Flight Attendants Angered Over Retiree Benefits Reduction at UA

(January 22, 2004)

UA' flight attendants union, angered over the company's recent announcement that it intends to reduce retiree health benefits under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (ATWOnline, Jan. 15), is threatening to refuse to finalize the concessionary agreement reached with the airline last May.

According to the Assn. of Flight Attendants, which recently merged with the Communications Workers of America, the final contact language was received at union headquarters only last week. It must be signed by AFA International President Patricia Friend.

In a statement released yesterday, Friend said, "I am not taking any action, including signing the contract, that could be perceived as affirming the validity of the illegal cuts United wants to make."

AFA said it is considering a number of legal actions as well, including "asking the bankruptcy court to set aside [the concessionary contract approved by the court last May], a bad faith bargaining suit, a motion to compel United to allow people to return to work who retired after United agreed to limit the health care costs of retirees, and asking the bankruptcy court to appoint an examiner to investigate management's duplicitous actions.

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Airlines Financial Report: 2003

(January 21, 2004)

Continental Airlines: Full-year Profits on Special Items

Continental Airlines reported net income of $47 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, its first fourth-quarter profit since 2000 and a significant turnaround from a loss of $109 million in the year-ago period.

However, earnings were driven by special non-operating gains and Chairman and CEO Gordon Bethune warned that record high fuel prices will make it difficult to achieve the airline's goal of a "breakeven result" for 2004.

The company reported a full-year net profit of $38 million, its first since 2000, although some $198 million in special gains were key, including the items noted above as well as a $100 million after-tax profit from the sale of ExpressJet stock. Special charges totaled $62 million. Continental lost $451 million in 2002, or $290 million excluding special charges.

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UA to Recall 600 Flight Attendants

(January 19, 2004)

United Airlines will recall up to 600 flight attendants from voluntary furlough in addition to the roughly 400 scheduled to return April 1, the Assn. of Flight Attendants said. According to the union, the additional recall is in response to "an increase in flying hours."

The most junior 250 flight attendants will be recalled effective March 15 and up to 350 of the remainder on voluntary furlough will be subject to recall effective April 15. The union said this is a permanent recall.

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DELTA HEADS FOR CHAPTER 11

(January 16, 2004)

A Wall Street analyst sees possibility of Delta Chapter 11 filing.

Delta Air Lines' new CEO Gerald Grinstein may be laying the groundwork for a possible Chapter 11 filing, Credit Suisse First Boston analyst James Higgins speculated in a report released Thursday, a day after Delta discussed its fourth-quarter and full-year 2003 financial results in a webcast (ATWOnline, Jan. 15).

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PILOTS WANT 14% PAY RAISE AT AMERICA WEST

(December 18, 2003)

The rank-and-file pilots at America West Airlines vote on their new contract, for the third time this year, starting tomorrow and will close December 30th.

The latest version was agreed to by ALPA union negotiators and management Tuesday after the second version was rejected by a majority of 5 votes earlier this month.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the three-year deal maintains most of the same economic terms as the previously rejected agreement, including a 14% pay raise over the life of the contract and signing bonuses. It also adjusts terms such as long-term disability, retirement compensation and an incentive program.

Editors: 14% percent pay raise is not a bad deal. Congratulations to the negotiators.

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$2 BILLION GETS UNITED OUT OF CHAPTER 11

(December 17, 2003)

United Airlines parent UAL Corp. announced late yesterday that it had secured $2 billion in Chapter 11 exit financing contingent on the US government's guaranteeing a major portion of the loan.

According to a statement from the airline, JP Morgan and Citigroup "will each underwrite $200 million of the nonguaranteed portion of the facility and $800 million of the guaranteed portion, which requires the backing of a loan guarantee" from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board.

UAL said it intends to file a revised application for a loan guarantee. It was ATSB's rejection in late 2002 of an earlier application that pushed the company into a bankruptcy filing. The financing also is subject to US Bankruptcy Court approval.

Source: Air Transport World.

Editors: We applaud the successful business restructuring going on at United Airlines. This is good news for all employees and their families for the holidays.

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SOUTHWEST NEEDS HELP NEGOTIATING UNION CONTRACT

(December 5, 2003)

Houston, TX - The 7,200 unionized flight attendants flying for Southwest Airlines are holding their ground in negotiating a new contract. Apparently the good relationship between Southwest management and employees have grown thin.

Not until 2000, Southwest had enjoyed an easy-going relationship with their unionized employees. But not any longer.

Due to employees stubborness, Southwest has since asked federal mediators to help. It did so in 2000 for the first time in negotiating contracts with the mechanics who are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and again with its ramp workers who are represented by the Transport Workers Union.

One of the few profitable low-cost airlines for many years, Southwest slowly moved into the ranks of unionized airlines when employees felt their efforts have not kept up with the airlines' profits. More divisions became unionized within the company.

