Dave Siegel interview

[PITbull]

Maybe Jerry Glass.

Hemenway was a peon among recruits, and still is...a "wana-be".


Definitely Jerry Glass IS THE REAL McCoy.

He was THE restructuring "Master Mind". And from what I read in the article, Dave Siegel learned "self preservation" from the "Master Mind". Dave looks to have fallen from grace in the BIG Corporate Airline Industry Scene, but he learned something from Jerry....protect "self". Dave was all about the goal; but so was Jerry...the guy hated when I went around him for anything, and took off right to Dave, when things weren't going my way, or I didn't get what I think we needed. whether it was to protecting jobs, or contract provisions.

Jerry played "good cop/ bad copy" beautifully. I just took advantage of that opening and seized it when I saw it. We in the union (during my time) adopted that as well. We perceieved this very quickly that this was going on, and my band of union reps who were aligned together implemented this as well to get what we needed for OUR group of employees.

I don't think Dave is spewing some "sour grapes", but conveying the reality that he couldn't "cut the mustard". Jerry did throw Seigel out with the bath water. Pilots hated Siegel, but really they should have been hating Jerry Glass. He was the crux of the breakdown between management and Labor.

I think Dave Siegel during my time was actually the guy who tried to make peace with labor as much as he could; he was even told to "stay away from me" and his e-mails were filtered by Corporate...by Jerry Glass I suspect, and the General attornies of USAirways who blocked by e-mails. But I got to Dave one way or another...press mostly sprang the poor guy into action and he just couldn't resist trying to rip me a new one in his e-mails. I frankly didn't give a damn, and welcomed the chaos at CCY from press embarrassment. It just made my day. Media attention was the main and only line of attack that the BK Judge could not stop, and I did what worked for me...bastards that they were.

I wrote Dave a letter upon his departure from USAirways with my "union hat off", and the Head of Legal wrote me back. She told me Dave did receive it.

I always knew since the day Jerry Glass stepped on the property he was always the guy with the GOAL in mind; slam USAirways employees and make an industry name for himself....

AND HE ACCOMPLISHED THAT because his heart is in profiting by union busting and breaking employees' spirit by any means he can. The ambiguity is pretending to wear a banner of "labor friendliness"; but in reality being anti-union/anti labor.

The difference here is that Dave Siegel had more of a hard time implementing those tactics. He learned the hard way and it cost him his elevation into the Coporate high-powered executive elite wash rooms.

 

[PITbull]

This one?

if it is, you're right; it is a fantastic read, and one I'd highly recommend.

A Labor professor at PITT University gave that to me in 2002 after the first BK, i read it cover to cover...and then I knew what we had on the property of USAirways...it was no fantasy, it was real. Mollie McCarthy read it as well. And the union busting was happening to us...bifercating one group against the other, implementing "the art of war". it was happening to us. I called Jerry on it...in a newsletter I wrote out to the members Dec. 21,2002. Jerry was none to pleased. At that point he watched me and dealt with me for the next 4 years after.

Now, that was a hell of an experience and I was absolutely ready to take him on with his cast of characters.

 

[PITbull]

Piney:

Teddy is a good friend of mine. I was ccd on the many e-mail weekend fights between Teddy and Dave Siegel. These wars started around 8 on Friday. lasted all weekend, and went until midnight on Sunday. Many time Jerry Glass joined in and he always defended Dave Siegel. My point is, Jerry never said a negative word against Dave Siegel in my presence. This article, in my opinion, is nothing but sour grapes.

Are there horror labor relation stories? absolutely. However, that doesn't negate the fact the majority of the employees either voted yes, or elected not to vote at all. And, if you voted yes, or didn't vote at all, you don't have the right to complain. Much the same as Dave Siegel blaming Jerry Glass for his demise, the employees fail to accept their responsibility in their working conditions. I appreciate a 'no' vote could have been a vote for the street; obviously the majority thought 'yes' was preferable to the street and now they must live with the consequences.

