chapter 11. In late 2004, the airline negotiated a 32.5 percent pilot wage cut, knocking pilots off their perch as the industry's best-paid, but its financial slide continued amid soaring fuel costs.
After initial talks on a new deal failed, the airline last December asked its bankruptcy judge to void the pilot contract so it could impose terms. Before a ruling was issued, the sides agreed to a temporary deal that included a 14 percent pay cut and set a March 1 deadline for reaching a long-term pact that would supersede it.
The temporary deal stipulated that if the two sides missed the deadline, the matter would go to the three-member panel rather than back to Delta's bankruptcy judge.
Talks between ALPA and Delta can continue throughout the panel's deliberations, so a negotiated agreement is possible — and some observers still consider that the most likely outcome.
According to Delta, panel members will consider key factors including: whether the company needs the requested level of savings; whether Delta's overall request for sacrifices is fair to all stakeholders; whether the cuts were sought through good-faith negotiations; and whether ALPA had a good reason for rejection.
By mutual agreement as part of the December deal, ALPA chose two members of the panel and Delta one. They are:
• Richard Bloch, who has experience with arbitration between Delta and ALPA. As arbitrator in a dispute four years ago, Bloch ruled that Delta was justified in using an emergency clause in the pilots' contract to furlough pilots after the 9/11 attacks. But a few months later he halted further job cuts, ruling that other economic factors were affecting Delta.
Bloch, former president of the National Academy of Arbitrators, has also arbitrated disputes between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Eagles and their star players.
• Robert Harris, former chairman of the National Mediation Board, is a veteran arbitrator who served on a number of presidential emergency boards, including a 2001 clash between Northwest and its mechanics, and a 1997 dispute involving American Airlines and pilots.
Harris has been a consultant to the government of Bermuda and an adjunct law professor at Washington College of Law in the District of Columbia.
• Frederic Horowitz is a California labor attorney and a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. He previously served as a corporate attorney and human resources director for a publicly held manufacturer of electronic components. He also was in-house counsel for a national labor organization.
Both sides continued to maneuver for advantage last week, with pilots announcing Thursday they had reached a "mutual support" accord with fellow fliers in the SkyTeam alliance that includes Delta's international partners.
"This sends a strong message that pilots around the globe are united with Delta pilots," said Kelly Collins, a union spokeswoman. "It's in everybody's best interest to reach an agreement."
Delta's Hicks said the maneuver would have little influence.
"Right now," he said, "everyone is focused on Monday."
apply_behaviours()
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/0312sbizdelta.html
Delta, pilots go to showdown
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM , and DAVE HIRSCHMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/12/06
Delta Air Lines' latest showdown with its pilots union over contract concessions heads into uncharted territory this week.
A three-man panel is scheduled to start an unusual hearing Monday that could determine the outcome of the two sides' dispute over Delta's effort to get long-term pilot cost cuts. The company says the cuts are vital to its Chapter 11 recovery effort.
Pilot union leaders have said imposed terms could trigger a strike. Delta says such a strike would be illegal and that it would probably seek a court injunction to stop one.
Delta contends its concession demands — which include a wage cut of about 18 percent — are a critical part of its bid to wring a total of $3 billion in annual savings or revenue gains from various restructuring moves.
The Air Line Pilots Association contends the airline is really seeking deeper cuts than stated, and that the demands exceed how much it needs. The pilots' counteroffer has been valued at around $115 million. ALPA leaders accuse Delta of "intransigence toward any meaningful movement" in the contract talks and of basing too much of its recovery on employee cutbacks.
Delta says it has adjusted its proposal to the pilots in several ways. The airline says it cut the overall request from $315 million to $305 million; enhanced a profit-sharing proposal; cut the length of the proposed deal from five to four years; and offered two wage increases of 1 percent to 1.5 percent at the end of 2008 and 2009.
The airline also says it is offering pilots an equity stake when it emerges from Chapter 11, and a $330 million note the union could use to offset pilot pension losses if the company terminates its pension plans.
The Delta arbitration hearing comes about a week after Northwest Airlines reached a deal with its ALPA unit.
"Our proposal offers higher pay rates and is an all-around better deal than the tentative agreement that Northwest reached with its pilots," said Bruce Hicks, a Delta spokesman. "We're not asking Delta pilots to take the kinds of pay and benefit cuts that Northwest is looking at."
Delta and Northwest filed for Chapter 11 protection the same day, and both have been negotiating contract terms in bankruptcy court. Northwest's deal still must be ratified by pilot union members.
The current dispute between Delta and its pilots started late last summer, when Delta asked for a new round of concessions just before filing for Chapter 11. In late 2004, the airline negotiated a 32.5 percent pilot wage cut, knocking pilots off their perch as the industry's best-paid, but its financial slide continued amid soaring fuel costs.
After initial talks on a new deal failed, the airline last December asked its bankruptcy judge to void the pilot contract so it could impose terms. Before a ruling was issued, the sides agreed to a temporary deal that included a 14 percent pay cut and set a March 1 deadline for reaching a long-term pact that would supersede it.
The temporary deal stipulated that if the two sides missed the deadline, the matter would go to the three-member panel rather than back to Delta's bankruptcy judge.
Talks between ALPA and Delta can continue throughout the panel's deliberations, so a negotiated agreement is possible — and some observers still consider that the most likely outcome.
According to Delta, panel members will consider key factors including: whether the company needs the requested level of savings; whether Delta's overall request for sacrifices is fair to all stakeholders; whether the cuts were sought through good-faith negotiations; and whether ALPA had a good reason for rejection.
By mutual agreement as part of the December deal, ALPA chose two members of the panel and Delta one. They are:
• Richard Bloch, who has experience with arbitration between Delta and ALPA. As arbitrator in a dispute four years ago, Bloch ruled that Delta was justified in using an emergency clause in the pilots' contract to furlough pilots after the 9/11 attacks. But a few months later he halted further job cuts, ruling that other economic factors were affecting Delta.
Bloch, former president of the National Academy of Arbitrators, has also arbitrated disputes between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Eagles and their star players.
• Robert Harris, former chairman of the National Mediation Board, is a veteran arbitrator who served on a number of presidential emergency boards, including a 2001 clash between Northwest and its mechanics, and a 1997 dispute involving American Airlines and pilots.
Harris has been a consultant to the government of Bermuda and an adjunct law professor at Washington College of Law in the District of Columbia.
• Frederic Horowitz is a California labor attorney and a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. He previously served as a corporate attorney and human resources director for a publicly held manufacturer of electronic components. He also was in-house counsel for a national labor organization.
Both sides continued to maneuver for advantage last week, with pilots announcing Thursday they had reached a "mutual support" accord with fellow fliers in the SkyTeam alliance that includes Delta's international partners.
"This sends a strong message that pilots around the globe are united with Delta pilots," said Kelly Collins, a union spokeswoman. "It's in everybody's best interest to reach an agreement."
Delta's Hicks said the maneuver would have little influence.
"Right now," he said, "everyone is focused on Monday."
apply_behaviours()