Source: Air Transport World.

(At ATI Employees Club we've seen it happening at every major airline. It started out cordially when the airline was very small and trust between management and employees was respectful. Employees felt a sense of belonging, and their contributions were appreciated by fair treatment and respect when money was scarce.

Employees were so enthused to do everything they could to help the airline grow. They worked for practically "blood money" in hope for better days ahead. Their families endured the "sacrifice" to secure a permanent job for mom, or dad.

But as the company grew profitable, the "blood money" had run dry...management has grown untrustworthy and arrogant. Mom and dad have not seen a raise in their pay while management salaries esclated. That's when employees began organizing collective bargaining so their concerns can be heard, as well as a share of the success they've helped created.) <

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MARGARITZ GETS PROMOTION

(November 01, 2003)

Ontario, CA - We salute the promotion of Harel Magaritz to Station Manager here, with America West Airlines. As well as we expose the wrong done to employees by bad management, we also laud the character of good management reported by employees.

Harel Magaritz on "Kids Day" in SLC is a fine example of good quality management material. He was recently promoted to Station Manager at Ontario, CA.

Mr. Magaritz worked with our employees at the infamous SLC station for almost a year. He was always a strait-shooter, and was always fair with employees. He never used his authority to abuse employees, and he was always a stickler to Company policies. He neither compromised Company policies, nor did he compromise the right and dignity of employees. In dealing with disciplinary matters, he always used tack and respect.

Three weeks after arriving in Salt Lake City, Mr. Magaritz informed the Station Manager that he felt the station was "rotten." He was exactly right, and he let everyone knew how he felt.

He transferred out of Salt Lake City in less than a year of service, and the abuse, unfair hiring practices, and employee intimidation continued at the station.

(See our feature article "Halloween Nightmare in SLC.")

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EMPLOYEES SPARED IN SUPERVISOR'S RESIGNATION

(October 12, 2003)

Salt Lake City, UT - A supervisor who has been the target of countless complaints of abuse by employees at America West here has finally resigned. Leioni Ika's resignation was a hush-hushed affair with management refusing to reveal the true reasons.

Station manager Ken Cook, who had allowed and encouraged Leioni Ika to continue more than three years of abusive treatment of employees, did not give employees details. Employees have been insulted and embarrassed to tears by Leioni Ika in the presence of others, threatened employees with their jobs, hired relatives and friends against Company hiring policies, but Ken Cook had always defended his actions.

Even Ken Cook had called Leioni Ika a "hot head," but did not discipline him.

It is believed, however, that Leioni Ika was the "fall" guy so Ken Cook could save his neck. Employees have lodged countless complaints against both men which have reached America West Human Resource department, but they have always been excused by the Company.

Leioni Ika's "forced" resignation is a victory for the Salt Lake City employees.

(More to follow)

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CUSTOMER SERVICE EMPLOYEES LOSE UNION VOTE AT HP

April 25, 2003

PHOENIX, AZ - A bid to secure Collective Bargaining representation at America West Airlines' customer service department (tikceting and reservation agents) by the Teamsters failed to garner the neccessary votes.

Management in-house tactics designed to intimidate employees at airport ticket counters and reservation centers succeeded. Employees of these two departments are the lowest-paid employees of the airline, and are the most vulnerable to management intimidation.

Job security and fair treatment at the workplace were targeted by promoters. In the end, there were not enough "yes" votes to allow the Teamsters in as the bargaining agent.

Most pro-union employees, however, feel that the Teamsters did not do a good job in the recruitment department. Since most of these two departments are female-dominated employees, promotions should have targeted issues that are important to them.

Another issue was the high-rate of turnover in these two departments. First, the lack of senior employees shows that most of them are fairly new, and are easily intimidated.

Secondly, it's easy for the Company to target and rid of pro-union employees. And thirdly, that revolving door serves as a reminder to new employees that they would next to go.

(More to follow)

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HP WORKER GETS JOB BACK

Victim of Manager's Dirty Work

December 10, 2002

(Salt Lake City, UT) A ramp worker at America West gets his job back after he was fired by his manager, Ken Cook,. Charged on a security violation, Kelly Higgs, who won "Best Worker of the Year" vote of his co-workers, was railroaded off the job by his manager.

In our article "AWA SLC: A Halloween Nightmare", Kelly Higgs, lost his SLC Airport ID badge for failing to close a baggage door. Since it was a first-time offense, his badge would have been returned if his manager made the effort to assist. Unfortunately, his manager had already planned to fire Kelly before his case was heard by the Salt Lake City Airport Authorities.

Ken Cook had prepared Kelly's termination papers before he had his hearing. His manager told his supervisors that Kelly stood no chance. One of the supervisors suggested that Kelly was worth retaining because he was a good employee, but Ken Cook said Kelly stood no chance. He had already decided to fire Kelly.

