IPA: "UPS pulled a bait and switch"
 

Louisville, KY (Wednesday, May 19, 2010) – For the first time in its
103 year history UPS (NYSE: UPS) will furloughed pilots. The first
fifty-four pilots were laid off on Sunday, May 23. This is the first
wave of a plan UPS announced in February to layoff at least 300 of its
airline pilots. The 2,800 UPS pilots, represented by the Independent
Pilots Association, had since April 2009, preserved these jobs through
voluntary cost cutting programs.

“At a time when the number one issue for most Americans is creating
jobs, UPS is creating unemployment,” said Captain Robert Thrush;
President of the Independent Pilots Association. Captain Thrush went
on to say, “What makes this furlough truly unfortunate is that our
pilots took it upon themselves to give-up pay and benefits to produce
$117 million in guaranteed savings for UPS, enough to keep these 300
pilots employed well into 2011.”

Under the Voluntary Jobs Protection Program UPS pilots were able to
generate cost savings for UPS by: taking reductions in flight pay
guarantees; taking unpaid leaves of absence; participating in job
sharing; taking military leave; contributing unused sick bank time;
and taking early retirement.

“This all came to a crashing halt on January 11 when UPS pulled a bait
and switch. They told us that they now needed $244 million in savings
through 2015, and that its preference was for ‘compulsory savings’ –
UPS speak for furloughs,” said Captain Thrush. He went on to say,
“While we were taken back by UPS almost doubling its original request
and tacking on an additional four years, our pilots didn’t flinch.
They were more than willing to step-up, extend and expand the
Voluntary Jobs Protection Program to cover UPS’s demands, and keep the
300 employed.”

On February 8, within days of UPS CEO Scott Davis declaring “looks
like this recession is finally over,” UPS told the IPA that it was
unwilling to continue with current voluntary savings programs, or
consider others; it began the furlough process, and issued a press
release.

“What I find the most galling are the disingenuous statements in the
UPS press release. They mockingly hold out hope that the furloughs
may be mitigated, averted, or eliminated; and shamefully attempt to
place blame on the pilots for somehow failing to act,” said Captain
Thrush. Who went on to say, “At a time when unions are being
excoriated, and blamed for a litany of economic ills it’s important to
remember that one union covered the cost to save 300 jobs – instead
UPS chose to create unemployment and add to local, county, state and
federal unemployment and social services rolls.”

Founded in 1990, the Independent Pilots Association is the collective
bargaining unit for the 2,800 pilots who operate the UPS Airline.
XXX

From the Independent Pilots Association
For Immediate Release
Contact: Brian Gaudet – 301/957-4323

Best of luck to all my brown brothers.

By sending out the press release, UPS is putting themselves in a position in which they will NOT call off the dogs on Saturday like they did last time. They may actually go through with this which will really really really suck. :mad:

Be sure to always keep something in your hip pocket.

This was put out by the IPA, not UPS.

I am very sorry that it has played out this way. I wish you all the best of luck!

Hate to say it, but press release or no press release, the furlough will begin this weekend.:(

Sorry to the guys on the street. If the extent of the consessions is true, you guys all did an admirable job looking out for those at the bottom. My hat is off to you guys.

They haven't pulled the trigger yet!
 

Sorry about how this appears to be shaping up for you guys. It's not a done deal yet, and it really doesn't make any sense whatsoever with the economic recovery in full swing. I'm sure your load factors are increasing proportionally to ours at FedEx.

If they go thru with it hopefully FedEx will start hiring soon. I'm sure they would love to send UPS a shot with hiring your furloughs.;)

Good luck guys/gals.

Good to know it was the IPA - missed that. Keeping this in the news is smart instead of the 54 quietly hitting the streets while the economy turns around.

It's a slap in UPSs face. Nice job!

I still think FedEx should hire the UPS furloughies as salespeople.

Not so quiet up in ANC. This is from the daily news. Is the last quote from the room storming manager???

UPS to cut 262 pilots: Money | adn.com

Anyway you can get your cost cutting(reduced flight pay guarantee) back?? They are going to let go as many pilots as they want anyway. Dont be convinced that they are furloughing because they are overpaying you. Unfortunately,, your kindness has been seen as weakness by management.

The IPA rejected all contract concessions offered to avert the furlough. Weakness????
We didn't concede any pay. We voluntarily took unpaid vacation to reduce crews on the payroll. UPS cancelled all unpaid vacations (except those on said vacation on Feb 8). In any event, we were taking care of our own, following one of our companies principles ironically enough.

