We here at UPS received Full Retro on our 1996 Contract. But then got screwed on this last 2006 Contract and got the Signing Bonus. Came out to 50 cents on the dollar compared to the Full Retro. And paid out over 2 years. So UPS earned interest on the $!!

So are we or FDX going to settle for the Bonus Check or draw the line on Full Retro? Was this in your Survey at FDX?

Retro pay is not really possible with tax law changes since 1996. Personally I do not want to reward the guys who flew extra and sold back vacation. With a larger chunk of the pie either. Some sort of signing bonus is inevitable, this also has the advantage of allowing ALPA to decide the split and reward their senior friends with a little extra.

How does it work if a guy is retiring? Or switching aircraft or seats? Does it go by the date of the TA or ratification?

The Retro is usually just paid on Straight guarantee. No Overtime, Vacation sell back, etc.

Take the New Hourly minus the Old Hourly for each year and come up with the number.

It was an avg. $40,000 cut for us vs. the Bonus Check.

And technically it should be Full Retro. Since the Contracts never expire. The new TA goes back to the Amenable date. So from that Amenable date forward you have new rates that need to be applied to the time from that date forward.

At FDX guarantee is no more than 90% of hours paid, probably 80% in a normal year and 70% now since we are 10% undermanned. I would just as soon see back paid in a lump sum, over two or three years. Take hours paid, multiply it by the 20% raise, plug it in to the Commodore 64 and see how many bonus hours we get paid extra this year and next year.

Can someone give a reference to these 1996 tax changes that affect retro pay? I have searched but have not had any luck.

Full retro to amenable date. Otherwise we reward the company for delaying.

Was told many senior pilots who were going through a divorce were pushing for bonus pay versus retro because retro pay went to the ex, bonus did not. Not sure if there's any truth to that rumor?

Retro pay would screw the furloughees, once again.
So IF they're discussing retro pay I hope all furloughees will get paid full retro as if they'd never gotten furloughed.

With passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-204), signed into law by Dubya, significant retro pay would cause the corporation to experience a material effect on their earnings in prior periods and a restatement would be necessary. Corporations are loathe to do so since it attracts inevitable added scrutiny from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the SEC.

From: SEC.gov | Federal Securities Laws :

"The Act mandated a number of reforms to enhance corporate responsibility, enhance financial disclosures and combat corporate and accounting fraud, and created the "Public Company Accounting Oversight Board," also known as the PCAOB, to oversee the activities of the auditing profession."

From: Has the Sarbanes-Oxley Act let to a Reduction in Financial Statement Restatements? - Ethics Sage

"One goal of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is to reduce the number of restatements of corporate financial reports, especially those that result from materially misleading financial statements."

The whole Act: http://www.sec.gov/about/laws/soa2002.pdf

Retro pay or signing bonus, I don't give a crap what you call it just pay me what I'm owed!