Some FLTO Mechanics Want a Union

[simba]

I hope that there are some FLTO mechanics out there that care enough to read this:

After management axed APA and stuck it to us with the benifits there were quite a few mechanics at the flag pole that wanted to follow in the pilots. These guys are still there and still hope to make a change for the better.

Some of us talked with the few guys we know at the out-stations and found that they were of like mind. Things were looking so positive that a few contacted the IBT.

I'm not quite sure why but the IBT has been dragging their feet. They haven't made a concerted effort to talk with those that are willing to make the effort to organize the mechanics. The IBT might see this group as too much of a challenge - I don't know.

I do know this, I am amazed at the amount of pissed-off I run into as I walk those hallowed halls. And not just in the mechanics ranks. I'm even more shocked at the lack of initiative those pissed-off people have when the subject of "change" comes up in conversation. They welcome it as long as they don't have to lift a finger to help. They are running scared and perhaps justly so. Affraid of what management would do if they ever found out that the word "union" was used in the same sentence as the word "mechanics."

Everbody that turns a wrench needs to wake up!!!

Some have said, "If we could get enough people in a room and tell Sheringa how we feel, he might change thigs." THAT'S HORSE S**T!!!! If that were true it would have been done before and you who say it would've beee in the room.

The company closed APA and has said that they are out to cut additional costs. In case you haven't figured it out by now, let me spell it out for you. They want to out-source maintenance because it is cheaper to pay variable costs than it is to pay the known cost of overhead (hangar operation costs, people, and tools).

All that can only mean that they intend on cutting additional maintenance bases. Personally, I would expect that MCC is next on the chopping block. The evidence is there. Lots of people have been leaving MCC and the company has not really made an attempt to fill the vacancies. If you doubt me look at the jobs posted on their website. Only one is posted - one parts room clerk. The Parts Dept. closes at 7pm and the mechanics are the ones shipping parts after. The planes aren't being brought in to MCC like they were this time last year. Or you can choose to believe Michael Sheringa and all those that talked at the town-hall meeting.

I'm pissed-off too. I think that we have the power to change the company and insure our jobs. The pilots have found the formula and the solution. Everything is negotiable. We all can have a contract (not just the executives).

Now that some time has past since the closure of APA and the announcement of the benifits change, I fear thet the momentum is slipping. The few at the out-stations that talked positively about organizing have changed their minds or won't return calls. You guys at the out-bases need to understand that the guys at the flagpole are exposed to much more BS than you could ever imagine. Believe what they say. Don't run and hide hoping the problems will go away.

I just want to know if there is sufficient support in the mechanics ranks for a union drive. Or do we all need to start looking for employment elsewhere.

 

[Phoenix]

Support of Flight Options Pilots.

Simba

The pilots of Flight Options feel your pain. We recognized the need for a contract a couple of years ago and started the process much the same as you have.

The building of support and the momentum will be painfully slow at first but it will come. I think you will also find that the incredibly short sighted management that sits in the CEO's chair will from time to time give you the extra motivation that your fellow mechanics will need to see the light.

Encourage you group to reach out to the pilots to ask questions and for help in getting your message out. You will find that you will have 4 or 5 hundred supporters already out in the field to help you put representation cards in the hands of MX personnel in your out stations.

Keep you head down, do not trust management in any way. Believe me they are not concerned for yours or you fellow MX peoples well being.

In fraternal support.

Good luck.

 

[FR8DOG777]

I'm Game

Simba,
I am all for the mechanics to organize. I will personally do all I can to support the FLOPS mechanics if they choose to organize. I think it would make our voice that much louder if we the pilots, and mechanics were singing the same song. So loud it would be impossible for upper management to ignore. With the support of each other we both will be brought up to fair pay and working conditions sooner, rather than later. A good way to operate at FLOPS is just what our union leadership has said all along; "Do nothing illegal; for, or against the company." Remember it is your certificate on the hook when you sign off an airplane. Make sure all repairs were done to the highest degree of safety and standards. Don't let anyone ask you to do anything that might be construed as questionable. FLOPS will throw you under the bus if it is exposed.

Regards,
Fr8dog777

 

[simba]

"Do nothing illegal; for, or against the company."

I whole heartedly agree with that advice. It's what I've been telling all the mechanics that are looking forward to representation. Please rest assured that we will not allow an aircraft to be returned to service in an un-safe condition. It is against our nature. We measure ourselves using set of metrics that the company does. But our grading styles differ. They want the aircraft returned to service as fast as possible and dang the deferred items. We, on the other hand, make every attempt to return and aircraft to service in a "like new" condition. That means ready to accept passengers with a fully functional and safe aircraft. We will never jeopardize the safety of our pilots or our passengers.

