Originally Posted by
Sluggo_63
I have a trucking company, too. I only have 99 drivers (to make my public math easy) and they are split evenly with 33 drivers in Los Angeles, 33 in New York, and 33 in Baton Rouge. Now I need to lay off 33 drivers, because volume is down, so I decide I'm going to close Baton Rouge, because I still need drivers in LA and NY. The problem is, all the senior drivers are in Baton Rouge. So I have to lay off 33 drivers between NY and LA, and then move all the senior Baton Rouge drivers to the coast. So now their contract states that if I kick them out of their home, I have to pay for the move, buy their house, and give them all sorts of living expenses. Added to this, I used the Peterbilt 397 in Baton Rouge, but I use a Mack Pinnacle in LA and a Volvo VN in NY. So now all those Baton Rouge drivers that moved to the coasts have to be trained in new trucks... man, I didn't know laying off 33 drivers would cost me so much... in fact, after I ran the numbers, it's actually costing me MORE money to lay off 33 drivers than it would if I just kept them all... I have a great idea... I'll just scare them into thinking that they're going to be laid off, and they'll take the pay cut willingly. Brilliant!!
You forgot to add that it was your decision to put them out of order in the first place and to put them back in order would cost more than would be saved by a furlough. Other than that..spot on!
Again, we have been offering to help with this issue for a year and been turned down. Poor decisions made by management as far as where to put pilots, allowing those that were in lower paying seats to jump up to higher paying ones when we are already in a surplus situation, and opening bases where the junior pilots in the company would be based overseas due to a expat package that was woefully insufficient are the main culprits here. Do we really need to take a pay cut for that from a company that made these mistakes and told us to pack sand when we tried to help? Saving 24 million a year on fuel cost and this is their thanks? How many managers got bonuses for our actions in the Fuel Sense program? Lots.. The pilots doing all the work in the heat and cold while they sat in their climate controlled offices? No bonuses I am aware of like they give in the rest of the company when times are good. Now that they are bad we take the biggest hit? Oh and did I mention we are STILL MAKING MONEY! Name one other pilot group that has done any of this while their company was still prosperous. Let's all get a grip and stop finding ways to justify this on the company's part. If they really needed help they would have responded to our offers. This is all about a power grab while the getting is good and hoping we all react like the original poster here.
The economy is bad. It may get worse. This company will suffer just like others. It will get better. We will make it through this better than most. Furlough is really not an option now for several reasons we are not responsible for. This is not what this is about.
BTW..2010 just got a whole lot harder in my mind. With all the "gray" areas of the contract we have been exposed on these last few years I will not vote for a contract that doesn't have real teeth. Close the loopholes that we trusted the company to follow the intent of and make it iron-damn-clad! Oh, and if we are going to take a hit when we don't make as much money as management wanted, build me in a share the wealth program when they make record profits like they have the previous 10 years.
Thanks you for your time..