Why I'm Voting No
09-12-2015, 08:07 AM
#1
New Hire
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Sep 2015
Posts: 5
Why I'm Voting No
Fellow FedEx Pilots,
I'm voting no on the TA for one very simple reason - no A Plan fix!
Anyone reading this stands a 50/50 chance or better that you will retire under this contract, especially when you factor in that a 6 years contract can get extended and delayed another 2 or even 4 years as our current contract has.
No increase in the $260k cap or the years of service multiplier is not acceptable. The cap has been in place for around 20 years. The high five $260K target was not easily obtainable 20 years ago but it could be done. Today $260k is well within reach of our wide-body First Officers.
Everyone knows the cost of goods and services goes up every year and your dollar doesn't stretch as far. If you retired in 1995 with 25 years of service and had a high 5 averaging $260k, your A Plan benefit would be $130K. Obviously, back in 1995, $130k would buy you $130k of goods and services.
What will that buy you in today's dollars? Using the CPI Inflation Calculator on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, $130K in 1995, will only buy you $83,021 worth of goods and services today. If you project that forward 10 years, it works out to be around $66,416. We are falling further and further behind every year!
Another way to see how we're losing ground is looking at the retirement replacement ratio. Say you were earning $260K when you retired 20 years ago, or whenever, and received the max benefit of $130K, your retirement replacement ratio under the A Plan would be 50%.
I can't speak for anyone else but myself, but as a wide-body captain who flies very little extra (especially these days), if I were to retire today, my retirement replacement ratio would be around 35%. Just wagging it here but, in 8 or 10 years the ratio will most likely be around 25%.
I went to the 1st road show in Memphis on 9/9 and I can't say I was impressed. I went looking for the facts so I could make an informed decision, not to be sold. I don't feel I can make that decision until I hear from my block rep. and the other MEC members on why they voted not to forward the TA to the membership for a vote. I feel strongly they should be given a fair chance in an open public forum to explain their position and not through some back channel and word of mouth.
During the presentation portion of the road show, I don't recall anything being said about the A Plan. It was brought up several times during the Q&A portion and the Negotiating Committee's response was basically - We asked for improvements and the company said no. I certainly thank and commend the Negotiating Committee and the MEC for all their hard work but this is simply unacceptable.
I know the company's position was to freeze the A Plan for existing employees and bump up the B Plan, thereby eliminating the A Plan entirely for new hires. The Union's position was, the same for everybody - no man left behind. I understand the rationale behind not dividing the crewforce with contract differences but, if I were a new hire looking at a 25 to 35 year career here at FedEx, I would almost certainly opt for a 16-18% B Plan only rather than be saddled with a legacy A Plan whose value continues to diminish year after year because of the cap. Also, the B Plan is MY money - The A Plan is the company's money.
The company wanted to get rid of the A, we wanted to bump it up. Status quo on the A Plan is not an acceptable compromise. With inflation factored in and an ever reducing retirement ratio, status quo on the A Plan is a concession! Fixing the A Plan was my number one priority and what did we get? The End of Career Sick Leave/Advance Notice of Planned Retirement Bonus or as I like to call it, the "Die Trying" Program. This is the company's final attempt to squeeze every last ounce out of you. At the most likely point in your career that you would need to use sick leave, the company now , once again, gives you an incentive to fly while you're sick, injured, or fatigued.
I may be misreading the tea leaves but, in my 26 years here, I don't think I have ever seen the company more vulnerable. We are short staffed in all airplanes, in all seats and peak is approaching. The 767 training is probably a year behind schedule. And, I have never seen the resolve of the pilot group higher than it is today. Overall, I think we could have done better and I don't feel the contract was negotiated from the position of strength that we truly have. I'm also disappointed in the MEC for forwarding the TA to us at this time. By doing so, we will most likely miss the opportunity to show the company our resolve during the upcoming peak season.
This has been a long and protracted battle and it was clear from attending the road show that the Negotiating Committee and MEC are tired and want to get this over with. I'm sorry but I feel they have underestimated the crewforce into thinking we are too and are willing to settle for anything less than what we truly deserve. We do not deserve a contract that's only ratified by 50% of the vote plus 1 which is certainly the company's target.