 

[chingaso]

Simba,

You go dude. You have the pilots right behind you. I can't tell you how good it is to read your posts, especially the part about not appreciating having to get a plane out in a hurry and the deferred items be danged. You guys want to green the airplane as a new airplane, and that speaks to your professional integrity. Professional integrity has become an oxymoron at FLOPS, thanks to the wannabe executives that are in charge.

For years pilots have been kicked in the head for wanting the same thing, and many have been called to Cleveland to do the carpet dance simply because they were refusing to fly an illegal airplane. It shouldn't be rocket science for this company to realize that we have to at least be legally compliant. Once compliant, it shouldn't be rocket science for this company to realize they need to provide their owners with an airplane that has the amenities that these rich people paid for and expect.

We are here because the owners are here, not the other way around. The people in charge, presently, don't understand that this isn't an airline. They don't get it that the owners going to a competitor means a lot greater loss to the company than an airline passenger having the same sentiment. They cover up owners leaving in droves by sweeping it under the rug, or by excusing it as "getting rid of unprofitable contracts." In one letter from management, they actually described the exodus of owners, and their pitiful attempts to halt it, by spinning it into a positive...I think they said something like "we have stabilized the number of redemptions." Corporate BS-to-English translation: "we stopped the exponential exodus of owners and have brought it to a slow and steady exodus of owners." I'm sure they would use the term "acceptable" to describe the amount of owners we are losing. When it comes to losing customers, my redneck pea-brain doesn't understand what 'acceptable' means.

APA being closed shocked all of us. We wonder what base is next, and I surely hope it isn't Sacramento, that is one of my favorite places to go, since the mechanics are top notch and give a sh**. It was bad enough for the Raytheon mechanics to lose their benifits, and it is worse for the APA guys to lose their place of employment. If another base goes away I think it will be an unavoidable red flag to everyone in the company that the house of cards is not stable, and it can't be blamed on anything but the boy presently in charge.

I sincerely hope that the Board of Directors will wake up and take a serious look at what their Wonder Boy is really doing with their company. The pilots organizing might be easy, for now, for them to poo-poo away. If the mx personnel organize, that would be 2 groups in 2 years that took a stance against the present regime. Who knows what group would be next.

Keep your head up, brother. Once people start seeing others standing up it will make it easier for them to grow nuts, too. If you have a problem recruiting, just sit back and wait, Wonder Boy will ultimately bring more folks to the table by being predatory and idiotic. God bless you for having the courage to stand up and rally the fight. Your pilot brothers and sisters are right here with you.

Fraternally,

Loboblanca

 

[Joe Jet Pilot]

Yet Another

Simba,

Another Options pilot right here behind you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[simba]

Here’s what we can expect to hear from management when workers form a union:​

When workers form a union, we gain a voice in decisions that affect our jobs, our future and our families. Unfortunately, management doesn’t always like the idea of sharing the decision-making with employees. So management’s first reaction may be to make a lot of misleading statements to try to convince us not to join together.

This is what managers often say when​

Management: “A union is a third party that will come between us.”

Fact: Our union is a democratic, member-run organization.When we form a union here, we’ll worktogether to govern our o wn organization. And every contract will be reviewed and approved by a majority of the employees here where we work.

Management: “The union will make you go on strike.”

Fact: Strikes are a rare last resort in contract negotiations—more than 95 percent of Teamster contracts are negotiated without a strike. And no strike will happen unless a two-thirds majority of workers vote to call one.

Management: “If you form a union, you risk losing the benefits and pay raises you already have.”

Fact: It’s illegal for a company to freeze or cut previously scheduled raises to discourage us from forming a union. Once we’re organized, we’ll lock in our current wages and benefits and then negotiate improvements from there. All of us will get an opportunity to review our proposed contract before we vote to approve it. Obviously, we’re not going to approve a contract that cuts our wages or benefits.

Management: “The union just wants your dues money.”

Fact: As a newly organized Teamster union, we won’t pay dues until we’ve negotiated and voted to approve our first contract—and decided for ourselves whether it’s worth it. Every serious organization has to have some kind of funding—churches, clubs, sporting leagues and similar organizations—and unions are no different. Dues pay for the costs of having an organization—contract negotiations, grievances and arbitrations, training for members, legal fees and other things so no one has to go it alone.

Management: “With a union, you won’t be allowed to talk to your supervisor—you’ll have togo through the union.”

Fact: Teamsters have found that having a union strengthens communication between employees and supervisors. Direct relationships with immediate supervisors continue, and we can negotiate to retain any good policies and procedures already in place. The advantage of joining together in a union is that
we’re able to make our voices heard at the upper levels of management, where key decisions are made.

