Questions for ''expressed'' stations

[diogenes]

As I understand it, mainline stations that went express prior to the September and December 2002 ''renegotiations'' like FAY and AVL will not have the new portions of the contract applied to them, so they are stuck with a pretty crappy situation. Unbelievable! I thought the contract applied to everybody on the property as of 4/5/99. Any definitive info out there?

On to stations being ''expressed'' post concessions, like CLE.

1. Have you been given any packages yet?

2. Any briefings or documentation from the company or the IAM?

3. Any info as to how seniority works? For instance, if you are furloughed from mainline, and later recalled or accept an express position, do you maintain your seniority? It seems to me the only correct position is total flexibility for the agent. If the company is going to cause this much disruption, the least they can do is let the agent maintain his seniority.

Any ideas? I''ve run this up a flagpole or three and got a big fat I dunno!

 

[Mike W]

Diogenes,
Stations whos''closings were announced prior to the ratification of the second extortion agreement in January were not covered under the new Mainline Express classification.The IAM argued that it would only be fair to bring these folks in under this agreement but the company thought it more fair to kick them to the curb.Every day Dave shows just how labor friendly he is.
It was announced on March 28th that CLE and MKE would be closing for the June schedule change and would become express stations.The powers that be will be visiting CLE on April 25th to give us our packets. We have been told by our manager not to expect any cities to be listed for bid at this time.SO,we''ll have about a month by the time we get a list,to bid a city and be there to work. If you decide to stay and be part of the Mainline Express classification,you will take a $6.50 paycut along with your pension contribution being wacked in half.You will have the option of being able to transfer to a mainline city with your seniority.(This is for Fleet Service,I believe Customer Service may be different.)Some of the details are still being worked out as we speak.Why it took this long to work out this process is beyond me. Oh yeah,Dave said he didn''t anticipate any station closings in 2003.Stupid us for believing him.And no it was not related to the war in Iraq.I''m afraid I''m going to have to take my 24 years of seniority on the road to be able to feed my family.(Oh,I wish I was in the land of cotton.....la,la,la,la,la!)

BTW,recruiting was in CLE today to do interviews for Fleet and CSA positions.The "You pay peanuts,you get monkeys" parade was evident.One of my co-workers sat in on one of the sessions.She said when the recruiter said what the pay scale was,a number of people got up and left.Doesn''t bode well for US Airways when the majority of our system will be express.

 

[night_ice]

Aren't there any stations for immediate recall??

 

[Mike W]

Night,
Supposedly,they are compiling a list,but it must be some kind of corporate secret.Fleet Service doesn''t have straight bumping rights so we''re subject to go wherever the junior agents in the system are.More often than not ,it''s Philadelphia.We do have the right to name a recall city since our station is being closed.

 

[Robc98]

Being Mainline express sucks big time...morale is down and the I dont care what happens attitude is everywhere....going from 20.05 to 13.01 hr is bad...let alone the increase in medical...we hired 6 new agents who are still learning and will take some time before there comfortable...which in turn puts more pressure on the veterans who stayed who dont give a crap...we come in and we go thru the motions....I know some people think that still making 13.01 hr is good in certain parts of the world but knowing what has gone on over the last year with this company really makes this a big downer....remember 13.01 hr is on only 500.00 a week...1000 gross every two..take out taxes ..401k...medical and anything else u have and theres not much left......i hope this company will someday bring up the scales for these cities to make those who stayed able to provide for their families..cuz regardless of whether its mainline or mainline/express its still an operation of moving people and airplanes....the union did a big disservice to all the cities that are gonna get whacked here in the near future.....

 

[night_ice]

I thought fleet had bumping rights..a full-time person can bump another junior full-time person at another station. If not, some employees got the shaft. I heard a while back that DEN,RIC and BNA had immediate recall. Was this wrong?
BTV was also on that list, but now they are going express?

 

[diogenes]

Hello, Night Ice,

Fleet does not have full bumping rights like mech.,i.e., the displaced agent gets to bump a junior agent in the location of his choice. Fleet has system bumping - you replace the junior agent on the system, which is generally PHL.

 

[N786P]

Robc98, you''re right on target, working for any of the W/O''s express operators stinks...in all departments, I have''nt been with them long, looking like everyone else, {that have any clue to what is going on is} for a way out. Their pay, or "lack of" is a laugh, and the way they "jerk" around employees,ect...worse than
M/L.They are so behind the times on everything, their crews are not even CATII and M/L is going to allow big $$$ bucks to be spent on crew and mx training on jets?? They have alot of good employees that give 100%++ every day only to be ripped off and screwed over....sad.

 

[DakotaHC8]

>>>their crews are not even CATII and M/L is going to allow big $$$ bucks to be spent on crew and mx training on jets??

 

[night_ice]

BTV ramp is contracted out?! I almost put a bid in for that station a while back (1 yr)...Did those rampers all get other stations or call it quits? What is the most jr ramper that is on furlough? How is US handling the employees in the guard and reserve who got activated? Lots of overtime?

 

[dbn0922]

Actually, we went express in BTV on Feb 8th. They are a mainline express station now with the ramp being contracted out.

