USAirways Pilot Negotiations - New Offers On the Table

[Prop Trash]

I did the math. An A-320 captain would make about as much as a captain at Mesa with the same amount of seniority. Ouch.

 

[General Lee]

Apparently the IAM members (mechanics) will not give in to managment's last proposal. The pilots may be able to give a lot back, but if the others do not---the ship might sink anyway. That really is sad. Read the last half of the article I posted and read about the IAM.



Bye Bye--General Lee


Associated Press
Pilots, US Airways Continue Negotiations
Thursday September 2, 5:52 pm ET
By Matthew Barakat, AP Business Writer Pilots, US Airways Meet Again on Contract Airline Says Is Necessary to Avoid Another Bankruptcy

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- Negotiators for US Airways' management and pilots met again Thursday to discuss a new labor contract the airline says is necessary to avoid a second trip into bankruptcy.

The talks included a proposal by management that would cut pilot pay by as much as 35 percent and contributions to a 401(k)-style retirement plan by as much as 30 percent, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

[size=-2]ADVERTISEMENT[/size]on error resume nextplugin=(IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.6")))A spokesman for the machinists' union, meanwhile, said that union remains unwilling to revise its contract and accused management of ignoring proposed changes that could have saved more than $100 million annually.

US Airways Group Inc., which emerged from bankruptcy protection just one year ago, says it must slash costs by $1.5 billion a year to avoid a return to bankruptcy and possible liquidation. Officials are seeking about $800 million in labor cuts, including $295 million a year from pilots.

Arlington, Va.-based US Airways had initially discussed a pay cut of about 16.5 percent, along with significant changes in benefits and work rules designed to increase productivity.

Management said the 35 percent pay cut results from negotiations in which the pilots asked the company to focus on pay rather than work rules and benefits.

Management, in a cover letter obtained by The Associated Press accompanying its proposal to cut pay 35 percent, said the proposal "achieves the same economic goals, but represents a less balanced approach to achieving those goals and is not the preferred alternative. ... Nevertheless, the proposal is responsive" to union requests.

Pilot union leaders are expected to meet Friday or Saturday to discuss options.

Union leadership has to some extent been divided between moderate and hard-line camps, making it difficult to predict that meeting's outcome. Pilot representatives from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, who have generally taken a more harder stance, could control any vote because they represent a majority of US Airways pilots.

Fred Freshwater, a pilot representative from Pittsburgh, said that pilots who contact him overwhelmingly support a tough stance with management.

"What they're saying is, `Don't even send a piece of crap contract out to the pilots for a vote,'" Freshwater said. "They're incensed. They're furious."

While talks continue with the pilots, the machinists have ruled out any changes to their labor contract.

International Association of Machinists spokesman Joseph Tiberi said Thursday that "no amount of employee concessions is going to save the airline" and complained that management ignored union proposals that would have saved $115 million a year.

"They had made up their mind (against our proposals) before we even walked in the door," Tiberi said.

The proposals included elimination of unnecessary part replacement ($50 million), assigning facilities cleaning work to union members rather than outside vendors ($4 million) and eliminating some supervisory jobs by assigning duties to union crew chiefs ($25 million).

Airline spokesman David Castelveter said the machinists' ideas were impractical and would cost money rather than save it.

"As we again have told the IAM, there is nothing new, unique or innovative about their ideas," Castelveter said. "The IAM leadership must come to grips with the fundamental fact that other union leaders have reluctantly but correctly concluded -- the industry has changed forever." Shares of US Airways gained 43 cents to close at $2.57 Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.