[quote=CAL EWR;577061]EWR LEC 170 Wednesday BlastMail






Today is Wednesday, March 11, and there are 7 items for discussion:


·Item 1: COLA 11


“Our best days are ahead of us,” said Larry Kellner last Friday at the EWR CEO Exchange. Meanwhile, 1,500 miles away in Houston, Mr. Kellner’s own Flight Operations management team apparently did not get his message—as they issued the invitation for all pilots to sign up for another reduction in force. While Mr. Kellner told those in attendance at the Exchange that all of our plans were in place to accept all new aircraft deliveries on time and to proceed with every bit of our already-announced international expansion, his Flight Operations management team was figuring out how to put more of our fellow pilots on the street. Flight Operations, in keeping with their long-established tradition, provided no notice to our union that another COLA was being talked about, let alone issued. Our MEC chairman, Jay Pierce, called downtown when he heard the news and was told that management was looking for “about six pilots” to take advantage of this new “opportunity” to pay for their own medical, LTD, life insurance, etc., while helping management under-staff our flying even further for this coming summer. Benjamin Franklin was wrong; there are three things certain in life: death, taxes, and management intransigence. How many times have we seen these same plays before? We are now in contract negotiations, and management has dusted off the old Lorenzo playbook they’ve used on us so successfully for years. We have senior pilots who are rightfully worried about another liquidity shortfall later this month due to management’s refusal to adequately “Fund the Future” of our frozen “A” plan, and we have junior pilots clinging to the bottom of our seniority list who are, as a whole, unified and not afraid to fight. Management has set the stage for a perfect “divide and conquer.” But before we walk into the same trap yet again, we need to remember one thing: The historical business practices of our senior management team have shown that the company will grow when it makes good business sense to do so and, conversely, will contract when it makes good business sense to do so. We, as organized labor, have little or no effect on that decision process one way or the other and should refuse to participate in it—especially on management’s terms. For those of you not familiar with Marty Levitt, now is a good time to make his acquaintance. Flight Operations management, or “The Friends of Fred” as we like to call them, really would not like you to know Mr. Levitt—and for good reason: He is the author of Confessions of a Union-Buster and has written extensively on the disgusting tactics employed by management during contract negotiations.

Here are three YouTube links to Mr. Levitt’s presentations:

Part 1 YouTube - Union Busting 101 - Episode 1

Part 2 YouTube - U1TV - Union Busting 101 - "Who Are They?" Episode 2

Part 3 YouTube - U1TV - Union Busting 101-"The Role of Supervisors" Episode 3


In these videos, Mr. Levitt is not speaking specifically about airline pilot labor, and we do not think management would be so foolish as to try to break our union, but the principles of union busting and contract negotiations are the same regardless of the industry. Management has had consultants in the past (Mike Campbell) and has consultants today (Mike Bonds) whose specialty is instilling fear among organized labor groups—and COLA 11 is part of that campaign of fear. As you look at these videos, see if you can put a management name to the people depicted in the presentation; it won’t be hard. By the way, there’s good money in busting unions, crafting campaigns of fear, and putting pilots on the street: Last year Mike Campbell, now working the same job at Delta Air Lines as he held with Continental, pulled down over $6,000,000. _quote]

All pilots would be well served to educate themselves concerning the work of Ford and Harrison LLP. Practice Area: Labor Relations :: Ford Harrison

I don't think many pilots even imagined a service like this to exist. I know I didn't. Not until they were retained by a former employer during our successful union drive. Mike Cambell has worked for them in the past. Know thy enemy.