CAL EWR LEC Magenta Line Sat, 10 3, 09 pt 2
10-03-2009, 10:33 AM
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Joined APC: Nov 2006
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CAL EWR LEC Magenta Line Sat, 10 3, 09 pt 2
CAL EWR LEC Magenta Line Sat, 10 3, 09 pt 2
Item 3: Subtlety Once Again Evades Management
Following closely on the heels of our plea to all pilots to bid all vacation comes this glinting gem from our Management Department of Subtle-As-a-Brick-to-the-Head:
Those of our pilots who attempted to do the right thing in bidding all of their vacation were faced with this ominous-looking WARNING:
WARNING: You have chosen to set your yearly vacation election to 35 days for the 2010 vacation year. No days will be available to you as Monthly Bid Vacation.
Uh, yeah, we want to continue. We especially want to continue knowing, as we do, that there is never any Monthly Bid Vacation to bid anyway, especially in any month we would want to bid vacation.
We also liked the little touch, and we do mean little, of creating the OK button in a font so small that it you need Windows Magnifier For the Nearly Blind to find it. Especially after the BIG WARNING.
While it’s not terribly disheartening that management keeps trying to create petty and annoying hurdles like this, what is disheartening is knowing that someone in management is actually getting paid to come up with them.
Another fine product from Lame-O! If it’s really obvious, it’s Lame-O!
Item 4: Thank You, Station Managers Everywhere. Just a Reminder: We Could Do It Without You—But You Couldn’t Do It Without Us
This comes from our EWR Grievance Committee. As you can see, the erosion of Captain’s Authority continues unabated with the help of those who have never been a pilot and those who used to be “just a pilot”:
“I’ve been coordinating in the office for a week on behalf of Captain X and have not had an opportunity to put pen to paper. Captain X did a [Florida] turn a little over a week ago and upon arrival there were significant delays returning to EWR. As some of you may know, some station managers indicate they “own” the aircraft while it’s at the gate and that was actually reiterated to me on the phone by [an ACP]. I’d suggest the station manage the boarding process, fueling, catering, you name it and when you want to give us the plane back, call me, I’ll be in the restaurant. This is an attempt to infringe upon the Captain’s authority and we don’t need to accept it and we need to let management know if that’s how they want to play, we can play that way, i.e. I sure hope the station manager has time to manage all the things required to get off the gate at push time and I’ll be in the seat 20 minutes prior to whenever you’ve told me that I can have my aircraft back.
“Captain X initially told the station that he’d like to get boarded up and push close to on time, hoping the delays would get better, however, the station manager did not agree. As we all know, this works often enough to justify doing it and if you are a turn guy, which I am and Captain X is, you know when this is a good idea and when it’s not. All of that would have probably gone unnoticed to management, however when the station closed the door to push the aircraft, they broke something and now they were on a mechanical and it was a significant fix and a wait for parts. Based upon Captain X’s calculations, they were going to wind up flying into the morning around 5 – 6 am, and he let the station manager know at 6 pm that was not going to happen – he didn’t see himself landing anywhere 12 hours from that point in time. We don’t forecast fatigue, but essentially, when you are faced with reality of flying into the morning; one could easily assume that you could say I can’t see myself doing that.
“There was discussion about taking a [famous sports team’s] charter aircraft and letting the company replace it, which they would not. Finally the flight equipment subbed with a B737 and the passengers continued—at least that’s my understanding of the events. At this point they reassigned Captain X and his FO to ferry the broke aircraft, once fixed, to IAH. He was told the parts would arrive after midnight and the ETD would be 0200, which is when he asked his FO if he was up for that and the FO replied, “I got up early this morning with babies at home and planned on a FL turn, my answer is - I don’t think so”, at which point, Captain X said he felt the same way, so they indicated they were too fatigued to continue on the present reassignment, get them a hotel and they’ll do it in the morning. That’s what happened and the aircraft was fixed at 0145 and ferried in the morning to IAH, arriving within a few hours that it would have originally arrived, with a rested crew that continued home to EWR via a DH.
