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November 7, 2004 |
RETIREMENT AND RETIREE MEDICAL
The Company has notified employees of changes it INTENDS to make to the retiree medical plans for union and non union employees. The changes would affect existing and future retirees in different ways. It is important to note that NO changes can be made unilaterally by the Company. Changes the Company INTENDS to make would require bankruptcy court approval for existing retirees and contractual consent and bankruptcy court approval for future retirees. As expected, the Company has notified AFA and members they will also seek to terminate our pension plan in court. The complete notice from the Company is posted on theHub at:
http://thehub.usairways.com/benefits/pdf/Retiree%20Medical%20Announcement%20AFA.pdf
The Company will have to negotiate changes to our members’ retiree medical with AFA and/or the bankruptcy court. Current retirees are represented by a retiree committee and legal counsel in court.
The Company has formally changed the retirement notification criteria to 45 days for those who wish to retire before 1/1/05. For those wishing to retire after that date a 60 notification period will apply. There remains a tremendous uncertainty regarding retirement and retiree medical. Anyone who wishes to rescind their retirement must notify the Company in writing or by fax.
The bottom line here is that this situation is in flux and there are no sure answers to relay to you. Even the Company notice states that “these changes cannot be made without the approval of the bankruptcy court...additional changes to retiree medical benefits may be required as we move through the bankruptcy process, and the Company reserves the right to seek to change or terminate retiree medical benefits at any time”. In other words nothing is certain with US Airways, not now or in the future. What a great Company we all work for. AFA will continue to fight the Company’s desire to eliminate “employee debt” in and out of bankruptcy court.
UNION DUES
As everyone has been affected by the COURT ORDER reducing our pay 21%, it is not surprising that various petitions are being circulated calling for a reduction or suspension of our union dues. In fact, an agenda item calling for a reduction of dues during the interim relief period will be discussed at the upcoming AFA Board of Directors meeting later this month. The ONLY way we can attempt to challenge the Company’s assault is through collective bargaining. Collective bargaining requires an organization, and that organization requires money to be effective. In our case, with the Company in bankruptcy court, that amount of money has increased. In bankruptcy, AFA must pay for attorneys and financial analysts to make our case. The costs associated with this effort far exceed AFA’s normal expenses and will continue to escalate during the bankruptcy process. Unfortunately the toughest of times often require the hardest of sacrifices.
MEC MEETING
I will be attending our MEC meeting in Pittsburgh November 9-11. We will be electing new MEC officers and committee chairs. The MEC will also be meeting in closed session to discuss our current negotiations. The complete agenda and meeting details are posted on the MEC website. Members in good standing are welcome to attend the public sessions. I will update you on Friday regarding the meeting and as events warrant.
Thank you,
Mike Flores
LEC President Council 89
AFA-CWA AFL-CIO
704-527-0325 OFFICE
704-576-3174 CELL
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