MK82Man
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2004
- Posts
- 210
Ladies and Gentlemen: A brief summary of how the West US Airways Pilots (America West) are trying to engage the East. We met with the East Reps in early February to try to get the Joint Contract Talks started again. The East walked away from the table last summer after the Nicolau Award was announced. Although the attempt to re-start Joint Negotiations failed, the West released one example of how we were trying to engage the East.
The merger continues to be a tremendous windfall for the East. How the East Pilots can leave this kind of money on the table and let management continue to win is beyond the West’s comprehension. And of course now they want to throw out the bargaining agent that puts them on the quickest path to this kind of a joint contract, ALPA, for the unknown USAPA. Has the East MEC released anything from the meeting to show how the West would benefit at the expense of the East?
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In preparation for our engagement with the East, the America West MEC Steering Committee (AMSC) consulted with several outside analysts and members of our merger and negotiating committees. In an attempt to formulate solutions that benefit all pilots, we spent some time collecting data that would aide us in making decisions. Specifically, we looked at the Pilot Earnings Models (PEM) used during the merger arbitration. We asked our consultants to run the PEM using the Nicolau Award, company provided fleet projections, change to age 60, and work-rule parity. By using these assumptions, the numbers showed that East pilots would receive a $443 million advantage in net career earnings versus $800,000 for the West pilots. An immediate implementation of the Nicolau Award would give the East pilots $247 million in additional earnings in just the next five years. These numbers didn’t include the extra vacation, days off, and retirement that would come in a joint contract.
The AMSC built a consensus with our larger group that the economic advantages afforded the East pilot group through the Nicolau Award are meaningful and compelling. It was our belief that the needs of all pilots should be addressed through economic improvements achieved at the bargaining table through:
The merger continues to be a tremendous windfall for the East. How the East Pilots can leave this kind of money on the table and let management continue to win is beyond the West’s comprehension. And of course now they want to throw out the bargaining agent that puts them on the quickest path to this kind of a joint contract, ALPA, for the unknown USAPA. Has the East MEC released anything from the meeting to show how the West would benefit at the expense of the East?
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In preparation for our engagement with the East, the America West MEC Steering Committee (AMSC) consulted with several outside analysts and members of our merger and negotiating committees. In an attempt to formulate solutions that benefit all pilots, we spent some time collecting data that would aide us in making decisions. Specifically, we looked at the Pilot Earnings Models (PEM) used during the merger arbitration. We asked our consultants to run the PEM using the Nicolau Award, company provided fleet projections, change to age 60, and work-rule parity. By using these assumptions, the numbers showed that East pilots would receive a $443 million advantage in net career earnings versus $800,000 for the West pilots. An immediate implementation of the Nicolau Award would give the East pilots $247 million in additional earnings in just the next five years. These numbers didn’t include the extra vacation, days off, and retirement that would come in a joint contract.
The AMSC built a consensus with our larger group that the economic advantages afforded the East pilot group through the Nicolau Award are meaningful and compelling. It was our belief that the needs of all pilots should be addressed through economic improvements achieved at the bargaining table through:
- First officer pay rates with top of scale higher than the current East narrow-body captain rates. This will compensate both East and West first officers for career stagnation.
- Furlough protections incorporated into Sections 1 and 23 of the joint contract that would make furlough expensive for management, and provide job security in the event of future mergers and acquisitions.
- A unified push for immediate parity to end “b” scale provisions at US Airways. This would be the first order of business with the resumption of JNC talks.