CWA MEMBERS PLEASE VOTE HERE

[john john]

I also need to advise you that per legal, we do not require ratification of a scheduling LOA. Nick was clear about this and explained it to all of the bargaining team when we met in the past with the IBT. We have had many LOA's in the past years that did not require ratification. The bargaining reps were elected to make the decisions for the membership. I will have Nick describe this again on our conference call.

Thanks,
Velvet

So it is OK/legal to completely change an article of the contract without input for the membership. I really hope the local President's don’t change my contract to allow changes that adversely effect small and medium stations with out membership.Come on res girl!!!

 

[Robc98]

Everyone needs to understand the changes that are being proposed during these talks with CWA/IBT and the company. They are radical changes that will ultimately affect manpower and fulltime jobs...Fulltimers could be pushed to nights and yes overtime will definetely be affected. I suggest everyone who is part of the cust svc group find out exactly what is being talked about. I feel that the union heads are not looking out for the best interest of the 'career people' working at AWA/Usairways. Barb Tobin Pres. of PHL local and John Hansen Pres. of Boston are on the negotiating committee on the CWA side and vehemently oppose the 8hr parttime rule. But it is my understanding that the higher ups want to make changes and also do it without membership ratification. Opening the contract to change 'hours of service' language requires ratification by the members. Yet the heads of state insist they can do this with an LOA.......time to make some noise people...before its too late.......

 

[PhxMama]

well for one, a union fights for fulltime jobs with benefits....thats what the backbone of the union history is. Parttime does no one good if thats all thats offered since money is short and benefits are costly. This industry can afford to pay it's workers good wages to make this a career. When millions are made every quarter and the executives make millions themselves, they can afford to make these jobs careers.
Also coming to an agreement with the company is not as simple as just putting in 'a snapback'. The negotiations are long and arduous and patience is the key. If you rush, you lose.

I understand the F time is the backbone of the union but as PT agents we pay dues too and therefore are entitled to at least be heard. Although the IBT/CWA are an association I pay dues to IBT and expect MY union to listen to me. What CWA wants is totally different. We PT's on the west side have put more value on our free time. Our flexibility in our job is part of the appeal. I also know that negotiations take time and they can be grueling but my point is that it is the company with which I agree. Union negotiators are not even open to our opinions even though its been a pretty sore spot among agents. There are 2 unions negotaiting not JUST the CWA.

 

[Robc98]

I understand the F time is the backbone of the union but as PT agents we pay dues too and therefore are entitled to at least be heard. Although the IBT/CWA are an association I pay dues to IBT and expect MY union to listen to me. What CWA wants is totally different. We PT's on the west side have put more value on our free time. Our flexibility in our job is part of the appeal. I also know that negotiations take time and they can be grueling but my point is that it is the company with which I agree. Union negotiators are not even open to our opinions even though its been a pretty sore spot among agents. There are 2 unions negotaiting not JUST the CWA.

What is the reason your negotiators won't listen to what you have to say? Are they in agreement with the CWA in believing that Fulltime jobs need to be protected? The flexibility of swaps in a parttime position in a company is a luxury that is unheard of in other industries. Many on the East believe that having the free time is invaluable also, myself included. I work 4 days (one double) and get 3 off every week as a fulltimer, and the parttimers can do deals even easier. But that luxury should be more than enough for the parttime agents in this company. Rarely does one not obtain the time off needed should they have something important to attend. Wanting to increase this benefit for the sake of the parttime staffing I believe is out of line. Fulltime jobs need to be protected. But I do wonder why your union leaders are not as you say 'open to your opinions'. What is their response to you when you approach them. The reason I'm curious is because I too am a Board member for our Local, and everyone has the right to at least express their opinions whether we as a Board agrees with them or not. What is the problem out there?

 

[gso-crew]

I would like to see PT shifts of (3) 8 hour days per week. Four days off would give me a chance to use my flight privileges, and save money commuting. All we need is some sort of language that says the part-tine, full-time ratio stays at say .... 60-40 in each city.

