Cry For Cost Cuts Grows Louder

[delldude]

last time i checked, IAM has a signed contract modification amendable sometime in 2009.
is why concession stand is closed,so to speak.
if you wish to give back your all,then we have procedures to do this by majority vote.
however...if the majority doesn't see things your way...well...we can either accept the vote as cast and face reality or cry,snivel and whine to get a revote like the last time. <_<

 

[delldude]

I wonder if the grocery stores will triple my discount coupons if I tell them I work for USAir..ways (not really an employee..OK). I'm tired of buying my trash bags at Ollies Bargin Outlet store because their a few pennies cheaper than elsewhere.....

Life's hard enough already Millionaire Dave...How much harder do you want to make it for us manual laborers. It's not labor..it's management or lack of thats got us to where we are today.....

No more concessions.....no more. Don't even ask.

say,old guy...with this band of merry pranksters i'd be quite concerned if i was retired.davey boy made mention to the luxurious retirement package in his speech. watch them go after our retirees.....hate to see this....he must have had lunch with greenspan. :down:

 

[airlineorphan]

Hey Dea,

I did a google on Paul Stifflemire, Jr, and he is the Director of a "think-tank" which takes tax deductible contributions (i.e. indirect taxpayer funding) to fund the denunciation of practically anything publicly funded or union organized.

His website leads this week with an article blaming unions for the outsourcing of jobs overseas. He also advocates privatized prisons, education, and has slews of articles championing unfettered corporate rampaging in an extremely naive sort of free market fundamentalist religiosity.

Nonetheless, I thought it was really telling that even a dyed-in-the-wool free marketeer like Paul S. Junior would add the following in his statements in the article:

"`I don't know how you'd get $1.5 billion out of workers without having a mutiny,'" said the analyst."

Tres interesant, oui?

Even some of our worst enemies think Siegel and Bronner are nuts!

As Nancy Reagan said, "Just say No!"

In solidarity,
Airlineorphan

 

[airlineorphan]

Heinrich wrote:

If this is insanity and you are unhappy then why not resign voluntarily? The evidence is all over the place and it's not just from Siegel. Why say "the concession stand is closed", bring the company into bankruptcy and then have thousands of people with no jobs? Who is keeping you "stuck" at USairways? You are not a victim. Stop living in denial.

Thanks for the advice Heinrich. But don't worry. Those of us who are putting up a fight are not victims. Far from it. Victims are folks who just sit around taking abuse and never do anything but whine about it. PitBull and Boeingboy and Diogenes and Dilligas and many more on this site are actually doing something about the abuse. The real whiners with a victim mentality are Siegel and Bronner who cannot seem to competently make use of the sacrifices employees already made and keep coming back and whining that they are victimized by high costs, by Southwest, by Jetblue, etc.....

-Airlineorphan

 

[BoeingBoy]

Facts,

The numbers came from documents filed with the bankruptcy court in Dec 2002, that's why they're out of date. That's also why I didn't include UAL - figured even if they slanted the numbers in their favor, they had no reason to make one of us other carriers look better or worse than the rest.

As far as up to date numbers, I don't have any at the tip of my fingers. When you get down to specific employee groups like the pilots, there is no easy way to gather the data. That detail comes from the "form 41" data submitted to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and is generally 6 months old before being released by them since it contains all sorts of financial and passenger traffic data.

Jim

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

"Perry Hayes, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, wrote to his members yesterday that "management needs to take steps to improve the working relationship" with the union. "

Prime example of a jelly-spined leader! Yeah, the airline's got lotsa time to get all kumbaya!



"Morale is really bad," Teddy Xidas, president of Association of Flight Attendants Local 40, Oakdale, said she will tell Bronner. "To come around for 'Concessions 3' now ... we have not recovered from the concessions that have already taken place."