All true, I never heard Jerry ever speak ill of Dave Siegel; but nonetheless, Dave is entitled to his perception and viewpoint. I just think that Jerry was holding all the cards and never had to speak ill of Dave; after all, the entire tumultuous relationship between labor and management was all created by Jerry Glass. Dave never got the credit at USAirways (which originally might have been his plan all along to bring down all the labor costs and some)...Jerry got all the credit; that makes Jerry the most crafty, and I understand Dave's feelings of betrayl.

Dave was targeted as the "bad guy", and was kicked to the curb just to appeal to the pilots...who grew to hate Siegel...that was also for the sake of Bonnerman main stakeholder (Bonehead) who wanted another round of concessions from the pilots. Pilots were always asked FIRST to go to the table, and you had some pilot wimps in office who just scurried right along to the table. Dave's departure was all about getting the pilots to the table for a third round...... and into BK we went yet again. In comes Bruce lakefield from stage left.

However, I knew better....many of us did. I just happened to be in the front row, looking deception in the eye every day, and realized the the main Agenda...war. Jerry controlled everything and every group and the guy just had to be dealt with.

 

[robbedagain]

i wonder how siegel would have done if he hadnt hired those things he called labor relations personell specifically one individual union busting idiot. i still remember seigels line I will Not Take the Money and Run yet just wekk later he did just that

 

[700UW]

Siegel was fired, you are thinking about Rakesh and he did not take the money and run.

 

[Dilligas]

Siegel was fired, you are thinking about Rakesh and he did not take the money and run.

Not exactly.

It was about a week after Dave said he would stick it out and not take the golden parachute package, that he did exactly what he said he would NOT do. Remember his promise to his kids they would not have to move again? That's the reason he gave for not moving HQ from expensive DC to PIT or CLT. Guess you lied to your kids too, eh Dave?

----------------------------------------
From USA Today 4/19/2004:

"A spokesman at the Arlington, Va.-based airline declined to say whether Siegel, who held the job for two years, was forced out. Siegel had been a target of the airline's labor unions.

But Siegel's resignation comes amid a 30-day window in his contract that allows him a walk-away payment of up to $5 million. An airline spokesman said it hadn't been determined whether Siegel would collect the full amount.

In a March meeting with employees, Siegel said he had "told Dr. Bronner that I'm willing to walk away from the golden parachute that comes to me in April. I'm prepared to lead this company."

In a statement, Siegel said the airline's "ability to move forward and make additional changes will require a change in leadership."
---------------------------------------

As for Rakesh, didn't he & Wolf get a huge pension cashout immediately before Bankruptcy One?

Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 2-26-2003:

"As it was careening into financial ruin and ultimately Chapter 11 bankruptcy, US Airways paid $35 million in lump-sum retirement benefits to its former top three executives"

"Stephen Wolf, who ran the airline for seven years and now serves as chairman of the board, received $15 million. Wolf is no longer employed by the carrier. His protege, Rakesh Gangwal, who resigned as president and CEO in November 2001, also received $15 million, and Lawrence Nagin, the airline's longtime executive vice president and general counsel who retired last March, received $5 million"

------------------------------------------

same old song... they ALL took the money ... including your hero Rakesh. Dave certainly could have had those pension payouts abrogated in BK One... but the guys with 6 yrs service got $15 million each,, after they were long gone from the scene. The elite look after the elite. The workers got screwed and tattoed... several times.

Makes me f'n sick.

D

 

[Real tired]

Piney:

Teddy is a good friend of mine. I was ccd on the many e-mail weekend fights between Teddy and Dave Siegel. These wars started around 8 on Friday. lasted all weekend, and went until midnight on Sunday. Many time Jerry Glass joined in and he always defended Dave Siegel. My point is, Jerry never said a negative word against Dave Siegel in my presence. This article, in my opinion, is nothing but sour grapes.

Are there horror labor relation stories? absolutely. However, that doesn't negate the fact the majority of the employees either voted yes, or elected not to vote at all. And, if you voted yes, or didn't vote at all, you don't have the right to complain. Much the same as Dave Siegel blaming Jerry Glass for his demise, the employees fail to accept their responsibility in their working conditions. I appreciate a 'no' vote could have been a vote for the street; obviously the majority thought 'yes' was preferable to the street and now they must live with the consequences.

Beautiful. Thank you!!

