SCE to AUX
Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2005
- Posts
- 8
September 29, 2005
Bryan Bedford
Chief Executive Officer
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.
8909 Purdue Road
Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN 46268
RE: Deteriorating Labor Relations
Dear Mr. Bedford:
This letter is to address concerns that the Union has regarding the company’s blatant violations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement which we perceive as an overall lack of respect for Union officials and the pilot group in general. As you well know, Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.’s acquisition of Shuttle America and the recent certification of Republic Airlines and the asset transaction of Mid Atlantic have caused numerous problems. It appears that the company is not prepared to handle the growth and has totally disregarded contract compliance.
First, we have recently learned that the latest Shuttle America 170 bid was awarded solely to former Shuttle SAAB pilots, even though there were more senior Chautauqua pilots that had bid for this award. This is a blatant violation of the Filling of Vacancies Article and the Seniority Article of the contract. I spoke to Chief Operating Officer, Wayne Heller, last week regarding this issue and he admitted that the company purposely violated the contract. Mr. Heller’s purported rationale for the company’s actions was that he felt like the SAAB pilots who were awarded the 170 flying would ultimately be senior to those Chautauqua pilots who had also bid for the award. I wasn’t aware that Mr. Heller had a legal background in seniority integration awards. We have filed a grievance on this matter and hereby demand that you rescind the award and award the 170 flying in seniority order per the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Additionally, the company’s action in this regard is causing friction amongst the Chautauqua pilot group and former SAAB Shuttle pilots. The Union will hold the company solely responsible for this animosity.
Secondly, as we informed you at our last operations meeting on September 16, 2005, there were Chautauqua pilots who bid for and were awarded Republic 170 flying then, subsequently, the award was cancelled and the pilots were forced into a Shuttle 170
class. This is another example of a violation of the Filling of Vacancies Article of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Thirdly, the company has on more than one occasion violated the due process provision in the Resolution of Disputes Article concerning disciplinary meetings with pilots. The company is confronting pilots without affording the pilot’s the right to Union representation.
While operational problems often occur in periods of rapid growth, such as is occurring in the Republic Airways family, it is not an excuse to disregard the Collective Bargaining Agreement. This Local fought long and hard to achieve the Agreement and we expect the company to adhere to that which it has agreed.
The Union recently worked with the company in support of the J4J modification agreement and we are immediately confronted with contract violations as soon as the desired results were achieved. We will seriously pause before accommodating any company request in the future. The Union has lost a lot of respect for your management team because of the company’s recent actions. I am hereby requesting that you immediately remedy these contract violations and personally make it a goal to improve labor relations with this Local. Otherwise, the future can only get worse.
Very truly yours,
E.E. Sowell
President and General Counsel
cc: Don Treichler, Airline Division Director
Tiffany Moline, Business Agent
CHQ Executive Council
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. Pilots
Ron Lucas, President Local 264
Bryan Bedford
Chief Executive Officer
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.
8909 Purdue Road
Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN 46268
RE: Deteriorating Labor Relations
Dear Mr. Bedford:
This letter is to address concerns that the Union has regarding the company’s blatant violations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement which we perceive as an overall lack of respect for Union officials and the pilot group in general. As you well know, Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.’s acquisition of Shuttle America and the recent certification of Republic Airlines and the asset transaction of Mid Atlantic have caused numerous problems. It appears that the company is not prepared to handle the growth and has totally disregarded contract compliance.
First, we have recently learned that the latest Shuttle America 170 bid was awarded solely to former Shuttle SAAB pilots, even though there were more senior Chautauqua pilots that had bid for this award. This is a blatant violation of the Filling of Vacancies Article and the Seniority Article of the contract. I spoke to Chief Operating Officer, Wayne Heller, last week regarding this issue and he admitted that the company purposely violated the contract. Mr. Heller’s purported rationale for the company’s actions was that he felt like the SAAB pilots who were awarded the 170 flying would ultimately be senior to those Chautauqua pilots who had also bid for the award. I wasn’t aware that Mr. Heller had a legal background in seniority integration awards. We have filed a grievance on this matter and hereby demand that you rescind the award and award the 170 flying in seniority order per the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Additionally, the company’s action in this regard is causing friction amongst the Chautauqua pilot group and former SAAB Shuttle pilots. The Union will hold the company solely responsible for this animosity.
Secondly, as we informed you at our last operations meeting on September 16, 2005, there were Chautauqua pilots who bid for and were awarded Republic 170 flying then, subsequently, the award was cancelled and the pilots were forced into a Shuttle 170
class. This is another example of a violation of the Filling of Vacancies Article of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Thirdly, the company has on more than one occasion violated the due process provision in the Resolution of Disputes Article concerning disciplinary meetings with pilots. The company is confronting pilots without affording the pilot’s the right to Union representation.
While operational problems often occur in periods of rapid growth, such as is occurring in the Republic Airways family, it is not an excuse to disregard the Collective Bargaining Agreement. This Local fought long and hard to achieve the Agreement and we expect the company to adhere to that which it has agreed.
The Union recently worked with the company in support of the J4J modification agreement and we are immediately confronted with contract violations as soon as the desired results were achieved. We will seriously pause before accommodating any company request in the future. The Union has lost a lot of respect for your management team because of the company’s recent actions. I am hereby requesting that you immediately remedy these contract violations and personally make it a goal to improve labor relations with this Local. Otherwise, the future can only get worse.
Very truly yours,
E.E. Sowell
President and General Counsel
cc: Don Treichler, Airline Division Director
Tiffany Moline, Business Agent
CHQ Executive Council
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. Pilots
Ron Lucas, President Local 264