At the intro of 6:30pm (east coast) ABC World News Tonight, an announcement of an upcoming story on US calling in volunteer employees. Hasn't aired yet.

Pretty fair story with only a passing reference really to the employees coming in for free. Chiames did a nice job saying this about US wanting to show the public how sorry it is for last week and its continuing commitment to customer service. The story opened with reference that Comair is finally up and running today and closed with UA also have BK and union issues. Aside from bringing up the problems all over again, US looked good and proactive.

The problem with these reports is that NO ONE IS TALKING to the baggage handlers or their union heads --- I have not seen one statement from them or their union leaders. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Maybe the bankruptcy Judge can fire all of them and use a non airline based set of baggage handlers. Maybe the FAA will make such a recommendation or Bush can step in to make this happen.
^ ^ ^

The problem with these reports is that NO ONE IS TALKING to the baggage handlers or their union heads --- I have not seen one statement from them or their union leaders.

They issued a statement, but it was dumb:

Robert Roach, Jr., General Vice President of Transportation for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today issued the following statement regarding baggage service disruptions at US Airways’ Philadelphia hub over the Christmas holiday:

“The 4,200 IAM-represented US Airways Fleet Service employees, when provided proper equipment and reasonable working conditions, are among the finest and most productive working people in the United States.

In a meeting requested by the leadership of the Machinists Union last February, the IAM advised US Airways management that its Philadelphia hub operation and facilities were in urgent need of attention.

Based on our members input, the IAM offered to play a major positive role in transforming the Philadelphia hub into a safe, efficient operation.

Management rebuffed the IAM’s offer as "worthless”. CEO Bruce Lakefield stated that he “was not going to turn Philadelphia over to the employees”. The Machinists Union’s offer to assist management in turning Philadelphia into a premiere hub for US Airways still stands.

Furthermore, the IAM renews our call for an industry summit where labor, management and government officials can jointly review and resolve the many problems that plague the transportation industry.

They issued a statement, but it was dumb:


What does their statement have to do with what went down this past weekend? It's almost like they just reprinted one they used months ago after some other problem....

Local news here in Philadelphia (WPVI/ABC 6 with the cool theme song) aired a similar story before the World News Tonight broadcast. They stuck microphones in the faces of a few people who looked to be in ramp uniforms walking out of the terminal asking "So are you going to work for free this weekend?" They didn't get any answers, or didn't see fit to air what was given as a reply. And then of course the typical story of "I've had no bags for five days! The employee said they didn't know how to track my bags!" crap which is just some ignorant once every-other-year flyer making assumptions about the employee's training.

Local news here in Philadelphia (WPVI/ABC 6 with the cool theme song) aired a similar story before the World News Tonight broadcast. They stuck microphones in the faces of a few people who looked to be in ramp uniforms walking out of the terminal asking "So are you going to work for free this weekend?" They didn't get any answers, or didn't see fit to air what was given as a reply. And then of course the typical story of "I've had no bags for five days! The employee said they didn't know how to track my bags!" crap which is just some ignorant once every-other-year flyer making assumptions about the employee's training.

The baggage people aren't the people that may volunteer. Really they are looking at the salaried /marketing/staffing type people and trying to get them to come in.

The baggage people aren't the people that may volunteer. Really they are looking at the salaried /marketing/staffing type people and trying to get them to come in.

Thats too bad, becuase the baggage people were a BIG part of the problem.

Isn't it really too bad that the baggage handlers are in the same union as the machinists? Can you imagine what it would be like if they had their own union? I would fire all unionized baggage handlers immediately after the chaos and invite only those who reported to work when they were supposed to while hiring new ones to replace the fired ones. I don't see how difficult handling baggages would be. I am willing to bet that US can easily find thousands of willing bodies in Philly to fill those voids.

LAX

I am willing to bet that US can easily find thousands of willing bodies in Philly to fill those voids.

LAX
I'm not so sure about that anymore.

At the wages and benefits U wants to pay under the new about-to-be-imposed contract, in a high-cost urban area, at a job requiring crazy hours (nights / weekends / holidays), where people are required to satisfactorily pass a 10-year background check and drug and alcohol tests, I wouldn't be surprised if finding reliable people in the existing labor pool that end up making good employees is beginning to be a challenge.

I'm not so sure about that anymore.

At the wages and benefits U wants to pay under the new about-to-be-imposed contract, in a high-cost urban area, at a job requiring crazy hours (nights / weekends / holidays), where people are required to satisfactorily pass a 10-year background check and drug and alcohol tests, I wouldn't be surprised if finding reliable people in the existing labor pool that end up making good employees is beginning to be a challenge.

Speaking from some experience on the subject (albeit not at U), it is mind-boggling how difficult it is to find good people for those jobs.