We all have reasons that will make us vote yes or no on the TA. For me, no A Plan fix is a definite no vote.
I'm voting no on the TA for one very simple reason - no A Plan fix!
Anyone reading this stands a 50/50 chance or better that you will retire under this contract, especially when you factor in that a 6 years contract can get extended and delayed another 2 or even 4 years as our current contract has.
No increase in the $260k cap or the years of service multiplier is not acceptable. The cap has been in place for around 20 years. The high five $260K target was not easily obtainable 20 years ago but it could be done. Today $260k is well within reach of our wide-body First Officers.
Everyone knows the cost of goods and services goes up every year and your dollar doesn't stretch as far. If you retired in 1995 with 25 years of service and had a high 5 averaging $260k, your A Plan benefit would be $130K. Obviously, back in 1995, $130k would buy you $130k of goods and services.
What will that buy you in today's dollars? Using the CPI Inflation Calculator on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, $130K in 1995, will only buy you $83,021 worth of goods and services today. If you project that forward 10 years, it works out to be around $66,416. We are falling further and further behind every year!
Another way to see how we're losing ground is looking at the retirement replacement ratio. Say you were earning $260K when you retired 20 years ago, or whenever, and received the max benefit of $130K, your retirement replacement ratio under the A Plan would be 50%.
I can't speak for anyone else but myself, but as a wide-body captain who flies very little extra (especially these days), if I were to retire today, my retirement replacement ratio would be around 35%. Just wagging it here but, in 8 or 10 years the ratio will most likely be around 25%.
I went to the 1st road show in Memphis on 9/9 and I can't say I was impressed. I went looking for the facts so I could make an informed decision, not to be sold. I don't feel I can make that decision until I hear from my block rep. and the other MEC members on why they voted not to forward the TA to the membership for a vote. I feel strongly they should be given a fair chance in an open public forum to explain their position and not through some back channel and word of mouth.
During the presentation portion of the road show, I don't recall anything being said about the A Plan. It was brought up several times during the Q&A portion and the Negotiating Committee's response was basically - We asked for improvements and the company said no. I certainly thank and commend the Negotiating Committee and the MEC for all their hard work but this is simply unacceptable.
I know the company's position was to freeze the A Plan for existing employees and bump up the B Plan, thereby eliminating the A Plan entirely for new hires. The Union's position was, the same for everybody - no man left behind. I understand the rationale behind not dividing the crewforce with contract differences but, if I were a new hire looking at a 25 to 35 year career here at FedEx, I would almost certainly opt for a 16-18% B Plan only rather than be saddled with a legacy A Plan whose value continues to diminish year after year because of the cap. Also, the B Plan is MY money - The A Plan is the company's money.
The company wanted to get rid of the A, we wanted to bump it up. Status quo on the A Plan is not an acceptable compromise. With inflation factored in and an ever reducing retirement ratio, status quo on the A Plan is a concession! Fixing the A Plan was my number one priority and what did we get? The End of Career Sick Leave/Advance Notice of Planned Retirement Bonus or as I like to call it, the "Die Trying" Program. This is the company's final attempt to squeeze every last ounce out of you. At the most likely point in your career that you would need to use sick leave, the company now , once again, gives you an incentive to fly while you're sick, injured, or fatigued.
I may be misreading the tea leaves but, in my 26 years here, I don't think I have ever seen the company more vulnerable. We are short staffed in all airplanes, in all seats and peak is approaching. The 767 training is probably a year behind schedule. And, I have never seen the resolve of the pilot group higher than it is today. Overall, I think we could have done better and I don't feel the contract was negotiated from the position of strength that we truly have. I'm also disappointed in the MEC for forwarding the TA to us at this time. By doing so, we will most likely miss the opportunity to show the company our resolve during the upcoming peak season.
This has been a long and protracted battle and it was clear from attending the road show that the Negotiating Committee and MEC are tired and want to get this over with. I'm sorry but I feel they have underestimated the crewforce into thinking we are too and are willing to settle for anything less than what we truly deserve. We do not deserve a contract that's only ratified by 50% of the vote plus 1 which is certainly the company's target.