Hey Teddy, aren't leaders supposed to claim responsibility and tell the troops what they need to hear to win

Q. Please demonstrate the value these leaders are supposed to provide for the dollars they cost??

 

[ktflyhome]

Yes, Morale is really bad. But what possibly could Management say or do to improve relations when we all know they won't mean it and only want MORE without giving anything up. It's hard to get Trust back, once it has been broken. This all becoming one big FARSE! :down:

 

[usfliboi]

Yes, Morale is really bad. But what possibly could Management say or do to improve relations when we all know they won't mean it and only want MORE without giving anything up. It's hard to get Trust back, once it has been broken. This all becoming one big FARSE! :down:

nobodys morale will improve when cuts are involved or the airline is in jeaopardy. Its not up to management now to improve morale.... oh they can try but how do you do that when you have to ask for cuts in order for your job to be spared. A pretty picture they cant paint. Its reality at its best . No one likes it but untill things turn around management not withstanding it wont get better

 

[BoeingBoy]

usfliboi,

The reason I posted our labor costs as a percentage of total costs (pre-bankruptcy) in another thread was to show that we were not far out of line with Southwest. Our total costs were higher when measured per ASM, but that is due to not just labor but non-labor costs as well.

The concessions during bankruptcy should have addressed the labor side of the equation. What was not addressed sufficiently was the non-labor side of the equation. In fact, some actions by management have increased the non-labor side. The PIT leases were rejected and we are now using 40 of the 50 gates on a month-to-month basis at higher cost. Fuel was not hedged sufficiently so we are now paying up to 20 cents more per gallon than Southwest.

Until the non-labor side of the cost equation is addressed, all the hand-wringing and pleas to "just accept" that the world has changed will do no good. As myself and others have pointed out, the labor side of the cost equation will have to drop to zero for us to be competitive if nothing is done about the non-labor side. While you may be willing to accept that, some of us are not.

Jim

 

[Dea Certe]

airlineorphan,

Thanks for the info. I knew the source would need to be considered.

Were you the one who wrote about watching "Casa Blanca"? Great movie and well worth seeing again.

And Laslo was right. Just because things are "the way they are" doesn't mean it's right or hopeless. People of character will always need to stand up against what's wrong.

Count me in.

Dea

 

[usfliboi]

usfliboi,

The reason I posted our labor costs as a percentage of total costs (pre-bankruptcy) in another thread was to show that we were not far out of line with Southwest. Our total costs were higher when measured per ASM, but that is due to not just labor but non-labor costs as well.

The concessions during bankruptcy should have addressed the labor side of the equation. What was not addressed sufficiently was the non-labor side of the equation. In fact, some actions by management have increased the non-labor side. The PIT leases were rejected and we are now using 40 of the 50 gates on a month-to-month basis at higher cost. Fuel was not hedged sufficiently so we are now paying up to 20 cents more per gallon than Southwest.

Until the non-labor side of the cost equation is addressed, all the hand-wringing and pleas to "just accept" that the world has changed will do no good. As myself and others have pointed out, the labor side of the cost equation will have to drop to zero for us to be competitive if nothing is done about the non-labor side. While you may be willing to accept that, some of us are not.

Jim

Thanks boeing boy ! The cost dollar for dollar payrates are, however lets look at the productivity side which are very different. Not just in one group or the other but when you do that it becomes very apparent.

 

[PITbull]

If this is insanity and you are unhappy then why not resign voluntarily? The evidence is all over the place and it's not just from Siegel. Why say "the concession stand is closed", bring the company into bankruptcy and then have thousands of people with no jobs? Who is keeping you "stuck" at USairways? You are not a victim. Stop living in denial.

Give the co. what they want, and you will have still thousands that lose their jobs.

 

[BoeingBoy]

usfliboi,

"lets look at the productivity side which are very different."

Unfortunately for your argument, when you make the measurements based on CASM costs instead of dollars, productivity is automatically factored in. Read the quote from Unisys I posted in a couple of these threads.

Jim

 

[700UW]

Lets see the employees have given $1.1 Billion in annual concessions and over 20,000 jobs all ready!

 

[Hawk]

Give the co. what they want, and you will have still thousands that lose their jobs.

It is impossible to predict what the future will hold for the aviation community. You should not make these types of statements concerning job losses when you don't have any data to prove your point. Stop spreading misleading rumors that will only upset labor.

The majority of labor will do what is needed to protect the franchise. They understand how the current economic situation in the industry impacts their daily lives. I don't like what is happening to the airline industry. We must adapt to the situation or become another failed legacy carrier.