Skyway pilots will NOT receive severance pay.

TheAlchemist

TheAlchemist

Well-Known Member
:mad: Disgusting.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Nearly 200 Midwest Connect pilots who are losing their jobs are not being offered severance pay, and their union claims the pilots are being unfairly singled out.

Skyway Airlines Inc., which operates Midwest Connect for corporate parent Midwest Air Group Inc., will provide severance pay to flight attendants, mechanics and other employees. Skyway pilots, who are members of the Air Line Pilots Association, say they've been denied similar offers because of their union membership.

"All we asked for is to be treated fairly," said Randy Schmidt, chairman of the Skyway pilots union.

The union's contract with Skyway doesn't include a severance pay provision. That's typical for the airline industry, said Schmidt and Michael Brophy, spokesman for Midwest Air, which also operates Midwest Airlines.

Severance pay "is not stipulated in the contract," Brophy said, so the company is not providing it to the pilots. Brophy said other employees who are not covered by union contracts will receive severance pay because "it's a fair thing to do for those employees."

According to Schmidt, Skyway Chief Executive Officer David Reeve told union leaders that the company's pilots enjoyed the benefits of a union contract for 10 years, while other Skyway employees worked without contracts.

Skyway's position is "mean-spirited and vindictive," Schmidt said.
In response to those complaints by the union, Brophy said Midwest Air management was surprised.

"We thought we were working pretty well with the union on this situation," Brophy said. He cited other benefits offered to the pilots, including reduced air fares on Midwest Connect/Midwest Airlines, and sponsorship of job fairs.

"It's not as if we're slamming the door on them," Brophy said.
Oak Creek-based Midwest Air announced Jan. 16 that it was hiring Utah-based SkyWest Airlines Inc. to handle its Midwest Connect jet flights.

Midwest Air hired SkyWest to begin flying 50-seat regional jets under the Midwest Connect name in 2007. The remaining routes, mainly using 32-seat jets, were staffed by Skyway employees.

By April, SkyWest will begin flying all Midwest Connect jet routes with additional 50-seat aircraft. The larger jets provide additional seating capacity at about the same cost of operating the smaller aircraft, and they will help the airline operate more efficiently. As a result, about 380 full-time and part-time Skyway employees will lose their jobs.

Roughly half of the affected Skyway employees are pilots, Schmidt said.
The Skyway flight attendants, who joined the Teamsters union just days before the announced job cuts, will receive two weeks of severance pay, plus one additional week of pay for each year of employment at Skyway.

Schmidt said that same severance pay is being offered to mechanics and other nonunion, hourly employees. Management employees will receive severance pay as well, he said.

Also, the flight attendants - whose newly certified union had not yet negotiated a contract - and nonunion, hourly employees are receiving a higher subsidy for their health insurance after leaving Skyway, Schmidt said. He said the pilots' health insurance will be subsidized during their third and fourth months after losing their jobs, while the other employees will receive subsidies during all four months after their jobs are eliminated.

The Skyway job cuts are coming after Midwest Air defeated a hostile takeover attempt by AirTran Holdings Inc. During that campaign, Chairman Timothy Hoeksema warned of big job cuts if AirTran acquired Midwest Air. AirTran executives denied those claims and said they planned to greatly expand the operations by cutting air fares and ratcheting up departures from Mitchell International Airport.

On Jan. 31, Midwest Air completed its $451.8 million sale to TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines Corp., which outbid AirTran. TPG Capital, a private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas, owns a 53% stake in Midwest Air, with Northwest holding a 47% non-management stake.
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Pardon my french, but what a bunch of SOB's. :mad:
 
This ones my favorite:

"We thought we were working pretty well with the union on this situation," Brophy said. He cited other benefits offered to the pilots, including reduced air fares on Midwest Connect/Midwest Airlines, and sponsorship of job fairs.
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Just remember boys, when you leave you get your vacation time cashed out, you lose your sick time. Use it up, you've earned it.
 
A few months ago Pinnacle airlines was offering bonuses to new hire pilots in an effort to improve pilot hiring and retention. ALPA sued them to stop the bonuses, claiming that they were a violation of the contract. So now Skyway management is simply honoring the current contract, and people are crying foul.

You can't have it both ways. If you want a union contract, then you have to accept all that comes with it.
 
In the spirit of labor you're correct, skydog. But let me reiterate that in a month there won't be any contract to speak of. In fact, Midwest won't have to worry about a labor contract at all with their regional flying. That's why it's a shame that they aren't offering us a severance. I never did expect a severance, though.
 
skydog said:
A few months ago Pinnacle airlines was offering bonuses to new hire pilots in an effort to improve pilot hiring and retention. ALPA sued them to stop the bonuses, claiming that they were a violation of the contract. So now Skyway management is simply honoring the current contract, and people are crying foul.

You can't have it both ways. If you want a union contract, then you have to accept all that comes with it.
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It's not as simple as that. The bonuses Pinnacle was offering undermined the pilot group's efforts for a fair contract. Management has been stalling them for years.
 
