MrFedEx
Engorged Member
AA is "bankrupt," or so they say. Actually, they have from 4 to 5 billion in cash reserves, but this is a relatively quick and easy way to screw their employees on labor contracts and pensions. Fred basically did the same thing when he killed the Traditional Pension Plan a few years back, using the money problems of the passenger airlines to piggyback FedEx onto the pension-cutting bandwagon because FedEx was also an "airline". No financial peril, just an opportunity to screw us, which Fred naturally took. Would you expect anything less from him?
So it looks like American is going to get to experience Fred-style pensions and raises, which is to say 401k's instead of real pensions, and little to no raises or outright pay cuts just to keep your job. Civic-minded management that they are, AA is also cutting service to smaller communities, citing fuel and labor costs, but in reality cutting-back to a core line haul system that is more profitable. Never mind that management unwisely invested in a bunch of smaller unprofitable aircraft for these routes. They will blame the employees and extract the money from them, just as Fred has done for years with us. Right now, FedEx is stuck with a large fleet of MD10's into which Fred invested huge money. He needs 757's, 767's and 777's, not 3-engined fuel pigs. The MD10's were rebuilt to last 20 additional years. Guess who will pay for them to be prematurely retired and replaced? We will. Fred will sink even more millions into killing unions so he can gain more money to buy better airplanes. Count on it. If we ever get close to going union, Fred will pull the "bankruptcy" plan out of his ass, just like he used the "economic disruption" BS to bamboozle Congress and the general public when the RLA was in danger of getting snuffed.
Watch what the pilots do. Not the commuter pilots, but the guys who fly the large jets. I'll bet they give-up little to nothing because they are ALPA. Management won't screw with them because they (the pilots) would just shut the whole line system down. Just like Fred won't mess with our pilots. But he can and will mess with us.
The lesson here? Without a strong union, your employer will walk all over you. One, because they can, and two, because we have corrupt political and judicial systems that will let employers like American and FedEx crap all over workers because Fred and his AA counterpart are the real power brokers. Fred pretty much does as he pleases, and his money has bought him the privilege.
Isn't it wonderful?
So it looks like American is going to get to experience Fred-style pensions and raises, which is to say 401k's instead of real pensions, and little to no raises or outright pay cuts just to keep your job. Civic-minded management that they are, AA is also cutting service to smaller communities, citing fuel and labor costs, but in reality cutting-back to a core line haul system that is more profitable. Never mind that management unwisely invested in a bunch of smaller unprofitable aircraft for these routes. They will blame the employees and extract the money from them, just as Fred has done for years with us. Right now, FedEx is stuck with a large fleet of MD10's into which Fred invested huge money. He needs 757's, 767's and 777's, not 3-engined fuel pigs. The MD10's were rebuilt to last 20 additional years. Guess who will pay for them to be prematurely retired and replaced? We will. Fred will sink even more millions into killing unions so he can gain more money to buy better airplanes. Count on it. If we ever get close to going union, Fred will pull the "bankruptcy" plan out of his ass, just like he used the "economic disruption" BS to bamboozle Congress and the general public when the RLA was in danger of getting snuffed.
Watch what the pilots do. Not the commuter pilots, but the guys who fly the large jets. I'll bet they give-up little to nothing because they are ALPA. Management won't screw with them because they (the pilots) would just shut the whole line system down. Just like Fred won't mess with our pilots. But he can and will mess with us.
The lesson here? Without a strong union, your employer will walk all over you. One, because they can, and two, because we have corrupt political and judicial systems that will let employers like American and FedEx crap all over workers because Fred and his AA counterpart are the real power brokers. Fred pretty much does as he pleases, and his money has bought him the privilege.
Isn't it wonderful?