CWA Files for Representation Election

[LowManOnThePole]

Odd, my experience since the filing has been the exact opposite. Most agents seem to be doing just fine. They didn't take pay cuts, and won't.

Massive layoffs? Management had already reduced staffing levels via attrition, and its not yet clear how many (if any) agents are going to be impacted by outsourcing airport handling (versus attrition). Even there, agents have always had the same opportunity for a transfer as the TWU does.

Increases in benefits? Agents have already been paying the same rates as management, which is the surviving benefits plan.

The biggest change will be the 401K, for those hired before 1999 who weren't already participating in it voluntarily. Any agent hired since then didn't have a pension option.


All in all, the agents seem to have fared pretty well so far.

Most of the pro-union folks I know of were somewhat bitter high seniority folks just waiting for an excuse to leave.

My guess..... The type of folks the CWA is counting on to carry the representation vote are the ones most likely to say :$%# it and take the buyout.

That's actually not true. The younger, lower seniority agents are just as pro-union as the senior agents. They are worn down, overworked, tired of the ruling by fear and intimidation that seems to be the norm at AA and will continue to be that way. They see the reality of their jobs being outsourced to the company that's run by Del Valle, if they had that much attrition under normal circumstances, new hires would be hired and they'd move up in seniority as it's always been. And it's not. Not anymore. Have you actually talked to any agents?

 

[eolesen]

So it is your belief that the passenger service agents will receive and have the same if not better pay benefits work rules and scope then the union groups

For the most part, they already do. Agents shouldn't be paid the same as fleet service clerks because they're not working outside in the elements, throwing bags, etc. yet they still make pretty good money for the amount of responsibility they have.

Do I talk to agents? Absolutely. That's where I started out, so it's pretty rare not to run into at least one person I've worked with when I'm flying, especially if I'm connecting thru ORD or DFW.

 

[john john]

Agents shouldn't be paid the same as fleet service clerks because they're not working outside in the elements, throwing bags, etc. yet they still make pretty good money for the amount of responsibility they have.

Are you that naïve as to the two job functions and their difficulties and challenges of both

 

[wings396]

On another note, how does station outsourcing affect the
C/S group vs Fleet Svc? Does the entire station lose Mainline employees, or can it just be the Fleet side as is the case at US?

 

[eolesen]

Are you that naïve as to the two job functions and their difficulties and challenges of both

Six years as manager of airport processes, and the last six working hands-on with airlines on how to streamline their own processes at the airport and call center.

Think about that for a few minutes, and then respond.

 

[john john]

Six years

And your gone now a union with a voice in the process was/is your worst threat

 

[eolesen]

Doesn't threaten me, JJ. Bring on the vote. At this point, AA's employees deserve what they do to themselves. The past few elections never happened, and I doubt this one will, either. Heck, APSA's already on record as saying they couldn't get cards for the 50% threshold currently in effect.

 

[john john]

the last six working hands-on with airlines on how to streamline their own processes at the airport and call center.

Think about that for a few minutes, and then respond.

Code words for outsourcing

 

[jimntx]

Precisely. And, that top notch contract help provides such sterling service. An outsourced station I was in this past week, put 10 seat dupes on one airplane (yes, a total of 20 passengers involved); refused to allow a company employee and teenage daughter to upgrade to F/C even though we heard her tell the lead agent that she was willing to pay the F/C upgrade if that would solve the seating problem (she and her daughter were two of the seat dupes); and, told the last of the dupes to go find the first available seat (so professional and world-class) and slammed the forward door while passengers were still up in the aisles and overhead bins were open. No doubt she will try to put the delay on the f/as because we didn't "make" the passengers sit down.

 

[eolesen]

Code words for outsourcing

Wrong. Not a single call center or airport project I've worked with involved outsourcing of agents.

Most were taking older "PC under the desk" type screen-scraping apps, and replacing them with something smarter/more robust or streamlining the payment processing (i.e. making it possible to accept PayPal or asynchronous payments).

Others included putting in a queue management/measurement system which picked up on stuff being passed repeatedly between desks, or my favorite, looking for back-office agents who'd routinely take the easy-squeezy PNR's to work, but put the more difficult stuff back on queue for someone else to deal with.


Jim, have you ever run across an incompetent AA agent? I have... Haven't seen 10 seat dupes on a flight where the EGR was used correctly, but once you go into manual mode, all bets are off.

 

[jimntx]

John, John, shame on you. We no longer call it outsourcing. We are making those loyal, long-term agents available to the wider job market. Think of the opportunities that will come their way! (You know, those agents that for years voted against representation because that is what the company wanted them to do. The company has a special name for them...SUCKERS!)

 

[eolesen]

Who's really the sucker, Jim?

Folks like you who've paid out thousands over your career, or the agents who've pretty much received the same treatment as the union members?

 

[jimntx]

Who's really the sucker, Jim?

Folks like you who've paid out thousands over your career, or the agents who've pretty much received the same treatment as the union members?

I haven't been suckered out of anything. I have voted no every time the company has asked for concessions. Money was TAKEN from me by the thieves at Centerport which they then used to award each other huge bonusses. Besides, I don't need the job. I do it because I enjoy it. Financially, I could walk away tomorrow and never give American Airlines another thought. An event that is getting closer every day. I've decided I've got too much respect for myself to work for people like you and those unethical, immoral jerks at Centerport.

 

[john john]

the last six working hands-on with airlines on how to streamline their own processes at the airport and call center.

Think about that for a few minutes, and then respond.

American Airlines management has sent an unsettling message to agents, asking us to interview for positions as trainers helping “new Prospect employees as they transition into their positions at the ATO.” The notice at DFW could have more aptly said, “as we sell off your positions” at the ATO.
http://apsa6001.org/?p=932

 

[john john]

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/01/4303098/appeals-judges-question-american.html
American Airlines faced sharp questioning Monday from a federal appeals court over its effort to block the airline's passenger service agents from voting on whether to join a union.
"You are basically moving the goal posts in the middle of the game," Judge Catharina Haynes told American's lawyer.