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Is Uncle Worse Than Sh**inga?

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GlorifiedCabbie

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Posts
1,220
Flexjet Pilots Sue Luxury Jet Airline For Union Busting




April 27, 2015
Lawsuit Seeks Emergency Relief From Court

Press Contact

(CLEVELAND) - A group of jet pilots filed a lawsuit Friday against airline Flexjet, LLC and OneSky, its Cleveland-based parent company, claiming they were illegally harassed and terminated for speaking out in favor of unionization and better working conditions. Flexjet, LLC employs over 350 pilots who operate luxury business jets for wealthy customers. The pilots are seeking representation from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division, which represents over 80,000 workers in the aviation industry.



?Flexjet and OneSky terminated these hard-working pilots because they exercised their rights to encourage coworkers to support unionization,? Teamsters Airline Division International Representative Capt. Frederick C. Dubinsky said. ?It is a blatant case of anti-union discrimination. The reasons management gave for firing these pilots are not only false, they?re bizarre and should be of grave concern to pilots and their passengers.?
All three of the fired pilots in the suit had spotless employment records and had previously publicly identified themselves as union supporters.
According to the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on Friday, senior managers told several pilots they were fired because they were ?unhappy? and the carrier would not tolerate unhappy employees. When the pilots said they were not unhappy, they were stripped of their employee identification badges and told to resign in 24 hours or be terminated.
Another pro-union pilot was terminated for ?insubordination? because he refused to speak about union issues on the telephone with Flexjet Chairman Kenn Ricci. Ricci had also demanded that the terminated pilots debate him about unions in a public forum without any union representatives present.
In a series of letters, Ricci has repeatedly chastised the pilots for exercising their federal right to refrain from discussion unionization directly with him ? the Chairman of the Board. This is not the first time Ricci has allegedly unlawfully fired union supporters in an effort to crush union activity. In the early 2000s he fired a number of Travel Air pilot union organizers for anti-union reasons and was similarly embroiled in a federal lawsuit for years, which the company settled out of court.
?Every worker should be able to trust that ownership and management will adhere to basic standards of fair play and consistency,? said Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne. ?Flexjet and OneSky?s decision to terminate these pilots for false and unlawful reasons introduces a level of uncertainty and arbitrariness into the workplace to which no one should be subjected.?
Many Flexjet pilots are providing financial assistance to their terminated co-workers and their families.
The lawsuit claims the carrier and its parent company committed multiple violations of the Railway Labor Act, the federal law that governs labor relations in the airline and railroad industries, and Ohio state law. The pilots are seeking immediate re-instatement, back pay, attorneys? fees, a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting further interference with pilots? right to unionize, and other relief. The lawsuit also alleges that Flexjet forced all pilots to sign ?Yellow Dog? contracts, which terminate their employment agreements if they become represented by a union. Such ?Yellow Dog? contracts have been unlawful in the United States since 1932.
?The Flexjet pilots and the Teamsters are united like never before, and we aren?t backing down. Our campaign for unionization has also become a fight to protect the operation from an ownership and management group that has lost its focus on stable operations,? Capt. Bourne said.
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.
 
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Sounds like Uncle is having trouble keeping his stories straight. Last time he took hostages, he claimed it was Sh**Inga's fault.
 
Can someone please give a quick run down of sheringa and tyler? They were mentioned on the vuh but I have no idea what anyone's talking about.
 
Where to start on that one? Tyler was basically the mouthpiece for Ford&Harrison.
Sh**finger worked for USAir and basically pushed whipsawing for their regionals. During that same time the USAir pilots took a haircut on their pensions. He got mugged in the employee parking lot and one of the pilots had to do time.

Sh**finger introduced himself as the new CEO at Options by saying how he remembered watching airplanes at the local airport. A more accurate description would characterize him as a pilot hater. He didn't understand the fractional business. He tried to treat our product as a commodity not as a service. Everyone suffered and he almost bankrupted us.
 
Uncle is at it again at Flex. He has used RH to identify the pilots that are willing to stand up to him and speak the truth. I lost count of how many pilots were terminated this time, but he was involved with the terminations several years ago with the Options RIF. If anyone can help me find an old email connenting Uncle to the RIF, please pm me. I can't seem to find a copy. As to the Flex pilot I met several days ago, I will do my research. I will try to back up my point with facts, not on guesswork by a second hand party. Fly Safe GC
 
As to the Flex pilot I met several days ago, I will do my research. I will try to back up my point with facts, not on guesswork by a second hand party. Fly Safe GC

If that guy's name is JF, I've met the guy. He's big on saying prove a statement but has no problem assuming what Kenn's plans are given FJ history with BBD.
 
lucky, I can't recall his name but he hit me with the talking points about how Kenn is going to improve FJ. I asked how he knew and he couldn't give me a straight answer. My rebuttal was simply, you know about as much about Kenn's history at Options as PD knows about the history of FJ.
 
KENN KNEW OF PILOTS UNION ORGANZING EFFORTS
AT FLIGHT OPTIONS IN 2002

Kenn Ricci and his team have repeatedly argued that the pilot union organizing movement at Flight Options did not begin until after his departure in 2003. But, the following excerpts tell the real story:

Transcript of the Testimony of


Robert Sullivan

Date: July 7, 2003



Case: Thomas Bowden, et al. v. Flight Options, L.L.C.

Deposition of ROBERT SULLIVAN, taken as

if upon cross-examination before Julieanne Ross,

a Registered Professional Reporter and Notary

Public within and for the State of Ohio, at the .

offices of Gallagher, Sharp, Fulton and Norman, .

1501 Euclid Avenue, Seventh Floor Bulkley

Building, Cleveland, Ohio, at 10:15 o'clock a.m.

on Monday, July 7th, 2003, pursuant to notice

and/or agreement of counsel, on behalf of the

Plaintiffs in this cause.
Q. Did Mr. Ricci make any statements to you regarding a union organizing campaign RTA?
A. No.
Q. Did he make any statements to you regarding union organizing, period, in terms of organizing the Flight Options employees?
A. Ever?
Q. Ever.
A. Yes.
Q. When was that?
A. In the summer of 2002, I believe.
Q. What did he say?
A. He felt that it would be appropriate in our next manager’s meeting to go over the do’s and don’ts regarding our behavior and our actions in response to any type of union organization drive. In particular we went over TIPS.
Q. What do you mean TIPS?
A. TIPS is an acronym used in response to a union organizing drive, things that you are not allowed to do, which are threats that you are not allowed to do, interrogation – I’m not sure what the P stands for, but S is surveillance. Promises.
Q. Why did that come up in the summer of ’02, why did the issue of union organizing come up?
A. I believe he had received responses to weekly messages from pilots indicating that there was some discussions out on the road.
Q. About union organizing?
A. Yes.
 
This guy deserves the worst union he can get.
 

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