American Airline Mechanics couldn't have rejected a much better contract
- Thread starter ReadyNow
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eolesen
Veteran
- Jul 23, 2003
- 15,959
- 9,374
Mitch has shown no love of AMR management in the past; in fact, it's been the exact opposite. I also agree with him. I'm not surprised the vote was no, but this was about as good as could be expected, and I don't think you're going to see anything materially better, whether it be consensual negotiations, or a PEB.
Maybe using baseball arbitration as a solution wasn't such a bad idea after all...
Maybe using baseball arbitration as a solution wasn't such a bad idea after all...
We understand that trade offs have to be made and the money in this contract was worth considering but the facts are at the end of the day we where giving back more than we were getting and I am sorry they will not be allowed to take 5.00 dollars out of my right pocket and put 4.00 in my left and tell me I won.
The company has maitained that this has to be a zero cost contract again i am sorry but that wiil not due given the fact that in the last seven years we have given our part of the concessions plus 3,300 lost jobs thru quit died fired retired and the companys on numbers say we have saved them over a billion in worki rule changes thru workin together.
People have had enough, mechanic's I know who are not radical or even aggresive tell me they feell disrespected by the company even one that I would say is amish religous very conservative and reserved said "I have had enough of their f####ng B.S." I was taken aback because this totally out of charcter for him. if they think zero cost will fly all i can say is houston we have a problem
bravozulu@afw
Member
- Nov 17, 2008
- 56
- 10
This T/A, was not worth the wasted paper trail to inform us that we have been scr*w*d again. Not only by AMR, but being FORCE FED by our Totally Worthless Union!!.
AMR *EOs have squandered what concessions they scr*w*d out of us in 2003! In 2007, AMR actually made a PROFIT!! Who took 70% of that profit for THEIR OWN BON(e)US? It weren't the TWU folks!!!Who has received PAY RAISES? It ain't the UNIONIZED folks who have NOT had a reasonable (based on inflation) raise since 2001!!! What part of AA & AMR has actually GROWN in HEADCOUNT? It aren't those TWU folks on the WRONG SIDE of the FENCE!! I think it was YESTERDAY that a NEW DIRECTOR WAS HIRED from GE!! Another (TULE) PARKING SPACE WASTED!!
HOW IS AA/AMR GOING TO MAKE A PROFIT?? Through firing TWU & non-unionized reservation/ gate personnel, and by NOT BUYING CONSUMMABLES & SPARES (for their aged fleet)! To me, this company is looking that old 'Non Sequitor' cartoon of the B of D meeting on the poop deck of wooden ship, with only two oarsmen rowing. The CEO asks "Why aren't we achieving our goals?" Cuz all the (MCIE) production workers were put down!!
The attitude of those still 'On Premisis', I'll work, but just enough NOT to get fired! Production of Heavy C aircraft has slowed down to a crawl. We are educated. We read the news (that is unfit to print). We have relationships with those at the Crystal Palace (Amon Carter Blvd) who tell us of the Tricks and Treats that MGT continues to hide or pull on us.
WE ARE P*SS*D OFF. WE STAND IN AGREEMENT, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER, WITH ANGER IN OUR HEARTS. TRY TO FEED US ANOTHER LINE OF BS IN THE FORM OF A T/A!!
AMR *EOs have squandered what concessions they scr*w*d out of us in 2003! In 2007, AMR actually made a PROFIT!! Who took 70% of that profit for THEIR OWN BON(e)US? It weren't the TWU folks!!!Who has received PAY RAISES? It ain't the UNIONIZED folks who have NOT had a reasonable (based on inflation) raise since 2001!!! What part of AA & AMR has actually GROWN in HEADCOUNT? It aren't those TWU folks on the WRONG SIDE of the FENCE!! I think it was YESTERDAY that a NEW DIRECTOR WAS HIRED from GE!! Another (TULE) PARKING SPACE WASTED!!
HOW IS AA/AMR GOING TO MAKE A PROFIT?? Through firing TWU & non-unionized reservation/ gate personnel, and by NOT BUYING CONSUMMABLES & SPARES (for their aged fleet)! To me, this company is looking that old 'Non Sequitor' cartoon of the B of D meeting on the poop deck of wooden ship, with only two oarsmen rowing. The CEO asks "Why aren't we achieving our goals?" Cuz all the (MCIE) production workers were put down!!
