SWA to speed up Airtran integration.....article

[SWA Bubba]

Blatant violation of FMLA and USERRA. They're just hoping that the unions won't challenge it. And they may be right.

SWAPA needs to get ready to start playing traditional labor relations hardball. The company certainly is.

I dunno; you'd have to ask a lawyer instead of a pilot. Like I said, for the first 30-some odd years this requirement was also there. It's only been the last 5 or 6 or so that it's been totally amount-of-work related without an "perfect attendance" requirement.

I suppose the company's lawyers have already vetted this: saying it's an incentive to come to work, above and beyond any negotiated compensation, and they don't have to give it to anyone in the first place. To this, you'd probably argue that if they "give it to anyone, they have to give it to all," and maybe that might hold up in court. Like I said, ask a lawyer. But I suspect that since no one ever made this argument during the first iteration of the "perfect attendance" requirement, that it passes some legal muster. At any rate, if a court DID side with your lawyer PCL, I bet that the company would just pull the plug on the program, and no one would get anything. After all, it's their incentive program to get people to not miss work. They're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart because they don't think they're giving us enough compensation.

Bubba

 

[CaptAntoineMack]

I dunno; you'd have to ask a lawyer instead of a pilot. Like I said, for the first 30-some odd years this requirement was also there. It's only been the last 5 or 6 or so that it's been totally amount-of-work related without an "perfect attendance" requirement.

I suppose the company's lawyers have already vetted this: saying it's an incentive to come to work, above and beyond any negotiated compensation, and they don't have to give it to anyone in the first place. To this, you'd probably argue that if they "give it to anyone, they have to give it to all," and maybe that might hold up in court. Like I said, ask a lawyer. But I suspect that since no one ever made this argument during the first iteration of the "perfect attendance" requirement, that it passes some legal muster. At any rate, if a court DID side with your lawyer PCL, I bet that the company would just pull the plug on the program, and no one would get anything. After all, it's their incentive program to get people to not miss work. They're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart because they don't think they're giving us enough compensation.

Bubba

Much better said than I. You would think a union goon would easily understand this concept. I am glad he won't be representing my interests.

 

[humveedriver]

Where did you see this? I've heard in the past, that the company wasn't going to make either side's buddy passes interchangeable with the others. The company even came out and said this with the rationale that it wasn't worth the IT dept's time to change computer code to allow this, because of the "short time" before the companies were merged (seeing as how it takes about 2 years for the IT dept to make anything happen).

Bubba

Swalife/swag faqs .pdf/ question 8.0


Can I use my guest pass on SWA or AT?

Both...

 

[PCL_128]

These passes are not a god given right or a negotiated item. It is a company policy they choose to give and legally could just take it all away.

Yes, they can certainly take it away from everyone if they choose. And if they do, I would have no complaint. It would be SWAPA's fault for not negotiating the benefit into their CBA in the first place.

But what they can't do is treat someone differently based upon their use of FMLA or military leave.

 

[SWA Bubba]

Swalife/swag faqs .pdf/ question 8.0


Can I use my guest pass on SWA or AT?

Both...

Thanks! Took me a while to find this, including reading TWO sets of FAQs. This of course, begs the question: "Why in the world is anyone at Southwest IT wasting any work time on doing anything OTHER than getting the new reservation system in place?!!"

Bubba

 

[SWA Bubba]

Yes, they can certainly take it away from everyone if they choose. And if they do, I would have no complaint. It would be SWAPA's fault for not negotiating the benefit into their CBA in the first place.

But what they can't do is treat someone differently based upon their use of FMLA or military leave.

Like I said, I'm not a lawyer... I just gave my opinion based on past practices. I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

Bubba

 

[humveedriver]

Thanks! Took me a while to find this, including reading TWO sets of FAQs. This of course, begs the question: "Why in the world is anyone at Southwest IT wasting any work time on doing anything OTHER than getting the new reservation system in place?!!"

Bubba

Because they can run "world of Warcraft" and write the code for the guest passes simultaneously. Working on the reservation system doesn't allow for running multiple programs.

 

[Lear70]

Swalife/swag faqs .pdf/ question 8.0


Can I use my guest pass on SWA or AT?

Both...

Wow. Maybe we should ask if they can use their Buddy Passes on US, if we can finally use our benefits on THEM.

Supposed to be a "streamlined" policy...

But what they can't do is treat someone differently based upon their use of FMLA or military leave.

Correct.

Doesn't matter if it's a negotiated item or a company policy, FMLA and USERRA don't make that distinction. It'll get changed to comply, just a matter of someone filing the complaint eventually.

It irritates me that they've changed the buddy pass program for SWA employees to travel on AirTran, but not vice-versa. That's not a computer programming issue if it can be used on us. I'm guessing it's part of the code-share changes that allow tickets to be sold interchangeably that also allows the Buddy Pass to be electronically processed, which means it WILL work both ways... if they want it to.

 

[slaquer5]

Blatant violation of FMLA and USERRA. They're just hoping that the unions won't challenge it. And they may be right.

SWAPA needs to get ready to start playing traditional labor relations hardball. The company certainly is.

Dude you kill me.

Someone with only a HS diploma ranting about law and torts.

My question is, do you actually believe what you spew?

 

[GoodTimes]

"SWAPA needs to get ready to start playing traditional labor relations hardball."

PCL


Lame