“At this point the issue has been resolved with Captain X and the office as far as what transpired and there should not be any more issues that arise. However, Captain X and the FO have yet to be paid fully for the pairing and I’ve instructed Captain X to talk to [his ACP] and if he meets with resistance, we will roll in with a grievance and take issue with this from the moment the station manager assumed command of the aircraft. I told Captain X that fatigue calls are paid on a case by case basis and in this case it’s reasonable to assume that you set out for a simple Florida turn and all of a sudden the best staffed airline wanted you to fly all night to position an aircraft in IAH and then DH back to EWR at some point in your career. I told him he has the full support of the union. Once again, I think Captain X’s specific issues have been resolved, but the larger issues remain – comments about who is in command of the aircraft when it’s at the gate and if they don’t get their full pay, we’ll file a Level One grievance.”
Item 5: In the, “It’s Good to be the King” Department…
Bethune Gets A Deal From Madoff Victim
by William Heuslein, 06.29.09, 10:23 PM EDT
Former Continental Airlines chief nabs Manhattan apartment at a discount from widow of friend of fraudster.
Gordon M. Bethune, the retired chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines, has purchased a Manhattan apartment in the landmark Beresford co-op from Bernard Madoff victim Anne Strickland Squadron. The sale price: $5.88 million.
On the day that Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for the largest Ponzi scheme in history, newly available public filings show that Bethune recently paid $5,882,500--all in cash--for Squadron's three-bedroom apartment, which has views of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Bethune got a 26% discount from the original asking price of $7.95 million for the third-floor unit, which the widow bought in 2002.
And here we thought that our managers, former and current, only did this to the employees.
Item 6: We Are Not Making This Up: CO Named “Top Military Employer”
From the Daily News Update—also known as “Pravda” by most employees in a charming tip ‘o the cap to communications, Soviet-style:
CO named one of top military employers in the U.S.
CO has been selected by G.I. Jobs magazine as a Top 100 Military Friendly Employer for 2010. Being named to the list puts CO in the top 2 percent of all employers nationwide, and more than 5,000 companies were considered based on annual revenues of at least $500 million.
“Hiring America’s military veterans is simply smart business,” said Recruiting Managing Director Mary Matatall. “Among other things, military candidates possess the leadership, teamwork, drive and the ability to perform safely.”
The final list will be published in the December 2009 issue of G.I. Jobs, and CO will receive a plaque commemorating the achievement.
Well, where do we start with this? Somehow missing from this management self-pat-on-the-back is any reference to the CLASS-ACTION USERRA LAWSUIT currently being pressed by HUNDREDS of current and former Continental military pilots. While the allegations made in support of this lawsuit are many and varied, the gist of the suit is that Continental management has made, and is continuing to make, life for our military pilots here miserable in many ways.
From our Local Council 170 Military Liaison, Brian Boeding:
“In the past 10 years 12-15% of CAL new hire pilots are former military.
“Based on conversations I've had with new hires at DAL / SWA / Fed Ex, I estimate their military hire rates are SIGNIFICANTLY higher (probably 40-45%).
“CAL has had at least 3 military reserve pilots quit over harassment they received at CAL. (One is now full time in the USAFR, another is at SWA, and the last one who is a close friend of mine is flying with the US Customs)
“In 2006, a CAL pilot was refused re-employment after his military leave ended. He had to enlist the Department of Labor to help get his job back....then fought with CAL (Tom Stivala was representing CAL) for more than a year to get his job back.”
Brian also thought the article was a little odd—so he contacted the magazine:
“I spoke to the editor (Dan Fazio) of GI Jobs this morning and asked him how companies are selected. He stated something to the effect that companies are sent a questionnaire about their military hiring practices and policies and the companies that take the time to respond get included in the list. CAL did not pay for the "honor" of being added to the list, but I was unable to find out if they paid for advertising in the GI Jobs magazine. Dan also stated: "employees are not asked for opinions of their employers, as this wouldn't be practical". Dan also said he was "aware of the ongoing military reserve class action lawsuit".
