Pal, you haven't done your research on my posts. I've never paid union dues, because I never flew for a union carrier, and when I did become part of a union carrier it was through adminsitrative positions and I had the "opportunity" to see the sh*t that unions produce that nobody else ever sees. I have never, and I mean NEVER seen a union that acted on the best behalf of the company, the entire employee group and the best for the industry.
Instead, I've watch single minded MEC leaders soak the company for every last cent and put the company through year after year of turmoil. And then, when the ecomomy gets tender, the union buries it's head in the sand and lets it all crumble around them hurting everybody.
I've been places around unions that few on this board have, and I'll tell you, you need to be careful at what you ask for because if it sounds like it's too good to be true, it probably is.
hey Pal,
New Pan Am Plan Asks Big Union Concessions
By AGIS SALPUKAS
Published: October 15, 1987
LEAD: A group of airline experts representing Kirk Kerkorian has presented to a coalition of unions a proposal to take over Pan American World Airways that requires greater concessions from its workers than current management has asked.
A group of airline experts representing Kirk Kerkorian has presented to a coalition of unions a proposal to take over Pan American World Airways
that requires greater concessions from its workers than current management has asked.
Under the proposal, Mr. Kerkorian would own a fraction more than 50 percent of the restructured airline, according to a union source, and the employees would hold about 25 percent. Mr. Kerkorian is a Los Angeles financier who has run hotels, casinos and movie companies. One of his latest ventures is MGM Grand Air, a luxury airline.
The investment banker representing the unions, Drexel Burnham Lambert, has been seeking a partner to join the unions in acquiring the airline. To attract buyers, the unions have promised concessions in return for new management and a greater stake for the employees, which now hold about 7 percent of the carrier.
The source estimated
that the union concessions would total $900 million over four years. Pan Am management has asked the unions for $180 million a year in concessions, or $720 million in that period.
The source also said that under the plan, the Kerkorian group would take over only the airline and not the rest of the company. The airline would be spun off and the remaining parent company, the Pan Am Corporation, would retain the Pan Am shuttle; Pan Am Express, its commuter affiliate, and Pan Am World Services, which provides management and technical services for government and commercial projects. Some of these units are more profitable than the airline.
The union source said that the impression given by the Kerkorian representatives was that C. Edward Acker, chairman of the Pan Am Corporation, would continue to head the parent company. The source said that this would make it more palatable for Mr. Acker to support the Kerkorian takeover plan even though he and his management team would no longer be operating the airline.
The source said that Mr. Kerkorian's representatives, who included Donald Lloyd Jones, a former airline executive, and Terry Christensen, a representative of the Tracinda Corporation, Mr. Kerkorian's holding company, met with union leaders yesterday at the offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a law firm representing the union group. Two Major Concerns
The source said that the four lead-ers of the union coalition, which consists of the pilots, the flight attendants, the flight engineers and the ticket agents, discussed the proposal Tuesday night and
concluded that even though Mr. Kerkorian was asking for more concessions and a controlling stake of the restructured airline, his proposal addressed two major concerns of the coalition. These are the hiring of new management and the need for an infusion of capital.
On the other hand, he said, Pan Am management's plan to revive the airline would cost less in concessions and would increase the shares held by employees without giving control of the company to one person.
The source said that the union leaders now would discuss the Kerkorian plan with their boards.
The source said that it was hard to determine at the meeting which way the four union leaders were leaning. 'Very Serious'
The source said that the Kerkorian group had impressed the unions as wanting to work out a way to take over the airline. ''They were very serious,'' he said.
The source added that the Kerkorian aides did not indicate how much capital Mr. Kerkorian was willing to put up but he said the impression was that it would not be a large amount.
He said that, under the proposal, the employees, in addition to getting more stock, would also receive a profit-sharing program.