It was obvious from the start that ATSG management would take advantage of this merge to eliminate costs by manipulating the process so that they could end up with more Capital and less ATI crews at the end. If you're on the wrong end of that plan, it seems evil. If you are an ATSG manager, you see it as just a business decision because you don't consider the crew members involved as humans anyway. In fact, some ATSG managers will probably get a nice pat on the head from the CEO for having executed such a clever plan. If you are a beneficiary and intelligent, you will probably lay low or even feign concern for those who are going to get effed over in the process. If you are a beneficiary and not intelligent...
What I find to be the most disturbing is the level of coordination between management and the union in this effort. Obviously, management wanted to wait until the very last day possible to execute this last part of the plan, the furlough of the additional ATI guys. Most of us who are not in the know on this assumed the ISL would be presented by the arbitrator on Nov. 15th. I think most people didn't know about the delay until it was announced on the 15th. Obviously, the managers knew about the delay or they would have announced the additional furloughs on Nov. 1st so they would satisfy the 14 day requirement. As far as I know, the arbitrator announced that the ISL release date was being extended to something like the “first week in December.” The official furlough notice date is today, November 20th. 14 days from today is December 3rd. I assume the furloughs will go into effect 12:01 am December 4th, which is a Tuesday. Management had to have known that the ISL release date was going to be extended.
Another thing that bothers me is the flimsy excuse for the furlough and the fact that the ATI MEC doesn't even seem to be challenging it. In fact, the MEC seems to be trying to support it. What is “complications with the DHL contract in BAH?” They didn't even bother to say that there is any expectation of a reduction in the amount of work expected. In fact, I would be willing to wager there won't be a reduction.