 

[kao]

So it is OK/legal to completely change an article of the contract without input for the membership. I really hope the local President's don’t change my contract to allow changes that adversely effect small and medium stations with out membership.Come on res girl!!!

they did it when they put in the last LOA....they GAVE all the west CSS positions to fulltimers first...then went to part timers....did not matter if a full timer on the west side got full time because they were chummy with the former manager...did not matter that they were not qualified...this new association does not listen to its members....the "association" never even notified the members they were trying to get this LOA put into place....they just did it.....this new USAIRWAYS can not be totally focused on full timers...like the contract is...you are now merged with a company that 75 plus percent were part timers----and most not by choice.

 

[PhxMama]

What is the reason your negotiators won't listen to what you have to say? Are they in agreement with the CWA in believing that Fulltime jobs need to be protected? The flexibility of swaps in a parttime position in a company is a luxury that is unheard of in other industries. Many on the East believe that having the free time is invaluable also, myself included. I work 4 days (one double) and get 3 off every week as a fulltimer, and the parttimers can do deals even easier. But that luxury should be more than enough for the parttime agents in this company. Rarely does one not obtain the time off needed should they have something important to attend. Wanting to increase this benefit for the sake of the parttime staffing I believe is out of line. Fulltime jobs need to be protected. But I do wonder why your union leaders are not as you say 'open to your opinions'. What is their response to you when you approach them. The reason I'm curious is because I too am a Board member for our Local, and everyone has the right to at least express their opinions whether we as a Board agrees with them or not. What is the problem out there?

The union on the west is a brand new thing and we never reached a point where we had a contract prior to the HP/US merger. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am after working so hard to make sure we had a union. Why did I want one? Too many agents given unfair "corrective action" and with no way to protect your self from unfair treatment. Our union reps in our building simply say its not going to happen. No reason except -the cwa contract- which we are under, with some seperate addendums. We have had NO contact from our locals and ZERO communication in months. Even their website is behind CWA's, which is the first place I went looking for information. Our internal reps are on the negotiating committee and have told us the 3 8's are going away and we'll have to deal with it. Even though theres only a small percentage of employees on this board even some of east agents would like to have 3 8's as an option. There are some very valid rasons for and against. No one has asked the agents how we feel except of course on this board! There has to be a way to do this that would satisfy agents and protect full time jobs!

 

[john john]

they did it when they put in the last LOA....they GAVE all the west CSS positions to fulltimers first...then went to part timers....did not matter if a full timer on the west side got full time because they were chummy with the former manager...did not matter that they were not qualified...this new association does not listen to its members....the "association" never even notified the members they were trying to get this LOA put into place....they just did it.....this new USAIRWAYS can not be totally focused on full timers...like the contract is...you are now merged with a company that 75 plus percent were part timers----and most not by choice.

The LOA for CSS positions was agree on to allow CSS to be pick by seniority instead of a management handpicking process

 

[Squonk]

"OVERTIME
The company did not have an issue with equalizing and zeroing out on a quarterly basis rather then a yearly basis."

We have not zeroed out since the original contract was ratified. In other words, we have been accumulating hours for about 8 years now.

:down:

 

[28yrsnojob]

This is great I can work 1 or 2 days a week and have 5 days off every week. Let get this started right away.

 

[tadjr]

No one has asked the agents how we feel except of course on this board!

Then you need to keep after your union rep. Ours came to our station to get the feeling from agents as to what they wanted/expected from scheduling changes and FT/PT ratios. Falls back on your rep. Call them, email them, tell them you want to set up a meeting, thats what they're getting paid to do for you.

We have not zeroed out since the original contract was ratified. In other words, we have been accumulating hours for about 8 years now.

:down:

And yet you're there 24/7 it seems.....

 

[deltawatch]

I think there was a meeting on this between the CWA and company yesterday..... lets see how long it take the CWA staff to tell us anything www.cwa.net ...... :unsure: