Originally Posted by
Itsajob
According to our union, no. Go read the email that the union put out yesterday. In the FAQ section they say that the company is prevented from changing the rates of pay in the UPA. The rate of pay that you were earning prior to the law taking effect can change if you change categories due to a displacement. The devil is in the details when it comes to laws, and this statute said that rates can’t be reduced, it does not state that employee income cannot be reduced. It stinks, but it is legal. It’s kind of like the 14th amendment never intended to create anchor babies, but if a woman violates federal law by entering the country illegally and has a kid, that kid is going to be given US citizenship. It never was the intent, but it is how the law is written.
Just as it was never the intent for any of the payroll grant provisions of the CARES Act to be loans. Congress negotiated a payroll grant provision and a separate loan provision with the understanding that the grants were "free money" for airlines to keep and use to pay employees and benefits. However, the law contained final language allowing the Treasury Secretary sole discretion to determine the payouts so hence we have 30% of the grant money actually being loans to the airlines. Many in congress came out saying that was not the intent, but unfortunately the language is the result. Would have been great if congress had asked what the total payroll costs were for each airline in that 2019 period and wrote the bill with 100% of that number as an unconditional grant. In a $2.2 trillion package, what's another $7-8 billion during this crisis. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and we are all living with this reality. Not unexpected that airline managements will be, well, airline management.