I don't work for either place but I have to ask: don't you guys still have an A-plan?

 

I have no problem with the two pay rates at Fedex --- it allows some to make a choice between QOL and pay

However, we never should have agreed (...nor continue to accept) paying the 757 at 727/737 pay rates

That was a concession in the 2006 contract, which can be rectified

When introduced to their fleets, the vast majority of carriers paid (pay) their 757 pilots at a rate above their basic 737/727 narrow body pay rates

 

I seem to recall that the 757 Narrow-body pay concession was in exchange for DW & BC's really big A380 pay.

It somehow seems appropriate that the A380 order was canceled and the Union leadership that negotiated the deal (for themselves) never saw that pay rate. But ... it looks really good in our CBA!

 

Actually narrow body rates were based on the DC8-73 with a MTOW of 355,000 lbs. ALPA pay rates historically have been bases on weight and speed, day/night. When Federal Express bought Flying Tigers in 1989 Federal Express had two pay rates DC10 and B727. Tigers had three rates B747, DC8, and B727. There was no way Purple pilots would be flying lower paid aircraft. The rates were changed to wide body and narrow body. In those days both the DC8 and B727 were classified narrow body, just like the B757 is today.

I doubt one pay rate would ever be accepted by ALPA National.

 

Yup - 757 paid as a 727 is a joke.

Maybe we could finally put that -380 pay rate to use with a pay graph. Plot -380 pay/MTOGW and 777 pay/MTOGW and draw a line. Trend the line back to 757 MTOGW. I get about $242/hour(based on our current contract). Not quite to UPS rates, but certainly better than what we conceded to in 2006.

 

Need to be very close to 300 an hour. My Minimum.

 

The only reason Fedex has a "B" scale (your words not mine) is that Fedex pilots failed to get a WB rate above UPS during the 2006 negotiations. As long as we had a higher WB rate than UPS, this "B" scale discussion did not exist.

I'm glad that Fedex and UPS contracts become amendable around the same time, I think it works to both our advantage. I hope both groups are able to exploit what ever advantage they can and also use the (soon to be) superior rates that all believe are soon to be at the legacy carriers.

 

We have a Health Insurance B scale too

 

What a shame we are not all in the same union. Birds of a feather and all that...

 

I've been waiting to start a FDX Health Insurance discussion ...

My wife and I have both had catastrophic medical illnesses covered by our FedEx Medical Benefits. I'm happy to report that we've been able to go to the best doctors and hospitals in the country for treatment, seemingly without anybody ever questioning our choices for medical care.

It was nice to open numerous hospital bills for more than $100,000 and know that I would only be responsible for our contractual deductible and copays. I was glad to see that ALPA negotiated a new lifetime cap of $2,000,000/person. I was mildly concerned that should we have future medical problems, that the old limit could become a problem for us.

I have justified the seeming lack of supervision of our really good benefits as "maybe" FedEx is self insured, maybe Anthem just administers the program and really doesn't care about controlling costs?

Something changed in the past 6 months ... a year ago I fell and injured my shoulder (broke my scapula). After a few weeks of Physical Therapy, I received a letter from Anthem saying that they understand that my shoulder hurts but that I have full range of motion now so further Physical Therapy is no longer medically necessary? (That's not what my doctor and MRI say!). My wife received a letter from Anthem this week questioning her need for a pain medication that her doctor recently prescribed?

Interestingly ... there was a CBS 60 Minutes special 2 weeks ago documenting Anthem's blanket denial policies! They interviewed a contract medical consultant (it seems many of Anthem's doctors are consultants and never actually see your medical record, Anthem just signs their names to the denial letters!*?) whose name was signed to denials in their segment.

So ... it seems that something has changed. I'm not sure if Anthem's corporate policies are making their way into our benefits or if Anthem is getting pressure from FedEx to CUT COSTS?

Are other folks experiencing the same issues?

http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-new...ease135-14.cfm