Mr.Robot-tow
Member
That is 363 (B) I could not get ridded of the emoticon
Official: AMR Bankrupt
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BoeingBoy
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Mostly, that's just a formality for first day motions/orders. Workers can't be expected to come to work if they're not being paid, the covered cost of medical care isn't paid, etc, so the court routinely grants companies filing bankruptcy the ability to pay workers wages/benefits. As you mention, the pensions are almost a separate issue - payments were presumably required fairly soon after filing bankruptcy and the judge gave AA the right to make those payments but didn't require them. The judge basically recognized AA's ability to freeze/terminate the pension plans under the bankruptcy code except any that are included in the contract for specific groups. So as you say, when the payments are due you might have some idea of the company's intentions. That assumes that the payments are required. I understand that AA has been making larger payments than required to at least some of the plans, so if the January payments aren't required non-payment wouldn't necessarily mean anything.
As far as a job action, the unions would be on shaky ground. Bankruptcy law generally trumps labor law under the NMB - for example, the NMB has no method for a company to abrogate labor contracts short of declaring an impasse but bankruptcy law does. In bankruptcy, you're basically screwed. At best, you could hope for what happened at US in it's first bankruptcy. The pilots negotiated consensual concessions just before US filed for bankruptcy, with ratification occurring a couple weeks after the filing. The DB pension wasn't included in the changes approved by the judge. Shortly before exiting bankruptcy, US found that it needed to terminate the DB plan to make the financial projections in the POR work so filed to terminate the plan. The judge ruled that the plan met the requirements for a distress termination but since it was covered by the contract (with the changes US said they needed and he approved) he didn't have the authority to terminate it. The termination had to be approved by the union. Faced with the choice of not getting the ATSB guaranteed loan followed by liquidation or allowing the termination of the DB plan, the union agreed to termination of the plan as long as a suitable DC plan was negotiated, which happened.
So if freezing/terminating the DB plans are in the concessions the company wants during the 1113 process, you'll know what their intent is. There's really not much you can do - either agree or face potential liquidation.
Jim
Jim
BoeingBoy
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As far as I know it's still required but may not get filed until 2-3 weeks after the end of each month for the earlier filings - a lot is happening in the early stages of bankruptcy. I expect that AA's initial filing will cover the last days of November and all of December, and won't be filed until the middle of January or later.
Jim
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MCI transplant
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<_< ------ How about this one Buck? B) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/business/nlrb-backs-workers-on-joint-arbitration-cases.html?hp
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What happens to OH if it is shunted off to a independent company and interstate commence goes away? Does the NLRB apply then?
Are Federal Express and United Parcel Service airlines?
eolesen
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Are you certificated for interstate service? RLA would likely apply.
Also, unless something finally changed in the last two years, your facts on FDX and UPS are a bit suspect.
Fedex Express is the airline subsidiary, and it's workers (including delivery and sort drivers in the Express subsidiary ) ARE RLA covered. FedEx used to use that as a selling point. FedEx Ground is NRLA covered. So are Fedex Office, and Logistics.
UPS Is NRLA covered because it does not segregate its operations in the same way that Fedex did.
In short, Fedex Express is an airline with delivery trucks, and UPS is a trucking company with airplanes.
eolesen
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Unless you're a Part XXX airline (or UPS), you are NRLA. I'm fairly certain that maintenance subsidiaries like what Eagle has also fall outside of RLA despite being owned by the same corporate parent (same loophole that keeps Fedex subsidiaries separated).
