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UAL Preview 2013 rather than Contract 2012

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100/hour/5y

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Council 153 Update for November 30th, 2012
Friday, November 30, 2012

I. TWO DOWN, THREE TO GO
We would like to thank all those pilots- both from the L-CAL side and the L-UAL side- who attended our special LEC meetings the last two days. The turnout was better than expected (always a little reassuring for us) and the discussions were excellent. Having so many perspectives definitely brought an amazing amount of value to the conversations.

For those of you unable to attend- or even for those of you who want to participate again- we will have another round of meetings next week. Based on your suggestions, we are extending our invitation and formally inviting our fellow L-UAL Council 57 Representatives and all United pilots. We hope to see you there!

II. “NO”, MAYBE, AND NOT ENOUGH
Between the two meetings, there a couple of consistent questions that we would like to share here with everyone.

Q: Why did you vote against this TA?
A: The four cornerstones of this TA are insufficient and not industry leading and like it or not, this contract will form the bedrock of future agreements for years to come . While there are some improvements in certain areas, we feel there are still too many areas where we lag behind. Our MEC made a commitment to our pilot group to achieve an industry leading contract. Slowly but surely, the tone changed from “industry leading” to “mostly industry leading” to “industry standard” before finally stopping at “well, it's comparable to Delta's or American's contracts" (in bankruptcy, no less). You expected more and we promised more. This TA fails to deliver.

Furthermore- and this is something we are really trying to convey to our L-UAL brothers & sisters- this TA is ripe for the abusive practices of our management to continue to exploit. Trust us- we've seen it happen so many times, that it's practically common sense for us now! When Mother Nature so much as sneezes and the operation falls apart, lineholders will be treated like reserves and reserves will feel like indentured servants. It will happen!

Q: If this TA fails, what happens?
A: That is the million dollar question, and since our crystal ball has been MEL'd, our answer is partly empirical and partly gut feeling. The spectrum runs anywhere from being stagnant for a long time and rehashing everything to jumping right back into it and making enough improvements to make this TA palatable to enough people. Perhaps we are giving management too much credit, but Rob & Mike believe that the company is prepared to re-engage quickly in order to get this done. Josh feels it will take longer as management has not set a past precedent of moving quickly in our negotiating process.

Particularly if the margin against this TA is close- the quickest way to seal the deal before the momentum fades would be for management to reach a little deeper into their pockets. Bringing us up to parity with DAL's pay rates, adding more towards the lump sum and some contractual language changes would be three quick fixes. We believe those are easily achievable. Labor is the last “hurdle” standing between management and their bonuses (as well as bragging rights), and we believe they are becoming more desperate to get this done.

Q: How much will this TA cost the company?
A: As part of our “ground school” education about this TA, we were briefed by ALPA's Economic & Financial Analysis committee on this very subject. While there are many assumptions and estimations thrown into the calculations, the net result is that yes- this will cost the company a lot of money, but not enough to put them near the brink of disaster. (Obviously one of the assumptions is that our management can figure out how to run an airline with at least some measure of success.) There is no doubt that adequately paying (and respecting) those professional pilots who safely operate multi-million dollar aircraft full of precious cargo at all hours of the day & night and in all types of risky environments costs money. That's just the way it is.

By the way, if someone from senior management happens to be reading this (we suspect they do)- here's a little secret: treat your employees well and watch the transformation. But we digress.

These are just a few of the topics discussed at our meetings. They sound much better live and interactive. You should come to one of our meetings and experience it for yourself.

III. DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH...OR STEPPING ON A LANDMINE?
We've already made our reasons for not supporting this TA abundantly clear, but here are a few more little “gems” that may have been buried in that mountain known as Obscurity.

Lump sum taxes- even if this TA is ratified December 15th, the lump sum distribution will not occur until 2013, and you are responsible for the employer contributions of taxes. So on top of the federal 25% tax, you will pick up not only your share of FICA taxes (around 7%), but the company's share as well- to the tune of another 7% (give or take), for a total of approximately 40% right off the top. We also find it somewhat ironic (or comical?) that we end up paying the company's tax on money that is supposed to be compensation for the loan we gave the company as part of Contract '02. Who has the last laugh indeed?

Scope- while it sounds nice to hear that outsourced regional jets will be reduced from the current number of 588 down to 450, and express block hours will be reduced down to 68% of narrow-body block hours, there is one rather large assumption included in there. Those numbers are based on the assumption that the company is not satisfied with only 153 76-seat RJs, and moreover, that the company has any desire to add 90-100 seat jets to the mainline fleet. Without that assumption becoming reality, the company may outsource up to 153 76-seaters while keeping the regional block hour ratio capped at 120% of single-aisle mainline block hours (which is currently in the neighborhood of 110%).

Thirteen days off in a 31 day month- interestingly enough the company has attempted to change the way we track time and unilaterally modified the traditional Gregorian calendar to their benefit. Perhaps acting a little prematurely, they recently adjusted our current six 31-day bid months down to three and completely removed the 30th and 31st of December as if those dates never existed. (The end of the world notwithstanding, we expect those days will show up in the January 2014 bid month.) Coincidentally, this will result in a loss of three days off next year for our reserves; but not to worry, the rest of the contract will not be subject to any creative management interpretations.

