FA Strike - Full Article Enclosed
Dec 15, 2004, 2:46 pm
#16
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Originally Posted by tods27
Not to sound like an anti-labor person, but just how exactly does forcing your company into liquidation save your career?
And a negotiating tactic.
Dec 15, 2004, 3:02 pm
#17
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US Airways, flight attendants agree on cost-cutting pact
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04350/427312.stm
US Airways, flight attendants agree on cost-cutting pact
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After months of back-and-forth bargaining and the threat of a strike, negotiators for US Airways and the flight attendants union have reached an agreement on $94 million in annual costs cuts over the next five years.
The tentative deal, which could help the nation's seventh-largest airline survive its second bankruptcy in two years, will come before the flight attendants' Master Executive Council at 1 p.m. today. The council, meeting in the Washington, D.C. area, can send the agreement back to the bargaining table for more changes or let it out for a ratification vote among US Airways' 5,200 flight attendants.
The $94 million agreement includes pay and benefit cuts but does not address the company's requests to eliminate the flight attendants' pension plan and cut retiree health care coverage. Those requests, worth another $63 million a year, will be dealt with by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Mitchell, who is overseeing US Airways' case.
Last week, the two sides were still $10 million apart on the pay and benefit cuts. But Teddy Xidas, president-elect of the flight attendants union, said "we have met" the company's number of $94 million. The "proposal is not a good one but it is where we are today."
The proposal includes a 10 percent pay cut.
Xidas, a member of the executive council, said a few "oustanding things" need to be clarified by the company in order for the council to sign off on the agreement, including how the carrier will handle any employee furloughs. Also, Xidas said she is still hoping to get the pay cut below 10 percent. The council, she said, could discuss the agreement over the next few days.
US Airways, which is seeking $1 billion in sacrifices from all work groups, has asked the bankruptcy judge to throw out the contracts of the flight attendants, passenger service workers, baggage handlers and machinists absent consensual cost-cutting deals ratified by a majority of union members.
The hearings on that motion will continue tomorrow and wrap up Friday.
The judge has said he may not rule until January.
The flight attendants and passenger service workers have threatened to strike if the judge voids their contracts. But that threat could evaporate if rank-and-file flight attendants get the chance to approve the $94 million concessionary deal and if rank-and-file passenger service workers say 'yes' to a separate $150 million cost-cutting agreement reached earlier this month. Votes will be counted Dec. 23.
That leaves the baggage handlers and machinists, who are being asked to give up about $100 million and $254 million, respectively. The company is asking to outsource much of their work, which would produce thousands of job losses. The baggage handlers union, hoping to avoid that fate, expects to give the company a written counterproposal this week that de-emphasizes the outsourcing in favor of other cuts.
US Airways, flight attendants agree on cost-cutting pact
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After months of back-and-forth bargaining and the threat of a strike, negotiators for US Airways and the flight attendants union have reached an agreement on $94 million in annual costs cuts over the next five years.
The tentative deal, which could help the nation's seventh-largest airline survive its second bankruptcy in two years, will come before the flight attendants' Master Executive Council at 1 p.m. today. The council, meeting in the Washington, D.C. area, can send the agreement back to the bargaining table for more changes or let it out for a ratification vote among US Airways' 5,200 flight attendants.
The $94 million agreement includes pay and benefit cuts but does not address the company's requests to eliminate the flight attendants' pension plan and cut retiree health care coverage. Those requests, worth another $63 million a year, will be dealt with by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Mitchell, who is overseeing US Airways' case.
Last week, the two sides were still $10 million apart on the pay and benefit cuts. But Teddy Xidas, president-elect of the flight attendants union, said "we have met" the company's number of $94 million. The "proposal is not a good one but it is where we are today."
The proposal includes a 10 percent pay cut.
Xidas, a member of the executive council, said a few "oustanding things" need to be clarified by the company in order for the council to sign off on the agreement, including how the carrier will handle any employee furloughs. Also, Xidas said she is still hoping to get the pay cut below 10 percent. The council, she said, could discuss the agreement over the next few days.
US Airways, which is seeking $1 billion in sacrifices from all work groups, has asked the bankruptcy judge to throw out the contracts of the flight attendants, passenger service workers, baggage handlers and machinists absent consensual cost-cutting deals ratified by a majority of union members.
The hearings on that motion will continue tomorrow and wrap up Friday.
The judge has said he may not rule until January.
The flight attendants and passenger service workers have threatened to strike if the judge voids their contracts. But that threat could evaporate if rank-and-file flight attendants get the chance to approve the $94 million concessionary deal and if rank-and-file passenger service workers say 'yes' to a separate $150 million cost-cutting agreement reached earlier this month. Votes will be counted Dec. 23.
That leaves the baggage handlers and machinists, who are being asked to give up about $100 million and $254 million, respectively. The company is asking to outsource much of their work, which would produce thousands of job losses. The baggage handlers union, hoping to avoid that fate, expects to give the company a written counterproposal this week that de-emphasizes the outsourcing in favor of other cuts.
