burninturbin

Hello. I have a couple questions that came up after my interview and I was hoping that someone here can help answer them and provide the documentation to support their answers.

I was with Pinnacle about 10 years ago and I have been re-hired by Endeavor with an October class date. During my talks with the pilot recruiters and then with HR during my interview, I was told that my time previously with Pinnacle (1year) will count for vacation accrual and pay. I was told that I would start at year 2 FO pay during the interview from the HR person. I recently got my CJO letter and it stated that I will start at year 1 FO pay and be given a $7000 bonus after training and a $23000 retention bonus (I know that is in steps). I replied back to the email and asked the HR person why the $7,000 instead of the published $10000 training bonus, why the 1st year pay when I was told 2nd year pay. His response was because of LOA 58. I read LOA 58 and it seems that he would be referring to paragraph C, Longevity Restoration and Credit for Rehired Pilots. After reading that, it seems that I should be at the year 2 pay scale, but I wont have my 401(k) match and vested as I was there longer than 5years ago. LOA 58 says nothing about the training or retention bonus, So I looked at LOA 71 paragraph K and L. Neither of which say anything about a $7000 bonus. It seems that he is using my year of previous service to give me the 23000 retention bonus instead of the 1st year 20000, but then not counting my year for the pay scale. Here is his exact wording: "Thank you for your response. The LOA-58 agreement pertains to your past employment with our company. Your adjusted hire date will reflect your longevity accrued from your previous employment. With your length of employment previously with Pinnacle, it doesn’t start you off at a higher pay level originally, but time wise, puts you closer to the next step when compared to a new FO (that hasn’t previously worked with the company). The LOA-58 agreement contains a $7,000 training completion bonus and a $23,000 retention payment year 1 which equals $30,000. For a new FO, they receive a $10,000 training completion bonus and a $20,000 retention payment year 1 which equals $30,000."

Can someone shed some light on this for me? Hopefully a union rep or someone that can substantiate their answers.
Thank You!