RetiredFTS

April and May are the months most of my yard is in bloom and my allergies get worse every year. My usage those months will be up.

Jughead135

I have no intention of getting in the middle of this--but, as a new guy struggling to understand all of the various issues discussed ("disgust"? ) on this thread... yes, I would like some examples. Please.

Honest question.

LeineLodge

Oberon,

Don't let Carl spool you up. He's been at this for years. Anyone that doesn't see the world through his doom and gloom lens is an operative, being managed, etc. For every post of yours, he will shell out 3 or 4 until fatigue sets in and you realize it's not worth it.

Hint: the Ignore function on this forum works wonders.

Bottom line: This is a great place to be right now. We have lots of work to keep improving in this next round. And finally, there is no conspiracy of ALPA guys trying to "carry the company's water" (or whatever other silly phrase he will come up with next.)

Timbo

I know what a girl wants to hear, so I told her,

"I picked this one just for YOU!"

Rather B Fishin

Hmmm kind of like the union busting Berkshire does?

Waren Buffett, Russell Apparel, and Union Busting

We know that Warren Buffett believes we are undertaxed. We also know that the Oracle of Omaha has consistently spoken out against the excesses of Wall Street, but has strangely been silent on the role of the rating agencies in the recent housing bubble. Perhaps Buffett’s reticence is because his Berkshire Hathaway owns 20% of Moodys.

Now we learn that Warren Buffett, the capitalistic icon of the Democrats, is a union buster.

Berkshire’s subsidiary, Fruit of the Loom, acquired Russell Apparel, the sporting goods company, in 2006 for $607 million.

750 of the 1800 employees at Russell’s Choloma, Honduras plant voted to unionize in 2007. Russell responded by shuttering the plant for “economic reasons.” The company now claims to be saving $2 million annually by ending the lease on the facility. Russell denied anti-union animus played a role in the decision to close the plant.

What goes in Honduras does not stay in Honduras. Moises Elias a Bovado and Norma Estela Mejia Castellano, union leaders, are touring United States campuses, crying out about the Honduras closure.

College students are concerned about sweat shop operations in the apparel industry. Roughly two dozen colleges have responded to the union leaders by canceling their licensing agreements with Russell. Among the campuses dumping Russell are Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown, Harvard, Houston, Miami, Michigan, NYU, Penn, Purdue, Rutgers, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Buffett is notorious for buying value investments at a bargain. The Russell asset though is rapidly depreciating, consistently losing universities to Nike, founded by Phil Knight.

Buffett could learn from Knight, who has been a substantial contributor to the academic and athletics programs at his alma mater, the University of Oregon. Students voted in 2000 to boycott Nike on the Oregon campus. Phil Knight responded on April 17, 2000 by announcing that he was summarily cutting off his alma mater without another nickel. He cancelled a $30 million pledge to the University.

Nike is still featured at Oregon, and Knight has renewed his generosity to the Ducks.

Buffett, with an undergraduate degree from Nebraska, and an MBA from Columbia, has not been so generous to Columbia.

badflaps

I don't see how anybody can make a go of a business in Honduras, the labor laws are waay tilted towards the worker bee.

buzzpat

Dude, chill.

Aren't you a new hire? Are you even on property yet? If so, you don't/can't know the fabric of this thread.

I'm happy you're so tuned in. But, chill. You're getting way too fired up way too early.

RonRicco

Don't get too wound up. Calling everyone who has an opposing view an "operative" is nothing more than trying to change the perception of the lurkers.

The hope for those that go down that path is that they can create a forum where it appears that the vast majority posters have the same opinion as they do, and that certainly anyone who disagrees must certainly be some sort of DALPA insider on FPL, or a management lacky, who's only job is to muddy the waters since there is no way a line pilot could have a differing opinion anyway.

Of course the truth is, if you use this or any other forum as a barometer of the pilot group, you are going to have very bad data. I have seen it here, the old ALPA forum, even the AOL forums of yesteryear, and based on the posts here and there, you would think every TA was going to fail 90-10 and every election would we won by a "radical." It rarely works out that way though does it? Why? Because the average line pilot does have his or her own opinion, and it may or may not fall in line with the opinion of these guys. Since they all can't be Dalpa insiders or management guys, they must be branded as mindless zombies that "do whatever Alpa says." Again, certainly it just can't be that they have looked at the facts and have come to a different conclusion could it?

Get used to it Oberon and don't let it bother you. Most pilots are very thoughtful and smart enough to come to their own conclusions, and just because at times they don't mirror the sentiment of this or any other board, doesn't mean they are any less right or valid.

shiznit

Can you please explain, for the sake of those here that don't know, the reporting and accounting differences between an IRS Form 990 for an organization and an IRS Form W-2 for an individual?

I'm sure you are well versed in the distinct differences in how and what those two documents provide and include....

How much were you "compensated" in 2012 when you include:

• every commute to work
• every van service ride to/from layover hotel
• every hotel paid by the company
• every day of per diem costed at IRS max rates (even when you only got $52.80/day from DAL)
• the entire value of your family medical/dental/disability benefits - Not premiums, the entire value..
• Working 23-25 days per month(6-8 days OFF per month)
• Your Company 401k contribution for 2012
• Your future Company 401k contribution (estimated equivalent) for 5 years plus assumed interest at 767-400 pay?

I think the ALPA President's job is currently underpaid at $400,000-$450,000/yr.. I don't GAS if Dave Behncke, John Prater, Lee Moak, Heide O, or Mickey Mouse is president of ALPA, the job is demanding and deserves more.

I'm confident the FDX and DAL pilots will improve the next ALPA president's pay by a substantial margin.

scambo1

No kidding. I don't care who he is, but his behavior certainly doesn't seem like either a new hire or a line pilot.