The attitude of those still 'On Premisis', I'll work, but just enough NOT to get fired! Production of Heavy C aircraft has slowed down to a crawl. We are educated. We read the news (that is unfit to print). We have relationships with those at the Crystal Palace (Amon Carter Blvd) who tell us of the Tricks and Treats that MGT continues to hide or pull on us.
WE ARE P*SS*D OFF. WE STAND IN AGREEMENT, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER, WITH ANGER IN OUR HEARTS. TRY TO FEED US ANOTHER LINE OF BS IN THE FORM OF A T/A!!
Wrong on all counts.
Lets look at some facts here.
-Since the concessions, on average, the annual revenue for AMR has increased by around $4 billion a year.
-Our compensation was slashed by 25%, giving AA an annual savings of $310million.
-AA savings were further enhanced through the elimination of 35% of the M&R workforce, this would equate to an additional savings of approximately $338million(wages only, all AMTs at top rate).
If $310 million represented 25% of the M&R labor cost then their total cost for labor going in to 2003 would have been $1,240 million. (4x 310)
So immediately after the concessions their costs dropped to $930 million.
By reducing the headcount 35%, around 4500 workers, they save an additional $338 million. (4500x$75213)(not counting benifits but assuming that all were top paid AMTs).
So now their labor costs are down to roughly $592 million or half of what they were going into 2003.
The 1.5% increases add up to around $33 million but the company recouped most of that by increasing what we pay for medical by around $24 million so they could offset the costs of the pilot and FA plans.
So the company has seen their revenues increase on average by around $4 billion/year while at the same time their labor costs for maintenence has gone from around $1.24 billion to around $600 million.
"Restore", thats the 2003 rate of pay off the 2001 contract, all the workrules, benifits, vacation, sick time, IOD , all of it, would only cost the company around $187 million over what they are paying now,(because there are 35% less of us, 65% X $310million minus the 1.5% raises), peanuts, less than 1% of AMRs revenue.
AA labor costs for M&R would go up at the most to $800 million. Still $400 million less than $1.24 billion. Less than 4% of AAs revenue, plus we bring in millions through 3P work and the company outsources less (in other words shares less of their revenue with other companies) than anybody else.
The TA was a zero cost offer.
Yes, we expect more.
Restore would be a huge bargain for the company, but they were greedy and demanded even more concessions and the members said NO.
I want an inflation adjusted "Restore". Which is only fair. The company cant cry poverty, since 2003 their revenues have gone up on average nearly $4 billion a year and they are paying half of what they used to pay for M&R labor.
Inflationary adjustments to base (3% per year)
Year Adj Base Total(day AMT Line)
2003 30.61 36.16
2004 .91 31.52 37.07
2005 .95 32.47 38.02
2006 .97 33.44 38.99
2007 1.00 34.44 39.99
Retro to 2008.
2008 1.03 35.47 41.02
2009 1.06 36.53 42.08
2010 1.09 37.62 43.17
2011 1.13 38.75 44.30
2012 1.16 39.91 45.46
This may look like a lot, when you're in the sewer the gutter looks high (either location is no longer acceptable)but you have to remember that this would only bring our earnings up to around where they were in 2002 and is around what SWA gets and lower than what UPS ($46.99) offered their guys. In total it comes out to around a $304 million annual increase over what they are paying now, thats less than what they took away ($310million) and it would still leave the companys costs hundreds of millions less than what they were going into 2003.
We wouldnt even be touching any of that $4 billion in extra revenue they take in.
Maybe your Boss needs to accept a little less, or end up getting nothing out of AA.
inspector clausou
Newbie
- Mar 8, 2010
- 8
- 0
I was so pissed off after reading the article that i called the star telegram publisher complained about the lack of any type of unbiased reasearch and the fact that he used a picture of an employee that passed away recently, and IMMEDIATLY cancelled my subscription to the star telegram! Feel free to follow suit if you live in Fort Worth and subscribe to the star telegram, this is America VOTE - THIS TIME WITH YOUR WALLET! The Dallas morning news would love to have your business.
As I read through this thread it occurs to me that this article maybe a bit more honest than we care to admit. Of all the responses I see the usual references to executive pay, bonuses, new VP's, and disrespect. In fact only Bob made an argument with numbers and even he added an emotional argument. I'm not saying that making a financial decision based on emotion is a good thing or a bad thing, hell we've all done it, just saying that Mitch may have hit home on this one.
