supercruiser said:
All of the pensions (retirement plans) should have been in jeopardy the last Ch11. The other unions and management with pensions skated at ALPA's expense. They took a haircut while the others got a trim. The fact remains that the large cash payment due is because of existing pension plans that don't include ALPA. I agree that the plan is to go Ch11 anyway, as those pension plans were never going to be given up voluntarily, whether this current payment is made or not.
supercruiser
[post="177863"][/post]
If the above comment is truly how you feel, than that is ashame.
To say that the other groups skated and that all should have given up pensions while in BK is a flat-out selfish statment coming from a pilot, and you are not the first pilot to say it either.
Our pensions were not touched, because the liability was NOT combined. It was management that took pension OFF the table both in the summer and winter negotiations. As I stated on here previously, I know this for a fact as I was in those negotiations. Our acturarial told us that with the wage cuts, the co. had an insginificant liability to AFA's pension.
Our average pension for f/as is $13,000 per year; not $1 million.
Your satisfaction to see the rest of the groups lose their pension, will not lessen the reality of your pension being gone. If you think your paycut pays for our pensions, then what does our paycuts pay for ....nothing?
I suspect and have stated to Lakefield that I believe the entire pension issue with AFA and IAM is to satisfy ALPA, not because of a "real" liability. Lakefield denies this assertion.
To this day, we can't get the company to tell us what exactly IS AFA's liability, and if they could extrapolate that in a wage, how much is it.... the company states they don't really know.
I do know, however, what ALPA Defined Contribution yearly liability is in these front few years, and that was told by top senior ranks of managment to me personally when I posed the question.
Its huge.
So, my estimation is that the company will not be able to get ALPA to capitulate to relief for their Defined contributions, if the company allows AFA and IAM to still keep their pensions.
The whole thng is a scam.
A scam to get all the DBP frozen or terminated and reduce the pilots defined contribution.
I don't think you can sit and argue otherwise.