But Dan wasn’t terribly curious about it, evidently.
Dan? Question: Does the plaque you will be presenting to management come in a handy stick-on-the-side-of-the-airplane version? We’d hate for our passengers to miss it.
Item 3: Subtlety Once Again Evades Management
Following closely on the heels of our plea to all pilots to bid all vacation comes this glinting gem from our Management Department of Subtle-As-a-Brick-to-the-Head:
Those of our pilots who attempted to do the right thing in bidding all of their vacation were faced with this ominous-looking WARNING:
WARNING: You have chosen to set your yearly vacation election to 35 days for the 2010 vacation year. No days will be available to you as Monthly Bid Vacation.
Are you sure you want to continue?
OK / Cancel
We also liked the little touch, and we do mean little, of creating the OK button in a font so small that it you need Windows Magnifier For the Nearly Blind to find it. Especially after the BIG WARNING.
While it’s not terribly disheartening that management keeps trying to create petty and annoying hurdles like this, what is disheartening is knowing that someone in management is actually getting paid to come up with them.
Another fine product from Lame-O! If it’s really obvious, it’s Lame-O!
Item 4: Thank You, Station Managers Everywhere. Just a Reminder: We Could Do It Without You—But You Couldn’t Do It Without Us
This comes from our EWR Grievance Committee. As you can see, the erosion of Captain’s Authority continues unabated with the help of those who have never been a pilot and those who used to be “just a pilot”:
“I’ve been coordinating in the office for a week on behalf of Captain X and have not had an opportunity to put pen to paper. Captain X did a [Florida] turn a little over a week ago and upon arrival there were significant delays returning to EWR. As some of you may know, some station managers indicate they “own” the aircraft while it’s at the gate and that was actually reiterated to me on the phone by [an ACP]. I’d suggest the station manage the boarding process, fueling, catering, you name it and when you want to give us the plane back, call me, I’ll be in the restaurant. This is an attempt to infringe upon the Captain’s authority and we don’t need to accept it and we need to let management know if that’s how they want to play, we can play that way, i.e. I sure hope the station manager has time to manage all the things required to get off the gate at push time and I’ll be in the seat 20 minutes prior to whenever you’ve told me that I can have my aircraft back.
“Captain X initially told the station that he’d like to get boarded up and push close to on time, hoping the delays would get better, however, the station manager did not agree. As we all know, this works often enough to justify doing it and if you are a turn guy, which I am and Captain X is, you know when this is a good idea and when it’s not. All of that would have probably gone unnoticed to management, however when the station closed the door to push the aircraft, they broke something and now they were on a mechanical and it was a significant fix and a wait for parts. Based upon Captain X’s calculations, they were going to wind up flying into the morning around 5 – 6 am, and he let the station manager know at 6 pm that was not going to happen – he didn’t see himself landing anywhere 12 hours from that point in time. We don’t forecast fatigue, but essentially, when you are faced with reality of flying into the morning; one could easily assume that you could say I can’t see myself doing that.
“There was discussion about taking a [famous sports team’s] charter aircraft and letting the company replace it, which they would not. Finally the flight equipment subbed with a B737 and the passengers continued—at least that’s my understanding of the events. At this point they reassigned Captain X and his FO to ferry the broke aircraft, once fixed, to IAH. He was told the parts would arrive after midnight and the ETD would be 0200, which is when he asked his FO if he was up for that and the FO replied, “I got up early this morning with babies at home and planned on a FL turn, my answer is - I don’t think so”, at which point, Captain X said he felt the same way, so they indicated they were too fatigued to continue on the present reassignment, get them a hotel and they’ll do it in the morning. That’s what happened and the aircraft was fixed at 0145 and ferried in the morning to IAH, arriving within a few hours that it would have originally arrived, with a rested crew that continued home to EWR via a DH.