The supervisor suggested to ask the Airport Authorities that the baggage area needed reminding signs ("Please Close Door") like everywhere else at the airport, but Ken Cook did not want to hear it. After the hearing, Ken Cook reported to his supervisors that Kelly was obnoxious and unreasonable, therefore, his badge was revoked permanently.

Interestingly enough, we found out that Ken Cook had had a security violation warning himself, therefore, he was scared to "make waves" with the Airport Authorities. His insecurity got in the way of his duty to do his best for his employees.

Ken Cook, in our view, once again wanted to save his ass rather than keep a valuable employee like Kelly. We applaud America West and the Labor Union's effort in getting Kelly's job back. This shows why employees need labor representation at America West.

Some management personnel cannot be trusted to do the right thing for the employees.

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SHOW ME THE MONEY, TSA!

November 27, 2002

Like this former Huntleigh Security employee (left), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) promise sounded like a real good deal to him. Stick around and collect an extra $500 on top of your regular wage, even if you did not get rehired by TSA.

The report by the news media, as in the Associated Press article reprinted below, now seems a Government lie. Aimed at the most vulnerble security screening employees who have made this a career for years, and who kept the nation's airport screened and secured until TSA could hire and train federalized employees, it is not known whose got the money now.

According to the news media, the TSA would federalize 57,500 security screeners by November 19th, as ordered by Congress. But to assure a smooth transition, TSA would like the tens of thousands of pre-federalized employees to stick around and keep the nation's airports safe and secured and not start looking for other jobs.

This publication will investigate, starting with TSA spokesman Jonathan Thompson who verified the payout plan, to find out if any of the pre-federalized employees ever got paid. The payout plan was to commence once the federalized employees tookover around November 19th.

Conservatively, if only half of the pre-federalized employees got rehired by TSA, we calculate approximately 28,750 stayed on the job until the transition was completed. And that number amounts to about $14 million.

As most Government promises in the past have ended up being empty promises, we have reasons to believe that former screening employees have been lied to. Many former security screening employees have been told by their former employers that nobody knows when and how they would be paid. Some employees believe this money, if Government had paid on the promise, have been pocketed by thier former employers. And there's no way anyone could ever find out.

It is now clear that the promise was not negotiated in the best interest of the former employees. It was made to deceive workers who might have moved on and found other jobs. Since they did not have Collective Bargaining representation, their former employers were all they had to rely on to negotiate the process and assure the transition of the money to employees.

We will find out, won't we?

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Security screeners promised TSA $500 bonuses

Posted on Sunday, May 26, 2002

By JOHN HEILPRIN (AP)

WASHINGTON — The government is dangling $500 bonuses as incentives to stay on a bit longer to many of the tens of thousands of privately hired airport security screeners it wants to eventually replace.

The Transportation Security Administration authorized the incentive pay earlier this year to ensure a smooth and safe transition at airports.

The extra pay is aimed at boosting morale and preventing screeners from bailing out of their jobs months or weeks before federally trained workers replace them.

It is also aimed at encouraging the private companies that employ the screeners to maintain their current staffing levels.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress ordered the government to replace private airport screeners with federal employees at all commercial airports by Nov. 19.

Agency spokesman Jonathan Thompson said he had no figures on how many security screeners would receive the bonuses, which could average about $500, depending upon a person's skills and competency.

The money is paid out only after the federal government assumes control of airport security so that the screeners don't pocket the money and leave the job to find work elsewhere.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport on April 30 became the first in the country to have federal workers in charge of screening passengers. Thompson said some of the displaced private screeners there were awarded bonuses for having stayed on until that point.

From the time the Transportation Security Administration took over responsibility for airline security on Feb. 17, officials there recognized something would have to be done to entice private screeners and their employers to stay on the job through the November deadline

"It's actually not been as bad a problem as we'd planned on," Thompson said. "We'd planned on the worst, and we've had an overwhelming, 95 percent-plus, stay on the jobs."

News that the government is paying the bonuses was first reported Sunday by the Chicago Tribune.

Screeners, who are typically among the lowest-paid workers at airports, must have been on the job at least since Feb. 17 and stay through the government takeover to get a bonus.

Some may be eligible to continue on as federal employees after reapplying for the job if they are found to be qualified and are U.S. citizens, fluent in English and have a high school diploma or equivalent.

The Transportation Security Administration reported to Congress this month that it will need 57,500 employees to screen airline passengers and luggage. It said it needs 30,000 workers to staff airport checkpoints and screen passengers and another 27,500 to inspect checked luggage for explosives.

But the 57,500 employees do not include armed air marshals who would travel on flights or a federal police force to be deployed at airport checkpoints.

ON THE WEB: Transportation Security Administration: http://www.tsa.dot.gov