We are going to cover the COBRA for the furloughed crews. IMO, None of this is a sign of weakness. UPS is once again proving their ability in making the next contract more expensive and contentious since they are driving the union closer and will expect more, not less, as the companies profits are rebounding along with volumes. UPS just managed to actually motivate most of the union to really start to get into the nuts and bolts of the contract. Until now, IMO, most of the union were happy to waive the contract through ignorance. UPS just provided the union with a boost to "follow the contract' and nothing else for the next 20 or so years. Not so smart long term. Especially considering that they could have had the money anyway through the IPA. Penny wise and pound foolish. BTW, the 300 UPS says to be furloughed are now called "Spartans". That will last the rest of their careers and be shared with every new hire. Way to go Atlanta. Brilliant play!

E,
It makes me very happy to know that smart guys such as yourself work at my union! Thanks for your time.

This is eerily reminiscent of what Delta did back with their first furlough in 1993. The furlough notices came 3 times and the first 2 were canceled at the last minute. Very stressful for those on the bottom of the list. When the axe actually fell it was a relief to know you had to move on (if only temporarily). This was all over a 5% pay raise the company wanted to cancel. The union did cover Cobra cost (very nice) and provided a relief fund for those that needed it. The problem was the pilots still flying covered the shortfall with OT (200%) flying. OT, or green slip, trips went from less than 100 fleet wide to over 5000 in the first 2 years. They did this so well it allowed Delta to furlough another 400 beyond the initial 120. The worst offenders were Captains and the S/O's (some who literally flew themselves right out of a job). The union said nothing and sucked in the extra dues from the OT which was much more than the dues they received from a S/O on reserve making 30k a year was. Had those that flew OT done the right thing and stood down, and had the union made a public call to do so, the furlough would have been over quickly instead of dragging on for 5 years for some. Hopefully the pilots of UPS and the IPA will realize that paying Cobra is nice, but doing your part to get the furloughees back to work is much better. Good luck to you guys if this furlough goes through..

You mean like the DL pilot's did in 2000, during contract negotiations?
DALPA not only couldn't make a public call to do that...They lost the suit that management filed, because they did not stop it. It was considered a job action as there was nothing in their CBA that allowed for it.

It's apples and oranges. IPA has the ability to do that, as it's part of their CBA.

Good move IPA.

Concur on the "Good move IPA" part. As for your 2000 reference, I do not recall what DALPA was sued for and could not find a reference on the internet. Do you have one? Thanks in advance..

As for what happened in 1993, I had many conversations with DALPA legal and their MEC about what they could or couldn't do under the contract at the time. There was never a concern about legal issues. It was about not upsetting those that were flying the OT and causing "unity " issues as a result. Not sure why you want to focus on that though. The bottom line is the UPS pilots will have the power to control when the furloughed pilots come back if this goes through, just like the Delta pilots did. Instead of doing the right thing and leaving OT alone, they pointed to the fact that they were paying COBRA cost for those that were on the street to justify their extra flying and helping Delta keep those pilots out as hostages during contract talks.

To recap..paid Cobra for furloughed pilots is nice, getting them back to work with full benefits is better. That should be the focus of the IPA and UPS pilots if this goes through.

Maybe a special circumstance
 

Because the contract was amendable and negotiations were in progress at that time, the court found "no-overtime" campaigns a violation of the RLA's "status quo" rule. DALPA successfully pleaded with the pilots to stop the campaign, and the matter was dropped.

I'm not focusing on anything. I am simply pointing out the difference between the two CBA's. You were complaining that the Delta pilot's union didn't make a "public call" to engage in what was been proven to be an illegal job action, in their case.

11th Court of Appeals Ruling against DALPA, in 2000

The IPA can legally, and by all means, should do this! It's part of their CBA.

Thanks for the link. Pretty sad that a court thinks they can order employees to work on their days off just because they have before. As far as it pertains to 1993, since Delta had never relied on OT to fill their schedules prior to the furlough, I don't think the same case could have been made. Either way. we agree that IPA and it's members have the resolve to keep what happened in 1993-97 at Delta from happening in this case. It will be interesting to see just how far this game of chicken goes..

I hope it's a negotiating tactic and you guys are back soon. Good luck and God Bless you and your family. FDX/ F/O

Our union values the no open time policy for keeping another two hundred guys on the property over the 300 announced

Numbers they say are straight from UPS ... FWIW.