The Implementation Timeline- perhaps this TA (if it passes) should be called “Preview 2013” rather than “Contract 2012” with all the significant changes that are delayed for nine months- or longer. Yes, some of the attention-getting pay improvements happen at three months or sooner, but the majority of the true quality of life improvements don't kick in until later...much later. For example, one of the biggest "gains" in this TA- line construction based on a minimum of five hours per day- does not go into effect until the "ninth bid Period after effective date". And since so many of you have asked, the target date for “implemented with combined CMS” is September 2013, in preparation for the FAR 117 changes scheduled for January 2014. So, while the target date is nine months away, the real deadline is a year away. This is an “IT company with wings.” Plan accordingly.

IV. ANOTHER WORD TO OUR L-UAL FAMILY
We've said it before, but we want there to be absolutely no question about it. We are not interested in delaying getting a new contract at all- no one benefits from that. We all want what we deserve right now. We just don't see this TA as being adequate. Quite honestly, we believed from the beginning that having the formidable UAL pilot group standing shoulder to shoulder with us would help all of us achieve our goals. We looked to you guys (and gals) to strengthen our resolve.

Unfortunately, as this story unfolds, it seems as though this TA is not being judged on its merit alone, but rather the fear that we have something up our sleeve or that the once industry giant of United Airlines will whittle away. Both are untrue. The former is likely the result of an individual paranoia that caught like wildfire and the latter is based on incomplete knowledge, which we would like to briefly address.

While certain provisions of the TPA can be terminated by the company after March 31, 2013- including furlough protection and flying ratios- the concern over being “Easternized” simply cannot happen. Section 1-F of the L-UAL 2003 Agreement (which is still active) dictates the minimum number of block hours that L-UAL will operate. That is still in effect and will be until superseded by a successor agreement. You don't have to rush to get this done before March 31, 2013!

Furthermore, we don't have a strategy to screw you in the SLI process. We realized long ago that we have no control over the integrated seniority list. It will be decided by an arbitrator (who thus far has refused to accept any unmarked bills from us [kidding!]), and the results will be whatever they will be.

Management has successfully pitted our two pilot groups against each other while they sit back and enjoy the show. Unless we realize that, and turn our focus toward getting what we all collectively deserve, we all will fail.

Rob, Mike, and Josh​
 
LC 153 Update 5 Dec 12 - Two Votes in One



I. TWO VOTES IN ONE
As expected, many of our pilots have communicated to us that they are pleasantly surprised, impressed, and even overjoyed by what they have read in the TA.

No...actually that hasn't happened. Not even once. In fact, we have yet to hear from a single pilot who believes this TA meets their expectations or is sufficient based on the actual contents of the TA. Not a single person.

Unfortunately, many of those who do support this TA do so for many reasons- few of which are out of support for the merits of the TA alone. That is a problem. That indicates that even though this TA represents the contract we could potentially be working under every day for a minimum of four years, our pilot group doesn't seem to care. And even worse, our pilot group lacks the confidence to fight for what we intrinsically feel we are worth.

We would like to make sure you are aware that when you vote for or against ratifying this TA, there are actually TWO distinct decisions involved in your vote.

The first decision you need to make is based solely on the merits of the TA: “Does this TA sufficiently represent the compensation, the respect, and the treatment I deserve as a professional pilot of what is to become the world's largest airline?” That should be a simple, logical, black & white, yes or no answer.

The second decision you need to make is where emotion, skepticism, hope, and a crystal ball come into play. Now you have to ask yourself: “Can we do better?” Obviously this question is a whole lot more subjective with a lot more factors at play. And this is the question that many of the supposed “factual” communications you've received are targeting.

We'd like to address just a couple of the misconceptions that we've encountered by pilots when making this second decision.

1. “I just want to get this over with!” So do we. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can get on with our normal lives. But do we throw in the towel just because we are tired? As we've said before, we have unprecedented leverage that most of us will likely not see again in our careers. This merger is not complete until we agree to a JCBA and an ISL. Should we throw this opportunity away just because we have lost interest or are worn down?

2. "If we vote this down we may be put on 'ice'.” That is definitely one possibility. It is also equally possible (or even more likely if the vote is close) that the company will quickly reengage. They know that they low-balled us with pay rates that lag behind Delta. They know that they are paying us pennies on the dollar for what they owe us in retro. They also know that if this fails, those- along with a few work rule improvements- are quick fix items.

This is a test. Actually it is more of a game for our management. The objective of this game is to spend as little as possible on our contract. Management hopes that this offer passes by as close to 50% as possible; anymore and they will come to the conclusion that they put too much on the table.

If this TA passes by a slim margin, they have won- successfully minimizing our value and our self worth. On the other hand, if this fails by a slim margin, it will give them an indication of how close they are and how much more they need to add to get this TA to pass.

