Oldfreightdawg

All True:

1983--"B" scale contract negotiated at AA
1985--New contract with raises
1987--New contract with raises
1991--new contract with raises and elimination of "B" scale differences in pay, pension and vacation
1997--new contract--some pay increases, work rule give-backs
2003--pay cuts, work rule give backs.

In these 20 years you will note that the length of time between contracts has tripled, and restoration of previous pay and work rules concessions has yet to occur.

How Kellner can sit with a straight face and say that nothing about labor costs has changed since deregulation, all the while couching his argument for RLA changes as part of "re-regulating" the industry, is stupefying at best.

Ladies and gentlemen, our battle is not at the negotiating table or in BK, but on capitol hill. We all should be writing our representatives (instead of each other) to lobby for meaningful changes in the RLA that will recognize the contribution of aviation professionals in this country. Only then will we truly have a level playing field.

Shootinstr8

Ladies and gentlemen, our battle is not at the negotiating table or in BK, but on capitol hill. We all should be writing our representatives (instead of each other) to lobby for meaningful changes in the RLA that will recognize the contribution of aviation professionals in this country. Only then will we truly have a level playing field.


SPOT ON!!!

The only way we can attain change is through those that control it. If they really knew our full side of the story, maybe some action could be taken. They believe that all of us are 747 CAs making $300,000 a year for sitting on back porch 20 days a month.

tomgoodman

I agree that we need legislative help, but think that the real disaster in recent years has been abuse of the Bankruptcy Code, not the RLA. Management can get a new concessionary contract years before the amendable date by filing or threatening to file BK, but when Labor wants to renegotiate, they're told "a contract is a contract."

Oldfreightdawg

True enough. I don't know if strengthening the RLA would prevent future BK abuses, or if overhauling the BK legislation would be necessary. If I had to guess, it's somewhere between.

I think your senior enough to remember what happened to CAL in 1983--Then CEO Frank Lorenzo convinced the presiding BK judge to negate all of the labor contracts (the judge retired and went to work for a law firm heavily involved with CAL). After that, congress passed legislation that made it impossible just to throw away a CBA. It still left airlines will the ability to racket down CBA costs. I'm not sure if the modification was BK or RLA related, or both.

tomgoodman

As I recall, the old threshold for abrogating labor contracts via bankruptcy was a flimsy "business judgment" rule, and after Lorenzo's shenanigans, Congress beefed up the requirements. Despite this, the deck remains stacked against Labor, as we've recently seen, since management can buy off some opponents and outspend, outlawyer, and outwitness the rest. Thus the RLA, probably fair if strictly followed, can still be bypassed. Labor may have some friends, but they are not generally found in bankruptcy courts or arbitration rooms. Knowing this, unions cut the best deal they can, lest an even worse one be imposed.