“At this point the issue has been resolved with Captain X and the office as far as what transpired and there should not be any more issues that arise. However, Captain X and the FO have yet to be paid fully for the pairing and I’ve instructed Captain X to talk to [his ACP] and if he meets with resistance, we will roll in with a grievance and take issue with this from the moment the station manager assumed command of the aircraft. I told Captain X that fatigue calls are paid on a case by case basis and in this case it’s reasonable to assume that you set out for a simple Florida turn and all of a sudden the best staffed airline wanted you to fly all night to position an aircraft in IAH and then DH back to EWR at some point in your career. I told him he has the full support of the union. Once again, I think Captain X’s specific issues have been resolved, but the larger issues remain – comments about who is in command of the aircraft when it’s at the gate and if they don’t get their full pay, we’ll file a Level One grievance.”
Item 5: In the, “It’s Good to be the King” Department…
Bethune Gets A Deal From Madoff Victim
by William Heuslein, 06.29.09, 10:23 PM EDT
Former Continental Airlines chief nabs Manhattan apartment at a discount from widow of friend of fraudster.
Gordon M. Bethune, the retired chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines, has purchased a Manhattan apartment in the landmark Beresford co-op from Bernard Madoff victim Anne Strickland Squadron. The sale price: $5.88 million.
On the day that Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for the largest Ponzi scheme in history, newly available public filings show that Bethune recently paid $5,882,500--all in cash--for Squadron's three-bedroom apartment, which has views of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Bethune got a 26% discount from the original asking price of $7.95 million for the third-floor unit, which the widow bought in 2002.
And here we thought that our managers, former and current, only did this to the employees.
Item 6: We Are Not Making This Up: CO Named “Top Military Employer”
From the Daily News Update—also known as “Pravda” by most employees in a charming tip ‘o the cap to communications, Soviet-style:
CO named one of top military employers in the U.S.
CO has been selected by G.I. Jobs magazine as a Top 100 Military Friendly Employer for 2010. Being named to the list puts CO in the top 2 percent of all employers nationwide, and more than 5,000 companies were considered based on annual revenues of at least $500 million.
“Hiring America’s military veterans is simply smart business,” said Recruiting Managing Director Mary Matatall. “Among other things, military candidates possess the leadership, teamwork, drive and the ability to perform safely.”
The final list will be published in the December 2009 issue of G.I. Jobs, and CO will receive a plaque commemorating the achievement.
Well, where do we start with this? Somehow missing from this management self-pat-on-the-back is any reference to the CLASS-ACTION USERRA LAWSUIT currently being pressed by HUNDREDS of current and former Continental military pilots. While the allegations made in support of this lawsuit are many and varied, the gist of the suit is that Continental management has made, and is continuing to make, life for our military pilots here miserable in many ways.
From our Local Council 170 Military Liaison, Brian Boeding:
“In the past 10 years 12-15% of CAL new hire pilots are former military.
“Based on conversations I've had with new hires at DAL / SWA / Fed Ex, I estimate their military hire rates are SIGNIFICANTLY higher (probably 40-45%).
“CAL has had at least 3 military reserve pilots quit over harassment they received at CAL. (One is now full time in the USAFR, another is at SWA, and the last one who is a close friend of mine is flying with the US Customs)
“In 2006, a CAL pilot was refused re-employment after his military leave ended. He had to enlist the Department of Labor to help get his job back....then fought with CAL (Tom Stivala was representing CAL) for more than a year to get his job back.”
Brian also thought the article was a little odd—so he contacted the magazine:
“I spoke to the editor (Dan Fazio) of GI Jobs this morning and asked him how companies are selected. He stated something to the effect that companies are sent a questionnaire about their military hiring practices and policies and the companies that take the time to respond get included in the list. CAL did not pay for the "honor" of being added to the list, but I was unable to find out if they paid for advertising in the GI Jobs magazine. Dan also stated: "employees are not asked for opinions of their employers, as this wouldn't be practical". Dan also said he was "aware of the ongoing military reserve class action lawsuit".
But Dan wasn’t terribly curious about it, evidently.
Dan? Question: Does the plaque you will be presenting to management come in a handy stick-on-the-side-of-the-airplane version? We’d hate for our passengers to miss it.
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