Thank you to our union brothers from Express Jet, American, United, Delta, Alaska, Northwest, Air Tran and if I forgot anyone else I apologize. It was an honor to have all of you at our first picketing event in ten years, three weeks and six days.

Thank you to the over 500 Continental Pilots who took the time to show up. You are the ones who made yesterday the biggest unity event in my 21 years at Continental. Each and everyone of you deserves a great deal of credit, you made it happen!

I am truly proud to be a Continental pilot.

Fraternally,

Jayson Baron

 

Dude, ***. I spent like 5 minutes downloading this thing and I as I passed :46, I couldn't see what you were talking about. Finally, it hit me, it looks like a dude!!!!!! Giggidy nothing, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Please meet me on the road somewhere and your definition of giggidy might change. Sheesh!

BTW, great job Continental guys.

 

Yeah, no offense to the pilot pictured at :46, but I thought of Jeff Spicoli...!

Note to self: watch for bluejuice in the terminal!

 

Pilots buzz Wall Street in rally for better contracts
by Abby Gruen/Star-Ledger Staff
Thursday March 13, 2008, 6:56 AM
NEW YORK -- They marched silently, in tight formation, across the street from the New York Stock Exchange.

Hundreds of pilots, dressed in dark uniforms with white shirts and black ties, their hats festooned with insignia from eight different airlines, demonstrated for two hours yesterday to make a statement to Wall Street and their corporate boards: "We will be heard."

The march was organized by the Air Line Pilots Association, but it affected the Continental Airlines contingent in particular because their contracts are up, one of the first to be negotiated since airline workers were forced to make pay concessions after the post-Sept. 11 industry downturn.

Continental is the dominant carrier at Newark Liberty International Airport and one of the New Jersey's largest employers.

"There is not a pilot flying for a U.S. carrier who has not suffered economically in the past six years," said Mark Adams, spokesman for the Continental branch of ALPA.

Tourists and office workers stopped and stared, taking photographs on their cell phones and, in some cases, shouting encourage ment.

Unions frequently stage demonstrations at the stock exchange, but they are usually noisy affairs with a drumbeat of shouted slo gans, said Ahson Bukhari, a software engineer at the stock exchange who lives in Little Falls, N.J.

"This is different. It's professional, a great way to get their message out," he said.

Airline pilots groups have gained greater visibility and impor tance in corporate decision mak ing, especially since merger talks between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines were put on hold while their respective pilots' unions negotiate how to merge their seniority ranks.

Not all of the spectators yesterday supported the union's cause.

"As soon as I saw the pilots, I got upset, because I knew immediately what it was about," said Laura Owen, the chief operating officer for a publicly traded surveil lance engineering firm in Kansas City, Kan., who was in Manhattan for a business meeting. "The indus try as a whole is suffering, but the union has a mind-set that is unhealthy for them as individuals and for their corporations. They are crippling the airlines."

The Continental pilots last signed a contract in 2005, when the airline was struggling to survive the aftershocks of Sept. 11, said Jay Pierce, chairman of the Continental pilots' union, who has flown for the carrier since 1989.

"Management told us that $50 a barrel (oil) was unsustainable, and we agreed to contribute $200 million a year in concessions," Pierce said.

"Since then, we have had record rounds of airfare increases and record profits, even as oil reached into the $90s." said Chris Dowell, vice chairman of Continental's ALPA group.

Houston-based Continental earned pre-tax income of $566 million in 2007, up 53 percent over 2006. But oil surged yesterday to a high above $110 a barrel before closing at $109.92.

Yesterday, shares of the biggest airlines were battered after a JPMorgan analyst downgraded six carriers, citing the rising cost of fuel.

"While we respect our pilots' concern about their futures, there are significant challenges we face in the industry, including the record- breaking price of crude oil and a looming recession," Julie King, a Continental spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

After picketing on Broad Street, the pilots marched two-by-two past gawking onlookers to Battery Park for a rally where their union leaders spoke.

"We have a message to the financial community," Pierce said. "Our future is not for sale. Our families are not fodder for short term profit taking. We will not be bartered like commodities on the exchange."

Abby Gruen may be reached at [email protected].

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf...et_in_ral.html

It was nice to see copies of this article in the weather room in EWR. Keep up the good work, public attention is important in my opinion.

 

Huh? "Crippling the airlines?" Riiight. Unhealthy mindset? Is she referring to the psychotic feeling that washes over us with every multimillion dollar management bonus?

Heeeeere's yer (picket) sign, Laura!

73

 

I wish I could have been there, but I had to work, does anyone know if any AWAC'er were there? If not, I apologize and will make an effort to go to any companies picket lines.

 

Jayson,
Thanks for YOUR HELP!!! You are an inspiration to those of us trying to achieve better quality of life and contracts for our pilot groups!!! Nice seeing you there!! I got a few nice shots of you at the Battery Park rally if you're interested. Send me a PM and I'll email them to you. Frats, karl