Overspeed said:
That's true we all have the right to make assumptions.
Almost every manager I spoke with shortly after the first wave of early outs in 1995 said it was a mistake. Too many fresh new mechanics without anyone to show them the ropes was a mistake. We all suffered as well as the new hires by not having those old salts show them the ropes. Back filling with lower paid, less skilled mechanics drove AA to over compensate by hiring too many people to make up for the lack of experience and skill.
Perhaps UA is offering enough yes votes to cram a POS contract down the remaining people's throats. Management isn't looking to make people happy, the are trying to get just enough votes to pass.
That's if the Union agrees to bring it back. Just enough votes to pass? That's a strategy based upon a company controlling a union, its wrong for a Union to bring a contract back that can only be passed by using fear tactics and having guys who are leaving the company be the deciding factor, it means that as soon as those folks leave the majority that remains voted against the deal. That's what "company Unions" do.
Adding more work is never bad but they are adding that due to growth and the addition of the 787. It was not contractual scope language that drove that. Remember the 787 is advertised as 50% fewer labor hours than the aircraft it replaces. More work on the line but a lot less at the base. It's the maintenance program that is driving where the work goes, not the union.
So what you are saying is that you favor the Union driving work away from the line and to the base? Show me the language that stops AA from doing C-checks at JFK or PS checks in Tulsa. I didn't say the Union was driving anything over there, the point is they are adding work despite what you claim is their inferior language and much better compensation, and the work they are adding will be at premium rates, not OSM rates.
So that being said, the draconian measures already happened when all the AO was outsourced during the BK.
Sure, because by the time that happened, AA, Delta, US, NWA and UAL had dumped thousands of mechanics on the unemployment lines and the AARs and TIMCO's had all the labor they needed, UA could do it then, what they couldn't do was establish an OSM program that made up 20% of the OH workforce like AA had without ever going BK, AA cant, they admitted during negotiations that capacity was tight with narrow-body OH. they could not have outsourced all of it even if they wanted to, but instead we not only gave concessions that brought our rates closer to the MRO,s but gave them the language to take advantage of any ramped up capacity down the road at their leisure.
Are 514 members second class members to you that deserve to be ditched to line your pockets?
That's your position not mine. 514 members have seniority and the right to bump, just like the members of 530 had, just like the guys in AFW had, just like the mechanics at BDL had when they closed that station and scores of others through the years, were they all second class members since we didn't do whatever it took to keep those stations staffed? this is the airline industry, nobody ever said to expect to never get laid off . Why is it that you claim that everyone everywhere else has to live under a set of rules where Tulsa must be preserved at ANY cost to everybody else? Nobody anywhere else gets or expects such selfless sacrifices. If AA chooses to close Tulsa they will, no matter what we give up, but with people like you around all they have to do is threaten it and you will give them anything they want, except of course, IIRC, dues checkoff, that you would strike for.
Like I said, I voted for less outsourcing than all the carriers you mentioned. Have you looked at how many licensed A&P's are doing the HC's on the 747 and 777's for UA in AMECO? None. How many licensed A&Ps are doing the HC's on SWA aircraft in El Salvador? Almost none. How many licensed A&Ps are doing the work on DL MD80s at Aeromexico in GDL? Practically none.
Fact is you voted to increase the amount AA could outsource, and you voted away system protection as well. Spin spin spin but the truth is plain to see, are the places where they send their 777s much different than the places we send ours? You voted to give AA everything they wanted, they didn't want more than they got, they got more than they even asked for, even Burdette looked puzzled when Don came out with his 35% total spend offer. Don changed it from 45% billable man-hours to 35% total spend (subject to exclusions) which can easily be a lot more than 45% of hours if they ship it all overseas which our contract allows, and like you, he spun it as a gain for us. How many times have you blasted the mechanics at SWA for allowing a limited number of planes to go overseas only to see you vote to allow all AA's outsourced work to go overseas? The fact is that the 'caps" gave AA more than what they felt they could exploit in the current market, winning language for even more would have been pointless because they would not be able to take advantage of it, if we had agreed to 90% of total spend our headcount today would be no different than it is now but throw out a number that looks lower, even though its measuring something differently and let people like you make the argument that other concessions were a worthwhile expense for that lower number. In other words pay for something that we would have kept anyway.
The two hangars that UAL are building in EWR and IAD will be staffed with A&P mechanics, all line mechanics are A&Ps, but you want to drive work to the bases away from the line where they can do the work with unlicensed OSMs, and all the licensed A&Ps should be willing to give even more concessions to make that happen right?
One thing I will give the guys at UAL credit for is that their language says they have to keep the larger narrow-body fleet in the US, unlike ours where when the Airbus fleet comes of age there is nothing stopping AA from sending AA narrow-body planes to the same places you are talking about, and as you yourself have admitted the mid term wage adjustment will allow them to ship a LOT more billable hours out, more than the 45% cap on hours would have allowed.
Speaking of Don, is he back to work? One would think that he would be eager to dive right back in there and work under the deal he crafted right?
