Hawaiian pilots reject TA

[HAL]

The pilots at Hawaiian rejected the Tenative Agreement with management. Next up is a probable section 1113 hearing on the 29th where the court may (or may not) impose a new contract on the pilots. If a contract is not imposed by the court HA will not exit bankruptcy on April 1st as planned, and additional negotiations on the contract will continue.

According to the MEC, reasons for the rejection include: (1) pilot outrage over management bonuses; (2) concern about protecting our retirement and disability benefits; (3) medical premium increases; (4) the failure to resolve the "32 in 7" grievance; and, (5) the experience and perception that interaction with management does not routinely provide the basis for constructive problem-solving and smooth employee relations.

HAL

 

[Whale Rider]

Imagine that.........Management getting bonuses while the employees suffer and give concessions. Hang in there guys.

 

[AQ PILOT]

I agree.....toe the line guys.....great job! What's your 32 in 7 issue?

 

[Erndogg]

This is what our union released:​

Recently there have been several instances of pilots being removed from trips after line growth has put them in a 32 hours in 7 days FAR conflict. The rub has come where the Company recently stopped paying pilots for the segment that they are removed from. This was first brought to our attention in the middle of August and we have been researching the issue and discussing it with the Company since that time in an effort to get the issue resolved.
As of yet, it remains unresolved. The Company says that they have never paid for these removals and produced a denied grievance from 1996 as proof. On the contrary, we have several recent instances where pilots were removed and paid. When we have raised this with the Company they say that the scheduler who paid the pilot didn’t understand the rule and they have been educated accordingly.

We’re still working on it. We have been researching our files and have requested archived files on the subject from the ALPA archive at Wayne State University. We are hopeful that this information will help us to resolve this issue in favor of the pilots. In the meantime, if you are removed from a trip for a 32 in 7 conflict, or for any other FAR conflict, please file a Scheduling Clarification Request and note on it the status of your pay for the trip.

Thanks very much.

We have some mgmt that thinks they can interpet our contract in THEIR VIEW and try and hose us out of pay because of thier lack of planning.
There have been numerous grivences re: 32/7 that have not been resolved!!!

 

[Erndogg]

Hawaiian pilots reject offer

[font=Trebuchet MS, Verdana][size=-2]By [email="[email protected]"]Dan Nakaso[/email]
Advertiser Staff Writer[/size][/font]



[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif][size=-1]Hawaiian Airlines' hopes to emerge from bankruptcy next week under new ownership were dealt a blow yesterday when pilots — angered in part over management bonuses — voted down a new contract.

Hawaiian filed for bankruptcy protection two years ago and was joined by Aloha Airlines in December, as the state's two major airlines struggled with increased competition, rising fuel costs and money-losing interisland service. Before pilots rejected the new contract, Hawaiian officials had planned to emerge from under court protection April 1.

The issue will now go back to U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday, where Hawaiian's court-appointed bankruptcy trustee may ask Judge Robert Faris to impose a contract on the pilots against their will. Trustee Josh Gotbaum tried that last month, but Faris instead urged both sides to continue negotiating.

[font=Trebuchet MS, Verdana][size=-2] [/size][/font]"We may be forced to go to court to get an agreement so that Hawaiian can exit Chapter 11," Gotbaum said yesterday in a statement.

Out of 288 eligible pilots, 120 voted for the new contract and 144 voted it down.

The voting took place over a week and concluded yesterday morning. But all week, pilots were grumbling about a new contract that would increase salaries 1 percent, require them to pay a share of their medical coverage and put the security of their retirement benefits in doubt.

Several pilots said they were particularly angry that, according to the pilots, Hawaiian's 80 managers recently received part of $7 million in bonuses that had previously been approved by the bankruptcy court.

Hawaiian officials declined to confirm yesterday whether the bonuses had been paid.

"There was a lot of outrage over the management bonuses," said Hawaiian Capt. Kirk McBride, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association International's master executive committee for Hawaiian. "My understanding is that the company needed to pay those bonuses by March 15 so it would count against the company's books for the year 2004."

A pilots union's statement on the vote said the pilots "were unwilling to ratify the contract due to several reasons including excessive management bonuses ... and their concern that management does not have a genuine interest in constructive problem-solving and smooth employee relations."

Gotbaum said in a statement he was disappointed in the pilots' decision to turn down "a contract that was better than any proposal made by any airline to its pilots in the last two years."

The contract would have made Hawaiian pilots "among the very best paid in the industry" and would have kept the pension plan in place in its current form for seven years, according to the airline.

The pilots argued that if the airline is strong enough to pay executives bonuses, it's strong enough to offer more to pilots.

"Management feels like they can skim off what they want, while they leave us hanging on the short end of the stick," said John von Zedtwitz, a Hawaiian 767-300 captain. "At a time of record profits, they're taking advantage of us. It's been a threat all through bankruptcy to literally dissect our contract and leave us with much less than what we deserve."

Pat Tregnan, a 767-300 first officer, said the management bonuses were part of the reason pilots have "reached our threshold. We've watched too many owners come in and then go, leaving us with nothing."

