Was the trade off on the $57M in retiree medical funds how we got the higher line premium? Isn't paying for your retiree medical industry standard?
If it was it was a deal that was never discussed with the committee. Maybe you were a part of such a discussion but I wasnt. So you are of the opinion that our labor carries no value? That if we get something such as a line premium that it has to come from somewhere else? That the company gets to slice off a piece of the pie and say "thats all you get divy it up as you like" and the size of the slice is non-negotiable? That is the typical stance of a
company union.
We do pay for our retiree medical, in fact we started paying for it 20 years ago way before everyone else did. The selling point back then was that the plan is jointly funded and that it would not dissapear even if AA did, that each of our dollars would be matched by one of their dollars, a concept similar to a 401k match. If the company wants out they should refund us both our contribution and the match.
You didnt respond to the Supplimental Medical that was sold to the members as a suppliment to their retiree medical and then simply terminated leaving AA with $76 million dollars.
Yes they bought new airplanes. Kind of humbling huh Bob? They were able to engineering a huge aircraft purchase and not wait for the labor groups. I wonder how that could have happened. Could it be AA has a distinct advantage over other airlines in that they have not gone BK? Those planes can be repossessed or leases renegotiated in BK. Labor agreements, well...we all know what happens with those in front of the benevolent BK judge. Just ask UA, NW, DL, US, and CO. Speaking of CO, ask any ex-Con if they got their pay frozen in 1990, BK in late 1990, and laid off in 1994 in aircraft maintenance. Then ask them what CO did right after that. That's right they bought all brand new Boeing planes! Tons of them and looks like they paid for them with all that money they saved on overhaul since that's what they shut down in 1994.
Yep. AA is way better organized then you. They saw the TA rejection as a possibility and like a true tactician, they had a better plan than the JFK Casear Owens the Great. Now they have a slew of new planes (collateralized debt) and the ability to restructure labor agreements in BK court.
Thanks Brainiac
Hey Brainiac? Are you getting fustrated? Resorting to petty name calling?
What would stop them from doing all that even if we had agreed to the TA?
Nothing, and you knew that.
Seems like you and a few others just love beating that BK drum, like its been beat for the last 8 years. 8 years is a long time to be holding on by ones fingernails. The fact is we dont care anymore, it no longer strikes fear, we want our money, even if they file the next day, lets get it over with. You bring up Continental, well now they earn more than we do, have a DB and a 401k match, have more vacation, more Holidays, more sick time, more IOD time, Doubletime, and have CS language in the contract, have a paid Lunch or the option to go home early, all letters on performance such as our CR-1s removed after one year except for sexual harassment, inclement weather language and other things that we dont have. One of my former coworkers lives in Valley Stream. After he was laid off from AA at JFK he was hired by Continenatl in EWR. Despite the fact that he lives five miniutes from JFK and drives right past it and has to spend $20/day on tolls to get to EWR he turned down recall to stay at Continental. Delta went BK and they too earn more than we do. The fact is that no matter what we do nothing we do can stop AA from going BK so why build a strategy around something you have absolutely no control over? If anything the more we give before BK the less we are likely to end up with exiting it.