I can't speak for the other departments, but in Maintenance, we are nothing more than a large group of disgruntled yes voters. Which, in my opinion, creates the bad morale in our department.

And now we are living with those consequences.

 

[Smartest Loser]

Whats bad is that he admits to "HIRING" people to bust the unions....!!!

Watch out XOJet..!!

SL

 

[ClueByFour]

However, I knew better....many of us did. I just happened to be in the front row, looking deception in the eye every day, and realized the the main Agenda...war. Jerry controlled everything and every group and the guy just had to be dealt with.

Good friend of mine works at Gate Gourmet in accounting in DC. "Call me Dave" is not a good guy.

 

[diogenes]

What happened to US then is relevant today - employees at GM and Chrysler better bone up, because it's coming to them.

And a shout out to PITbull - baby, if we could have cloned you and put you in charge of ALPA and IAM, things would have turned out very differently!

 

[700UW]

Dave and Gate Gourmet had worse labor relations than he did when he was at US.

The only reason Dave landed at GG that is was owned by TPG, where Dave's buddy Dave Bonderman was CEO, remember TPG turned around CO and HP and was suppose to own US but Dr Bronner the bonehead stepped in.

Dave's tenure at GG:

Friday, 12 August 2005

800 sacked – Given 3 minutes notice at Gate Gourmet

A massive picket line of angry workers determined that their boss will not succeed in destroying the
‘Eight hundred workers at the gate gourmet airline catering company have been sacked,’ Tony Woodley told a press conference at the TGWU offices in Hillingdon, west London, yesterday.

Five hundred workers were sacked on Wednesday and the remaining three hundred, including those on holiday and sick leave, were sacked, yesterday.

Woodley said: ‘It is an extremely serious situation – hundreds and hundreds of men and women sacked at three minutes’ notice, some over a megaphone.

‘Union-busting is the name of the game.

‘This company is unilaterally trying to reduce our members’ wages, terms and conditions.

‘It is classic American union-busting. British Airways is Gate Gourmet’s major customer and they must use their influence to find a resolution.

‘We want conciliation not confrontation.

‘It is not a question of calling people across the airport to come out, and there are legal constraints on us.

‘If they get a reaction it is only to be expected.

‘This is a major dispute which is inevitably going to escalate here.

‘I’m not legally entitled to say other members will come out even if they were prepared to do it.

‘This is about 800 predominately Asian men and women who have been arbitrarily sacked.

‘Every employee has been sacked, even those on leave.

‘The company have invited people to come back in if they sign new contracts.

‘We know the company has had difficulties and we have been in consultation with them to try to solve them.

‘But we can’t negotiate with eight hundred people sacked.

‘One of the managers said “we can’t work with this communityâ€. Was he talking about the Asian community?

‘It’s disgraceful that he used these words.’

The TGWU said yesterday it is ‘seeking the immediate reinstatement of the sacked workers’.

The locked out Gate Gourmet workers yesterday held a mass picket. By mid-afternoon workers at the Cargo Terminal had walked out and Terminal 1 was closed.

Gate Gourmet workers were forced by police to picket on a roundabout on the main road several hundred yards from the factory, but there is a determined mood.

Locked out worker Joginder Chhina told News Line: ‘They want to cut our wages from £7.71 an hour down to £6.05 an hour.

‘And they want us to service extra flights as well.

‘At the moment we get up to 18 days sick pay. They want to cut that to one day if you’ve worked five years and no days if you’ve worked less.’

Malind Kaul said: ‘There were about 150 agency workers brought in on Wednesday morning.

‘The company has been planning this for seven months.

‘When we heard that they had been brought in, we held a meeting in the canteen.

‘Management came in. They wouldn’t listen, they said “back to work in five minutes or you are sackedâ€.

‘Then they brought the police in.

‘We stayed in there. We weren’t allowed to use the toilets for seven hours, from ten to five.

‘Then they took our passes and threw us out. They dragged some of the women.

‘When the late shift came in, they took their passes and told them they were sacked.’

Mrs Randhawa added: ‘They wouldn’t even let us out for the toilet for over six hours.

‘Management was prepared, we are innocent. They were ready to sack us.

‘One lady was hurt, they pushed her.