While voting “no” will not necessarily get us the contract of our dreams, it will at least ensure that we don't foolishly leave anything on the table. Voting “no” on this first offer will also inject a dose of confidence into our pilot group and demonstrate our resolve and unity to management.

Furthermore, while you have seen examples of how negotiations have been drawn out when the first offer was rejected, we would like to offer you an example right from our own “backyard” of when the parties reengaged in short order. In October 2007, the Continental Flight Attendants, represented by the IAM, rejected their first offer. Mr. Smisek even threatened them that he would walk away from the table. Just a few months later they ratified an agreement that included the pay raises of the initial offering as well as a signing bonus that wasn’t previously included. Apparently it can happen.

Also, keep in mind that none of the examples included in the MEC communications mentioned the unprecedented situation we are in today. As we said above, we are the last component of this merger. Until we have a JCBA, this merger is not complete. We are in the driver’s seat. Don’t forget that!

3. “I'm worried what will happen when the TPA expires.” For those of you who hadn't noticed, anytime after March 31, 2013, the company can unilaterally terminate five provisions or the TPA, four of which have to do with flying protections. Our brothers and sisters on the L-UAL side are worried about an impending whipsaw. The reality is that they will not spontaneous combust, as they have been lead to believe. There are still backstop protections in their 2003 CBA (namely, section 1-F and a Supplemental Agreement dated October 9, 2007) that dictate the minimum block hours L-UAL can operate. In addition, based on their scope protections, if they reduce mainline flying by much, the company will be forced to reduce their outsourced express flying as well, and they don't want to do that.

There is also another game in play here (in addition to management’s “50% plus one” game). This game is to see how effectively management can divide and conquer our two pilot groups. By pitting us against each other, they know they can destroy any unity we have and take advantage of us in the process. The fear of a whipsaw plays right into their hands.

4. “I just want to get this SLI process done!” You want to knowingly settle for an inadequate contract so that you can suffer through the SLI process that is guaranteed to be just as trying and perhaps even more stressful? Assuming you actually enjoy (or previously enjoyed) your profession of flying airplanes, don't you think it would be much more pleasant (read: less tortuous) if you at least had a decent contract going into the SLI process? We can assure you that having a contract that you don't despise would help reduce the sting that about 90% of us are going to feel when that ISL is published.

And remember- we are supposed to be industry leading pilots at an industry leading airline lead by the best paid management money can buy. You won't ever be a leader by settling for second best.

II. GOOD NEWS AND BETTER NEWS
In our last update, we mentioned the little “gem” that effectively reduced our lump sum payout by about 6.2% (or $24, 800,000 total). The relevant language is quoted below from LOA 24:

“The Company will pay $250,000,000 of the $400M Amount (the “$250M Amount”) to pilots in connection with the effective date of the Agreement and in accord with Paragraph 3.E. and 3.G of this Letter of Agreement. The $250,000,000 shall be the total payment amount, and any fringe benefits or other payments that are legally or contractually required to be made or increased in amount because of the payments to individual pilots herein (e.g., defined contribution retirement contributions, social security, payroll taxes) shall not increase the Company’s financial liability beyond the $250,000,000.” [emphasis ours]

(This restriction applies to the second “tranche” of $150 at ISL as well.)

As it turns out, yesterday we were officially informed that this has been "reinterpreted" (renegotiated) with the company, and they will now be paying their share- as the employer- of the FICA taxes. This is good news because it means an additional 6.2% into our pockets. This is even better news because it proves that the company is not only willing to renegotiate but also that they are willing to reach deeper into their pockets

IV. STILL MAKING THE ROUNDS
We still have one more Local Council special meeting on Friday, December 7, in Oceanside for our pilots who live down south. The last four meetings have been great opportunities to hear your perspectives about this TA and have your questions answered.

The MEC/JNC roadshow will also be coming to LAX on Wednesday, December 12 and SFO on Thursday, December 13. These are the best opportunities to hear from the JNC and subject matter experts, as well as have your questions answered by them.


Rob, Mike, and Josh
 
Just like you are proud of that idiot who is on your avatar.

You've just insulted yourself?!

I've read a lot of your posts and I saw this one earlier and thought I might get on here and say something... Now I'm not sure you're present enough to grasp much? Look: There might be enough here to vote yes on. I've read a lot of it, been to two road shows and talked to DO at some length. This is a vastly different agreement than DAL (or anybody) has. It might be a good deal... I have voted no, but understand I can change it. My fellow CAL pilots mostly don't like it, but we continue to have lucid and informed discussion. We all sure could benefit greatly if more of the UAL pilots would care to digest it rather than act like bedwetters. I'm convinced UAL Contact 2000 was a fluke.
 
Just like the 1985 strike at UAL. A UNIFIED pilot group can win every time. Whatever you say no voter.


Whatever. This is like Custer's last stand. A cluster F of epic proportions
 
Just like the 1985 strike at UAL. A UNIFIED pilot group can win every time. Whatever you say no voter.


Agreed always. But if the UAL strike had lasted more than 1 1/2 months, I seriously doubt it.
 

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