Since when is equity an emotional response? We sell stuff to the airline, we drastically cut our price because they said they couldnt pay it. AA is now bringing in a lot more money than they were then but they claim there's nothing for us. That means that some of the other people who sell stuff to the airlines are getting a lot more than they used to. Why shouldnt we do the same? We are not discretionary spending, if we do not show up for work the planes dont get fixed and if they dont get fixed they dont fly despite the fact that we have 10% unemployment there isnt a pool of workers that have the skills needed to take our place, just ask AAR.
http://newsok.com/okc-labor-market-tight-for-aircraft-mechanics/article/3482231
If 3P contractors are having trouble finding mechanics to do the work they have now AA would not be able to just outsource our work to them if we went on strike.
"Mitch" never hits home, he is a mouthpiece for the company, sure he throws out a few harmless jabs at management every now and then but thats just a pathetic attempt to establish the perception that he is a Journalist.
So "the mechanics at American showed that the disconnect and dysfunction live on." I can only guess that Mr. Schnurman assumes that every ounce of rhetoric the compAAny submits to the press is indisputable and those of us who question their facts desire to bring instability to the compAAny. Has Mr. Schnurman seen documented evidence that American Airlines suffers a $600-$700 million competitive disadvantage? No, lets just take their word for it and disregard the past concessions that has given American a competitive edge. We just tire of our professions being denigrated through concessionary contracts that are knee jerk reactions of an inept leadership. I say there is great value in accountability, something terribly amiss at American Airlines.
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #10
Do you think a pro athlete will get a better contract by insulting management and playing poorly on purpose. If you are accepting a check, you should play hard, otherwise you should declare yourself a free agent and take one of those jobs in Tinker or AAR.
I don't think that AMR thinks that more money will movitate the TWU to increase performance. You should try working at peak potential for a month, then throttle back...at least then you could say - we can deliver that level of effort every day - for a price.. Who believes it is possible for the TWU to work any harder...
What was the last year folks can point to as the "TWU full performance years" pre-2003??
Did performance spike after the big 2001 raise?
After the raise,
Yes it did.
We went from usually one or two Overtimes a week each to zero with all the planes ready to go.
The fact is the company enjoyed excellent performance after we got our raises, other carriers experienced similar results back then and SWA remains at the top because they pay the best.
Some carriers still feel that once we showed them what we can do that if they beat us long enough, threatened us enough and lie enough that we will do it again but without the money.
Your theory that if we showed them what we could do all of a sudden they would open the coffers is not supported by what I've seen over the last 30 years , we gave AA excellent performance, if they had managed it right they could have had even better, but instead they decided to resort to punitive management instead of reward management. Sadly, if we work extra hard at current rates they take the position that they must be paying us too much. Why do you think this TA failed? The company is suffering from the huge disconnect. The company assumed that since we arent really sticking it to them that the offer was adequate. They really thought it would pass!
I say that if AA paid us right, thus getting the cooperation of all those willing to work fairly if paid fairly that they could continue to reduce headcount and in the end they would pay less overall, save overall and get more, like SWA learned a long time ago and it has nothing to do with SWA doing OH in house or not.
Do you work in ao in tulsa? There is no way you could and not believe things are terribly wrong. BTW, you have no idea what my level of productivity is, and I can assure you, I can hang with the best.
High Speed Steel
Veteran
- Feb 14, 2004
- 1,375
- 136
I have to agree with you on this article. I too was a Yes voter and had many reasons as to why I decided to vote for the TA. I too carried allot of emotion prior to making my choice because I seen this coming about a year before it was presented to the rank and file. About a year ago I went as far as to tell my local president that I wanted him gone, and out of office, because of the direction we were being led in negotiations. His only response to me was, the industry has changed, and we have to change with it. I have to tell you, it took me a long time to come to terms with my decision but I think it was the right one....Because what it boils down to is we are in mediation and what is "No" going to do for you?
Bandit6794
Member
- Jul 28, 2010
- 40
- 31
Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.......You made your choice
Ken MacTiernan
Veteran
"Because what it boils down to is we are in mediation and what is "No" going to do for you?"
What will "No" do for you? Spoken like a true twu robot.
Voting NO says you will NOT accept scraps.
Voting NO says you will fight to be paid a respectable wage for your skill.
Voting NO says that we already gave to save the airline and it is time to pay us back for our "shAAred sAAcrife".
What will "No" do for you? Spoken like a true twu robot.
Voting NO says you will NOT accept scraps.
Voting NO says you will fight to be paid a respectable wage for your skill.
Voting NO says that we already gave to save the airline and it is time to pay us back for our "shAAred sAAcrife".
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