ACTION NEEDED: Letter to PHX pilots re Distance Learning settlement
Fellow PHX-based pilots,
As you may have heard by now, USAPA and the company have reached a purported settlement of the Distance Learning dispute. For the reasons that we will explain below, we find this purported settlement collusive, concessionary, and completely unacceptable. We ask you to take the time to read this lengthy letter so that you have a thorough understanding of this issue.
BACKGROUND
As you may recall, just over a year ago, the company announced that it had made a massive pay error in favor of the West pilots. The company also announced that it intended to recoup the entire balance of that alleged overpayment in the form of several hundred dollars in deductions over four paychecks, and without first substantiating its error to the affected pilots. At about the same time, news broke about an overpayment made to East pilots that the company did not plan to recoup under the pretext waiting for the outcome of an arbitration that USAPA never planned to schedule. The West pilots were outraged by this news, and uniformly communicated their disgust to Mr. Parker.
Concerned by our outrage, Doug Parker called an emergency crew news as a means to avoid a complete meltdown of the operation. At the crew news session, Doug Parker publicly ordered Al Hemenway to provide the West the same backroom deal that had been so freely given to USAPA: to provide the West with an opportunity to arbitrate its case, and if, and only if, an arbitrator determined there was an overpayment would the company consider recouping it. If an overpayment was due, Mr. Parker vowed that it would be recouped in terms far less onerous than originally planned by Al Hemenway.
The manner in which Mr. Parker handled this situation is very significant. First, Mr. Parker was well aware of the East disparity well before he called the emergency crew news session. When it was suggested to Mr. Parker that the West pilots might be outraged by this decision, he flippantly replied that he was unconcerned with the West’s reaction, and that he simply wanted the money to come from our checks immediately. In was only after Mr. Parker’s interests were adversely affected that he became interested in being “fair.”
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
Since that “emergency crew news” was called by Mr. Parker, both Al Hemenway (former East Labor Relations manager and current Labor VP) and Tracy Parrella have made it a top priority to find a way to extract $2.6 million from our paychecks - each for their own personal anti-West reasons. Al Hemenway, after having egg on his face from his first failed attempt, is seeking retribution. Tracy Parrella, who has repeatedly used the grievance process to intentionally harm West pilots, is seeking to bankrupt our legal efforts by attacking our paychecks.
In essence, both USAPA and the company share a common interest to extract the maximum amount of money from West pilot paychecks in the most onerous terms possible. Neither is interested in resolving the legitimate issues underlying the dispute that deal directly with the amount of the alleged overpayment and the limitations on the company’s right to recoup it.
THE SETTLEMENT
This settlement provides the company and USAPA with everything that they want, but provides nothing for West pilots.
First, the primary issue that gave rise to this problem remains just as unresolved as it did a year ago: the company has no plan to recoup overpayment from the East pilots. Mr. Hemenway is simply hoping that you forgot about the special deal that he negotiated with USAPA, and that a seemingly generous 12-month repayment plan will be sufficient as to prevent another West uprising. The fact is that but for our previous “uprising” - the company would have recovered $2.6 million from your paychecks over two months and the East would have repaid NONE of its overpayment. This recent settlement does nothing to address this gross disparity, and in fact only re-establishes it.
Second, the amount of the overpayment is in serious question, and USAPA did not plan to address that issue in arbitration. Namely, the Distance Learning LOU requires that the Training Committee approve all distance learning modules, including verifying the credit time assigned to each module. The LOU even contains a dispute resolution provision in the event that the Training Committee disagrees with the company’s assigned credit time. The purpose of this dispute provision is to prevent the company from shorting the pilots training pay. Of course, none of the distance learning modules completed during the period of the company’s alleged pay error were ever checked. Therefore, it is very possible that we have been shorted some credit time for the distance learning modules we have completed.
Third, the company is claiming a right under Section 4 of the AWA contract to recoup 100% of its alleged overpayment. The Section 4 repayment provision is extremely narrow in scope. It was negotiated to address only individual instances of overpayment that typically result from one-time credit accounting errors. It was not designed to permit the company to recoup massive system-wide pay errors that extend back several years. Under the company’s read of the repayment provision, it may access your paycheck from pay errors of any size from any time in the past.
Perhaps even more frustrating is one repayment option that was conveniently overlooked by both USAPA and management. Because the genesis of this issue is gross negligence on the company’s part, clearly the only acceptable solution, assuming that the amount in controversy can be resolved, is simply for the company to withhold some payments from future distance learning modules. This would be a “cost neutral” method that Mr. Parker tends favor when normally dealing with labor issues and we are amazed that the company seems to be ignoring this most obvious of solutions now.
CONCLUSION
We are really not asking for much here. If the company made an alleged overpayment, then we should be provided a fair opportunity to analyze and dispute it, and be provided with a convenient reconciliation method considering that this was entirely the company’s fault. Instead, we continue to be met with the hostile forces of USAPA and two of the company’s most notorious anti-West vice-presidents.
It is unfortunate that we must continue to go to such measures to merely be treated fairly, but with a CEO who lacks any amount of credibility or leadership skills, we seemingly have no other choice. It defies logic that a senior management team, who pockets millions from the operational numbers that come primarily from the West operation, would repeatedly demonstrate such utter disregard for those most responsible for that performance. However, if we do not firmly raise our objection in instances such as this, then we forever relegate ourselves to mistreatment.
We encourage all West pilots to voice their concerns about this issue to senior management at the following email addresses:
douglas.parker@usairways.com
scott.kirby@usairways.com
robert.isom@usairways.com
stephen.johnson@usairways.com
elise.eberwein@usairways.com
derek.kerr@usairways.com
We fully expect the company to into full spin mode and compose a response designed to deflect blame and raise doubt. Don’t fall for it! Words are meaningless. None of us should accept anything less than a substantial change in the approach of the company towards this issue.
Sincerely,
John McIlvenna
Mitch Vasin