Hawaiian pilots can earn between $38,800 and $176,000 per year depending on experience and the planes they fly, McBride said.

The new contract would have boosted pilot pay 1 percent. But pilots said fairness, health benefits and pension contributions were the key issues, rather than pay.

"The creditors are getting paid off 100 percent," Tregnan said. "Management gets their bonuses and everybody else gets what they want. Why is it that the people who work for the airline are getting the stick?"

American Airlines angered employees in 2003 when it quietly set aside millions of dollars for executive pensions and bonuses while asking for $1.8 billion in wage and other concessions per year from union members.

American's then-chairman and CEO, Donald J. Carty, later apologized for not telling workers sooner about the executive benefits. Carty, who resigned during the fallout, now sits on the board of Hawaiian Holdings, Hawaiian's parent company.

RC Aviation LLC, the company hoping to take Hawaiian out of bankruptcy, has attached the condition to its offer that all of Hawaiian's six unions must renegotiate contracts. The pilots are now the last unionized employees without a contract. None of the contracts goes into effect until all of them are in place.

Yesterday, several pilots said they would prefer to place their hopes for a new contract with Judge Faris.

Even though Faris earlier told both sides he might reach a decision that neither one likes, Hawaiian Capt. Joe Mocarski said he hoped "for a better shake from Judge Faris. He knows that we're being asked to take concessions in the face of record profits." As von Zedtwitz said, "we're coming out of bankruptcy with a healthy company. I don't think Judge Faris is willing to use a hammer on us."

[/size][/font]

 

[English]

Now THAT'S what I call raising the bar.

It's about time someone did it!

Kudos for Hawaiian pilots for having the courage to do it.

Too bad more pilot groups out there aren't like Hawaiian's pilot group.

 

[CapnVegetto]

Hang in there guys.

Why the hell don't these bankruptcy judges ever put a freeze on management paying themselves bonuses also instead of killing the labor?

This business is so **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** corrupt.

 

[RJP]

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - March 31, 2005
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2005/03/28/daily32.html



LATEST NEWS

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - 7:48 PM HST Wednesday
Hawaiian bankruptcy exit delayed

Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris has called on Hawaiian Airlines and its pilots union to resume negotiations and reach another labor agreement.

Faris set a deadline of April 13, failing which both sides have to abide by a court-ordered contract. This deadline means Hawaiian Airlines will not be able to emerge from Chapter 11 on Friday of this week as it had wanted.

A hearing Tuesday was a follow-up to the pilots' vetoing a tentative agreement that their union leadership had negotiated with the airline management.

Hawaiian Airlines has ratified labor contracts from all of its other unions, finalized its payment to the IRS, and is set to exit bankruptcy if the pilots agree to a new contract.

The pilots said they felt management was getting bonuses and other pay increases as part of the bankruptcy while its members have to work more to keep their pay.

The airline contends that it needs to keep up with industry rates to retain quality managers.


© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

 

[Jim]

http://starbulletin.com/2005/03/30/business/story2.html



Hawaiian Airlines' plan to emerge from its two-year bankruptcy by Friday was delayed yesterday when a judge pushed back a decision on whether to force a contract on pilots to mid-April.

Separately, it was revealed in court yesterday that Hawaiian has earmarked up to $10 million to pay for success fees to those who have steered it through bankruptcy......

......Thomas N. Ciantra, an attorney for the pilots union, raised that point yesterday during cross-examination of Hawaiian Airlines Trustee Joshua Gotbaum. If the airline is profitable enough to pay up to $7 million in performance bonuses for top managers and up to $10 million to pay success fees when it emerges from bankruptcy, then it can offer pilots more, Ciantra said......


It's now $17 million that management wants in bonuses. Is it any wonder that Don Carty is supposed to be a memeber of our new board?

 

[Erndogg]

[font=Trebuchet MS, Verdana][size=-2] BUSINESS BRIEFS[/size][/font]
[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif][size=+2]Profitable year, Hawaiian says[/size][/font]

[font=Trebuchet MS, Verdana][size=-2]Advertiser Staff [/size][/font]



[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Hawaiian Airlines reported a $71.1 million operating profit last year, mostly all of it during the first eight months, according to Hawaiian's audited financial results.

More than 95 percent of Hawaiian's profits occurred from January through August, before Hawaiian began feeling the brunt of increased competition and a 40 percent jump in fuel costs compared to 2004.

The 2004 operating profit came on revenue of $764 million. By comparison, Hawaiian reported an operating profit of $77.5 million in 2003 on revenue or $697.7 million. Josh Gotbaum, Hawaiian's bankruptcy trustee, praised Hawaiian employees yesterday for contributing to the company's profitable year, as well as leading the airline industry in 2004 for its on-time record.


Josh!! you forgot to add in there your so called SUCKSESS FEE (10 mill)!!! and the $$$ youve been paying your lawyer buddies at which what I hear is waaayyy more than 1 mill a month (Hawaiian's $$$)!!!
Dont think you can get away with trying to hose our retirement and benefits so you can skate outta here with a pocket full of $$$
I'll be seeing you in court on the 13th!!!!![/font]