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December 11, 2004 |
STRIKE BALLOT
The "Authorization to Strike" ballot will close on Monday December 13 at 4pm (EST). As of Friday only 50.7 % of the eligible members had voted. 830 or 48.7% of the Charlotte membership has cast their ballot. I am a little surprised by this low turnout. I see this vote as a critical tool in our ongoing negotiations with the Company. As you know I have recommended a vote FOR the strike authorization. Please keep in mind this is an authorization to strike ONLY if our contract is abrogated by the Bankruptcy Court. This is a message to the Company, the Court and the media that we are demanding a negotiated solution rather than litigation. We have recognized for the third time the needs of the Company and have tried to engage in purposeful negotiations. Our efforts have been met with stall tactics, ever changing cost targets and an all out attack on every section of our contract. Knowing that we would not willingly destroy the careers and lives of our members the Company has turned to the Court to get their way. The poor financial condition of the Company should not be used as leverage to turn this career into a temporary job with no benefits or future. We have all worked too hard over the years to allow that result. We literally put our lives on the line every day on every flight we work and should be compensated fairly for our efforts. To constantly compare our members to new hire flight attendants at Jet Blue or Air Tran may make a good case in court but is unrealistic and unfair. Jet Blue and Air Tran combined are less than half the size of US Airways and fly to less than half of the destinations we serve. To continually claim that we can't compete with low cost carriers is shortsighted. AFA has recognized there are changes needed to survive and have offered as much as we can. Having the lowest labor costs in the industry will not guarantee profitability. No airline had lower labor costs than People Express yet they failed after five years. They failed because they had a cheap product. Eliminating unions is not the answer either. Southwest Airlines is the most heavily unionized airline in the country. Southwest Flight Attendants currently earn more that we do. No my friends the solution is not bankrupting the employees. The only true solution to this problem is efficiency and offering a better product.
BANKRUPTCY COURT/NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
US Airways concluded their case this week in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Virginia. Witness, including US Airways executives and financial advisors, testified US Airways would not survive or attract new investors unless they could terminate employee contracts, pensions and retiree medical benefits. Attorneys for the Company also told the Court existing investors and creditors will allow the Company to continue operating beyond mid January only if labor costs are not lowered. Union attorneys began their case Friday and will continue next week.
As we are aware of the many problems US Airways faces we continue to negotiate in an attempt to reach an agreement. The negotiating committee and the Company met throughout the week trying to find common ground. Our goal remains to find a position we can all agree on. We realize a Court imposed contract is not in our best interest yet are unwilling to concede to everything the Company wants.
I realize every day that goes by without a Tentative Agreement increases your anxiety. I believe we should continue to press the Company on every point, every dollar and every line to insure the best possible agreement for our members. To send out an agreement for ratification without doing so would be a disservice to all of you. No one at AFA believes that you should not get the chance to vote on your future. We only want to insure that we as leaders have done all we can.
PENSION AND PBGC INFORMATION
As you know the Company is seeking to terminate our defined benefit pension plan. The only way to end this plan at this point is through a "distress termination" sanctioned by the court and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). As required by law the Company sent out a letter to all affected employees detailing their intentions. The letter was very ambiguous and misleading. At our request AFA Senior Benefits Attorney Mary Lou Savage has published a FAQ regarding the proposed pension termination. I have included some of the information below. Please reference the entire document on the AFA web site at
http://www.afausairways.org/Restructure/pbgc_qa1204.htm
Thank you,
Mike Flores
LEC President Council 89
AFA-CWA AFL-CIO
704-527-0325 OFFICE
704-576-3174 CELL
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