Further it was a change in the status quo, which as I understand it must be maintained during contract negotiations.
 
Are the labor groups receiving severance unionized with a CBA?

And where's the outrage over a carrier with a non-union pilot group stealing the flying from a unionized carrier??? I mean really...how GoJet, right???? :sarcasm:
 
falconvalley said:
In the spirit of labor you're correct, skydog. But let me reiterate that in a month there won't be any contract to speak of. In fact, Midwest won't have to worry about a labor contract at all with their regional flying. That's why it's a shame that they aren't offering us a severance. I never did expect a severance, though.
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I sympathize with you. But the fact remains that the Skyway pilots chose to join a union and, as a result of that, probably got things that the non-union Skyway employees did not get. But in exchange they gave up (unwittingly perhaps) severance pay.

The same union chose to sue Pinnacle airlines, who were providing more than what they were required to under the contract, because of a perceived threat to the union's position. Status quo throws a wrinkle into the situation, but the union chose to make a dispute out of something that could just as easily been ignored. If you're Skyway management and you see this going on, what do you do? Do you ignore the terms of the contract and risk a lawsuit? Or do you honor the contract and avoid trouble?
 
skydog said:
The same union chose to sue Pinnacle airlines, who were providing more than what they were required to under the contract, because of a perceived threat to the union's position.
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ALPA did not sue Pinnacle over this issue. Your information is inaccurate, as usual. The PCL MEC simply told the company that what they were planning was a breach of status quo, so the company took the hint and didn't violate their agreement. No lawsuit was actually filed over this issue.

Status quo throws a wrinkle into the situation, but the union chose to make a dispute out of something that could just as easily been ignored. If you're Skyway management and you see this going on, what do you do? Do you ignore the terms of the contract and risk a lawsuit? Or do you honor the contract and avoid trouble?
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Simple: you sign a side letter with the Association for severance pay. I'm sure that Skyway ALPA would be more than happy to sign a quick LOA that provided the same severance package that the other employees got. Instead, management has decided to screw the unionized employees. Typical.
 
skydog said:
I sympathize with you. But the fact remains that the Skyway pilots chose to join a union and, as a result of that, probably got things that the non-union Skyway employees did not get. But in exchange they gave up (unwittingly perhaps) severance pay.

The same union chose to sue Pinnacle airlines, who were providing more than what they were required to under the contract, because of a perceived threat to the union's position. Status quo throws a wrinkle into the situation, but the union chose to make a dispute out of something that could just as easily been ignored. If you're Skyway management and you see this going on, what do you do? Do you ignore the terms of the contract and risk a lawsuit? Or do you honor the contract and avoid trouble?
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Howdy!

Unique opportunity here as I was at Skyway pre-ALPA and post strike when we won our first contract.

I didn't specifically "choose" to join the union, I did so out of necessity because of the environment at Skyway. There were a lot of things going on at Skyway which solidified the necessity of having an enforceable contract and I did send my union card in and volunteered for the MEC communications committee. It was a good company, but there were a few personalities with a little too much authority that would elevate personal issues and engage in "selective enforcement" and would use things like the 'safety committee' to shield themselves from responsibility for poor operational and punitive decisions.

I was a member of that committee.

Knowing the environment from having worked there for a period of time, it's nothing more than Hoeksema taking another swipe at organized labor to make an example out of them for the other groups at Midwest that may be considering organization.

That's how they roll. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt and the purple and blue ramper cap I bought for $12.95.

I'm Doug Taylor. That's my real name. I stand by everything I've said in this post 100%
 
SoCalAprch said:
I agree it is a bunch of steamy BS but are you really surprised? Management is never going to like unions. Its the nature of the beast.
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I'm never surprised by that. But I'm continually amazed that people like Skydog will refuse to accept reality about the importance of unions and the evils of management.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Howdy!

Unique opportunity here as I was at Skyway pre-ALPA and post strike when we won our first contract.

I didn't specifically "choose" to join the union, I did so out of necessity because of the environment at Skyway. There were a lot of things going on at Skyway which solidified the necessity of having an enforceable contract and I did send my union card in and volunteered for the MEC communications committee. It was a good company, but there were a few personalities with a little too much authority that would elevate personal issues and engage in "selective enforcement" and would use things like the 'safety committee' to shield themselves from responsibility for poor operational and punitive decisions.

I was a member of that committee.

Knowing the environment from having worked there for a period of time, it's nothing more than Hoeksema taking another swipe at organized labor to make an example out of them for the other groups at Midwest that may be considering organization.

That's how they roll. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt and the purple and blue ramper cap I bought for $12.95.

I'm Doug Taylor. That's my real name. I stand by everything I've said in this post 100%
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Doug,

Thanks for the insider's view. Looking back now, do you think the contract was worth forfeiting severance pay or would you have been better off without a contract? (I know you didn't know this would happen at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight, what do you say now?)
 
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