Management: “The improvements we’rewilling to make right now show that you don’t need a union.”

Fact: It’s great that management is responding to our concerns. It shows that when we join together, our voices are heard. By forming a union, we can make sure this progress is not just short-term—we’ll build an ongoing dialogue with management on all our issues.We’ll also have peace of mind with a union—since the improvements we agree on will be guaranteed in our union contract.

 

[simba]

I actually heard a mechanic say to me today, and I quote, "Our benifits were still better than most companys in the U.S.. Besides bad benitfits are better than no benifits. We should be greatful for what we have."

I don't know what companies that people are comparing our benifits with. I'm sure that they are looking at the fractional industry.. or even in the aviation industry.

They screwed us twice and we didn't even get the reach-around. First, they're making us pay almost double for close to comparable medical benifits to what we had in 2006. Then a second time when they made the affordable "package" crappy.

I guess most people haven't realized it yet, but the company keeps taking small pieces from the employees. They do that intentionally, hoping that no one will notice. They know that mechanics are happiest when they are left alone to fix airplanes. They count on that fact. They stick it to us then back off for a while. Believe me when I say that another is coming.

I'm sure that most of the mechanics don't remember but under Ken Ricci we used to get two paid months off every six years. That was the first thing that they took. That should have been the warning shot.

Wake up !!! Think !!!

 

[simba]

O.K…. Why would a mechanic at Flops want to join a union?

O.K…. Why would a mechanic at Flops want to join a union?

• Job Security

Really there is no such thing as a secure job in today’s world. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a severance package for the company to think about before they shut down another facility? APA was given two weeks of health benefits. They could also cash in their vacation time (and it didn’t come on the same check as their last pay either). Sure was nice of FLOPs, wasn’t it?

• Pay Scale

I’ll bet that if you look around your facilities you will find someone that has been there longer that most people but making less money. In this company, no matter how great you are with the planes, if you don’t get it coming in the door, you won’t get it later. A pay scale that is designed around seniority as well as position would bring everyone onto a level playing field. We would all know when and what our next pay increase is going to be. Please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying here. I am not talking about pay cuts for those that lucked out on a good offer.

• Overtime

As it stands now, overtime is pretty much up to the individual managers and departments. Some are required to work their O/T in .5 hour blocks (.4 doesn’t count and .6 is .5 O/T + .1 donated to the company). Some are lucky and still work their O/T like we did when we worked directly for Raytheon. But we all get paid our overtime not on the next check but 30 days after we work it. Is the company keeping those funds in a bank collecting interest? Or are they too inept and lazy?

• Reviews and Raises

Ask around, I’m sure that you will find a few people that have received a good review but have yet to receive a raise. I personally know of two individuals that haven’t had a raise since Raytheon. And those lucky enough to get a raise find that it doesn’t compare with the rising cost of living (inflation).

The review system sucks. We are asked to rate ourselves. Then the first line supervisor rates us. Then HR approves his assessment. Then we might get the review back. Management thinks the review process sucks too, but is too lazy to change it. Actually, they are too lazy to get back to you with whether you performed well enough or not to merit a raise. Normally, it takes an excessive amount of time for FLOPs to put the money into the check. Did you know that the raise can be backdated? All it takes is an email from your supervisor to Sylvia in HR. How many of you were told that it couldn’t be done?

Well, that’s just four of the many issues that we could get taken care of with representation and a contract. There are a great many more. I will discuss a few more in my next post.

 

[Phoenix]

The power of a contract

Simba,

Your post is very informative and its information that all your fellow MX personnel should be made aware of. All of the points you raise and much more are governed and protected via a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). A CBA gives your group the opportunity to negotiated the terms under which you all care to work. It establishes a binding agreement, a contract that management has to comply with and can not change without renegotiating it.

Every senior manager at flight options has a contract that establishes their condition of employment. There is no reason that you and your contemporaries should not have the same considerations.

What management does not want to give up is total and unconditional power over your group. At this point in time management has just that. They can exercise that power in anyway they want, at any time they want. A CBA takes that power away from management, both current and future, and that CBA holds the power and protects your group.

None of you would buy a house or enter into a business arrangement without a contract. In light of the history of current Options management, and the potential management that could replace him every employee at Flight Options should demand a contract. How can any of your MX associates look at the actions that our current management has taken over the past 2+ years and not be compelled to either leave the company or stay and fight for a contract.

Keep the faith Simba, sooner or later Scheeringa will step up to the plate and screw us all again. My hope is the pilots will have a CBA before he can do any more significant damage to our work place, and it will help to fortify the determination of the MX personnel.

Phoenix