We all have reasons that will make us vote yes or no on the TA. For me, no A Plan fix is a definite no vote.
09-12-2015, 08:39 AM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,820
Originally Posted by hellsbells
Today $260k is well within reach of our wide-body First Officers.
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09-12-2015, 08:56 AM
#3
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2012
Posts: 711
Originally Posted by hellsbells
The End of Career Sick Leave/Advance Notice of Planned Retirement Bonus or as I like to call it, the "Die Trying" Program. This is the company's final attempt to squeeze every last ounce out of you. At the most likely point in your career that you would need to use sick leave, the company now , once again, gives you an incentive to fly while you're sick, injured, or fatigued.
09-12-2015, 11:28 AM
#5
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2007
Position: 777
Posts: 866
Originally Posted by pinseeker
Only if they are working extra, selling back vacation, maxing out their sick bank, flying max carryover or any combination of these.
Completely untrue. I don't fly extra or anything else you mentioned and I am in the ballpark. And with the TA raises may reach it....
Still a solid NO vote...
09-12-2015, 11:37 AM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2012
Posts: 711
Originally Posted by Check 6
Completely untrue. I don't fly extra or anything else you mentioned and I am in the ballpark. And with the TA raises may reach it....
Still a solid NO vote...
Still a solid NO vote...
Many people upgrade to reach their high 5 now, this TA no longer requires a wide-body F/O to upgrade. Many will stay senior in the seat to have great QOL. Thus, an unintended consequence one should look at when viewing the merits of this TA is the stagnation of seat progression, not only in the F/O seats, but Captain seats as well.
09-12-2015, 11:44 AM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,820
Originally Posted by Check 6
Completely untrue. I don't fly extra or anything else you mentioned and I am in the ballpark. And with the TA raises may reach it....
Still a solid NO vote...
Still a solid NO vote...
$260k/194/12 = 111.6 hours per month. I am a top scale W/B FO and have never come close to $210k. So how are you averaging almost 111 hrs/month?
09-12-2015, 11:48 AM
#8
Part Time Employee
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: Dispersing Green House Gasses on a Global Basis
Posts: 1,918
Originally Posted by pinseeker
Top rate in W/b is $187 + 7 intl overide = $194/hr.
$260k/194/12 = 111.6 hours per month. I am a top scale W/B FO and have never come close to $210k. So how are you averaging almost 111 hrs/month?
$260k/194/12 = 111.6 hours per month. I am a top scale W/B FO and have never come close to $210k. So how are you averaging almost 111 hrs/month?
09-12-2015, 11:52 AM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2012
Posts: 711
Originally Posted by pinseeker
Top rate in W/b is $187 + 7 intl overide = $194/hr.
$260k/194/12 = 111.6 hours per month. I am a top scale W/B FO and have never come close to $210k. So how are you averaging almost 111 hrs/month?
$260k/194/12 = 111.6 hours per month. I am a top scale W/B FO and have never come close to $210k. So how are you averaging almost 111 hrs/month?
I know quite a few F/Os who are easily hitting more than $210,000 per year and some aren't even at 15 year max pay!
09-12-2015, 12:49 PM
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,820
Originally Posted by Raptor
It can happen if you do a lot of international charters, they often get extended into 150% or 200% territory, or you get OTP. If you fly almost 100% of your 1000 hours per year internationally you get the international override of $7000. Add to that all the training pay if you don't protect min days off. We also don't know if he's improperly counting per diem as it makes your paycheck seem larger but doesn't count towards the calculations we're talking about. Also, if he's on the 777 they have been getting a lot of hours over min, so I would suspect he's over 1000 hours per year. Last, you'd be surprised at how the block over 8 recapture to pay can boost your compensation.
I know quite a few F/Os who are easily hitting more than $210,000 per year and some aren't even at 15 year max pay!
I know quite a few F/Os who are easily hitting more than $210,000 per year and some aren't even at 15 year max pay!
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