‘We are fighting for our jobs back on our original terms and conditions.’

 

[700UW]

The Transport & General Workers Union (T&G) has reached a settlement with Gate Gourmet in the dispute which began on August 10th when the airline caterer sacked almost 800 workers at Heathrow Airport.

Although the initial number of sacked workers was quickly adjusted to 670 - once Gate Gourmet realised that amongst those sacked for "engaging in illegal industrial action" were workers on holiday, sick and maternity leave - the outrageous facts of the matter have remained unchanged. As the sordid background to Gate Gourmet's actions was gradually revealed, the company's conduct came under increasing public attack and its reputation worsened steadily.

For months prior to the sackings, Gate Gourmet had been engaged in negotiations with the T&G over concessions on salaries and working conditions in order to secure the financial survival of its operations in the UK. Gate Gourmet was in fact under pressure from its parent company, the US-based investment firm, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), to improve its performance. As has been reported, TPG even devised a plan to achieve cost savings for Gate Gourmet and better returns for its investors - a plan which Gate Gourmet swears was never put in place nor even seriously considered, but which bears an uncanny resemblance to what actually happened: workers were provoked into staging a walk-out which was used as a pretext for mass dismissals and the flying-in of replacement workers from outside the UK, workers who had been recruited through a labour-hire agency Gate Gourmet had earlier set up for the purpose.

These sub-contracted replacement workers earn less than the already low-paid workers directly employed by Gate Gourmet.

Under duress to improve returns for TPG's investors, Gate Gourmet not only put pressure on the T&G, but on its main client, British Airways, which it pressed for concessions on its contract. BA has since agreed to a new contract with more favourable terms for Gate Gourmet, but indicated it was contingent on Gate Gourmet and the T&G coming to agreement.

While over 600 sacked workers and supporters staging daily protests on grounds outside Heathrow Airport, the T&G continued to engage in talks with the company over the reinstatement of all the sacked workers. In late August, in a compromise move, voluntary redundancy packages were offered to all Gate Gourmet staff, those who still had their jobs as well as those who had been sacked. This initiative was soon jeopardised, however, by the company's insistence on deciding who would be eligible for the package and its public avowal that so-called "troublemakers" would not be reinstated.

According to T&G General Secretary Tony Woodley, the settlement, ratified by an overwhelming majority of the workforce on 28-29 September, "...will see the great majority of our members going back to work or taking voluntary separation. The remainder, who would have faced compulsory redundancy under the company's plans prior to the dispute, will now have representation and access to an appeals procedure following a fair process. Even those members will at least now receive compensation whereas they would have received nothing after being sacked."

The T&G has expressed its thanks to all who have supported them and the sacked Gate Gourmet workers throughout this struggle. When the crisis broke, The IUF and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) quickly mobilised support from affiliates organising workers in airline catering. Through LabourStart, almost 8,000 protest messages were sent to Gate Gourmet and contributions were collected for the T&G's hardship fund for the sacked workers.

The prerequisite has now been met for the new BA contract to take effect. But there is no reason to expect that the improved economic terms for Gate Gourmet will be passed on to the workforce. The workers were the victims of a stratagem, sacrificed by Gate Gourmet in the name of higher returns for its investors and caught in the middle of Gate Gourmet's commercial dispute with its main client. And thanks to prevailing legislation in the UK, Gate Gourmet could act with impunity.

The T&G has had to manoeuvre in an environment hostile to labour and insensitive to the reality faced by hard-working but low-paid service workers. This dark episode in industrial relations has underlined the need for legal reforms to redress the disparity between the means and mechanisms available to labour and to capital. The debate is on in the UK and needs to be taken up by the trade union movement everywhere. If we want to continue to effectively defend the interests of working people and protect vulnerable groups in our societies, we cannot allow our ability to leverage the collective persuasive power of our membership to be curtailed.

 

[PITbull]

What happened to US then is relevant today - employees at GM and Chrysler better bone up, because it's coming to them.

And a shout out to PITbull - baby, if we could have cloned you and put you in charge of ALPA and IAM, things would have turned out very differently!

Gee Dio, So nice to hear from you...miss the hell out of talking to ya.

My best to you,