 

[dfw79]

$6/hr paycut does stink, however...everyone is missing the whole point behind these changes. The problem, is the 20+ year employee making over $20/hr to throw bags or check people in. They are competing against airlines like ATA, AirTran, etc...all of whom have a much younger work force (18-25) and therefore are more productive and cost less. Starting wages at those carriers may be $8-10/hr, but they make up for it by having fewer agents per flight and fewer expenses in terms of 401k, health, etc.

I''m sure if CCY had the ability...they would rather furlough everyone at the top of the list instead of the bottom. Just think...get rid of the people getting paid the bigger bucks, and you are able to keep on those who get paid less. The company is changing...and the days of working in the same capacity making plenty of cash until you retire is gone. The industry won''t allow for the higher paid employees anymore - especially with the LCCs hiring younger adults coming out of high school and college whom are having a blast at their job. When was the last time you looked out at the plane with a huge smile on your face and felt a bit of pride watching it taxi out after a quick turn.

 

[REACC1]

Ok, so the company doesn''t want dedicated "career" people anymore. They have become overwhelmed by this industry. They set the premise of prosperous "career", lured thousands of people into the business, and now they are reneging. So typical of U.
dfw79-(curious about your handle)With this kind of "business" or the application of "human relations" are you assuming that dedication is what they are going to get?
Most people work for a job to support themselves and their families.(an obvious and simple statement) However, you make it sound like they should relish the companies view and enjoy its prosperity on the backs of the people they are decieving.(with the premise mentioned above)
We see the point. The company is broke, not able to execute the upper level work to make it profitable, so the easiest way to make money is to take it from the employees.
If somebody breaks into your house, takes your credit cards,your life savings, takes your car, helps themselves to whatever is in your fridge, are you hoping they enjoyed their stay and their life is better because of it? Are you nuts?
Q-"When was the last time you looked out at the plane with a huge smile on your face and felt a bit of pride watching it taxi out after a quick turn."
A-The last time was when I was working in the position that I bid for, before I was decieved into believing that an opentime position was rotating job assignments, and I was making well above 13.01/hr. I believed that the company appreciated and respected its employees and the hard work that they do. Apparently, not anymore.

 

[Robc98]

DITTO...MIKE W...COULDNT HAVE SAID IT BETTER....I currently work out of AVP and we went thru the transition in FEB of this year...we hired 6 new agents and there all stacked on night shift...There very nice people but we have gone thru a very hard time getting them properly trained to do the job...our service has gone downhill at times because of this and pax have spoken about the difference....no one cares here anymore...the senior people all have other interests on the side to make money and wont work overtime cuz its not worth it anymore....this company will suffer immensely when they convert whatever cities into this mega 13.00hr carrier...we finished first in 2002 with some statistics by the Wichita State something or other but thats gonna be shortlived....our salary right now QUALIFIES me for FOOD STAMPS, FUEL ASSISTANCE, AND SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAMS just to mention a few...I have over 20yrs with this company and having Mainline stay at 20.00 while RJ work dives all the way to 13.01 is a disgrace by this union....We will become the majority in time I feel as far as numbers....and those at the top will relish their million dollar salaries while I go find a store to shop in so I dont run into anyone I know....

 

[Mike W]

DFW,
US Airways held a recruiting session on Thursday in Cleveland to get applicants for Mainline Express jobs in the Fleet Service and Customer Service classifications. At no time in the recruiting session or in the newspaper advertisement was the word CAREER ever used. They were told that for $8.86/hour they can plan on this being their only source of income because there will be no flexibility in regards to work schedules. It’s not likely that you'll get too many people to jump on those jobs when they realize that they will be working night shifts and most holidays for the time they are there. The door won't be able to revolve fast enough to cover the turnover that will occur. We saw this for a long time at Continental. They paid substandard wages and there was a constant change in personel.They were consistantly at the bottom in service and performance rankings. It wasn't until they began to pay wages that were in line with the industry did they begin to climb in the rankings for service and performance.The revolving door stopped and their employees felt as if they had a CAREER and a stake in their futures.
While all of us understand that the airline industry has changed forever,US Airways will realise that turning themselves into a company that pays substandard wages and offers no chance of a long term CAREER is short sightedand doomed to failure.This is a service business and having an employee group made up of people who are just collecting a check for beer money or something to do will impact service and performance.The passengers we rely on to fly us every day will eventually go to our competitors because we no longer can give the service they've come to expect.As more and more stations in our system go to the Mainline Express classification (and they will, with the spector of 465 RJ's looming) valuable CAREER employees who have made this airline their lives will leave and will be replaced with those who have no stake and will not care because they see only the next check and understand that this is only a stop on the way to their next job.
This airline's greatest asset in not Dave Seigel.It's the thirty thousand employees, who in the face of bankruptcy and wage and benefit cuts still went out and did their jobs every day. So well, in fact, that US Airways was ranked first last year in performance and service. Unfortunately, those employees are leaving every day.Mr.Seigel saw fit to find money for retention bonuses to vice presidents and directors but he can't find money to pay a living wage for the line employees who will service his customers.I shudder to think what this company will become in the next few years.