April 2008 Labor advisory report
April 15, 2008
CWA

The Union representative, Company leaders and members of the Board of Directors met in Phoenix on April 9th to review the current conditions and issues at US Airways.  Doug Parker discussed the oil prices and how it is influencing the economy and our profits.   He was very proud of the on-time performance and the hard work the employees are doing out in the field.  He did not confirm or deny that US Airways is still interested in finding another airline to merge with.

Scott Kirby discussed the IAM transition agreements and how pleased they all are that the mechanics ratified their contract and the Fleet service group has signed a tentative agreement that needs to be sent our for ratification as well.  He talked about the demise of Skybus, Aloha and ATA and how it would be good for the remaining carriers, although they are small carriers, there will be a positive impact on our capacity.  Due to higher fuel costs, the company will see some decrease in our scheduled flights in the back half of the year. 

Robert Isom spoke of the positive progress being made in our operations and that our completion factor is getting better.  Baggage issues in PHL are getting better and the work they have done in International re-check will help ease the problems during the summer months. He stated that the internal complaints are falling.  We have had 2 months of 100% completion factor.  The company is going to move to baggage scanners and better gate readers in the near future, they have programs in place now to get this done.  The FAA audit in Maintenance caused some delays.  The aircraft interior improvement program has been coming along well, and many of us should notice that the interiors of our planes are in much better shape.  He is now working on fuel conservation programs with operations and the pilots and all concerned are pulling in the same direction.  He revealed the plan to realign the operations management team.  David Seymour will now be VP of Maintenance Planning, taking his previous position as VP of Operations Control and Planning will be Brad Beakley.  Kerry Hester will now oversee Reservations along with her position as VP of Customer Service Planning.  Jim Olson will be the new VP of Corporate Communications.

The CWA/IBT representative  presented issues of concern for the membership.  One issue we discussed was the staffing shortages in many locations which in turn cause mandatory overtime.  In many small and medium size cities, there are no managers in the stations after 6:00 PM and in some locations as early as 4:00 PM the station managers and shift managers have left for the day.  We have asked in the past and have asked again to have operations look into this issue and the problems it creates.  Al Hemenway did follow up on the CWA's last request to revisit the staffing model they used to determine the head count, which was a Sabre based computer system.  The company found that the Shares system does not allow agents to complete transactions as quickly as Sabre did, which is what we have been telling them all along.  We hope this will convince them to improve staffing which will in turn, improve the customer's experience.    Another major problem is the enforcement of the 10 minute door close rule.  Our customers are already running from gate to gate to make a 30 minute minimum connect time, only to find out they only have 20 minutes in reality.  The response was that our on time performance has improved and that is one of the company's main concerns right now.  The Union asked for a meeting with the company to discuss the problems with this new rule and the problems and issues we experience daily in the workplace because of this rule.  Robert Isom agreed to set something up in the near future to discuss this. 

The CWA/IBT also raised the problem with retention of new hires.  The starting rate in many cities is lower then what local fast food chains are hiring at and the Union has asked that the company consider starting all new hires at the $9.59 hour rate, which is an option in our CBA.   

We also discussed the problem with the profit sharing checks.  There were a large number of employees that did not receive their money and the company has identified almost 100 passenger service employees this affected.  They responded and told us they are hoping to have their checks to them the following week.

CWA NEWS
April 16, 2008
CWA

New Uniform launch dates: The company has advised the CWA/IBT that the Soft Launch date is - May 5- most agents should have their uniforms, management will be talking to agents that have their new uniforms but are not in compliance-Hard Launch date-June 2-management will then be checking each agent to be sure they are in compliance and will be issuing discipince if they are not.  Please be aware of these dates and let your local Union rep know if you are having issues with your uniforms before June 2.

RECALL TRACKING

We suggest to anyone on furlough to call the local Admin rep in the city where they have recall to double check their recall status.  We have had some incorrect information given out by some of the local Station managers.  We suggest you get something in writing from them if there are any doubts.

HOW TO AVOID AN INJURY ON DUTY WHEN ASSISTING A PASSENGER

We have had some recent OJI's reported in some of the stations accross the system because agents are trying to lift passengers on their own.  If you are called upon to lift a passenger into a straight back or push a wheelchair up a jetway and the passenger weighs over 70lbs, you should always ask for and insist on assistance.  Do not attempt to do this yourself, the consequences are very costly.  The company should always have enough staff on duty to handle any wheelchair assist passengers.  If you find yourself in this situation, wait for assistance and please advise local management of the problem if you are unable to get any help in a timely manner.  Your safety should be your main concern.  Work safe and work smart.  If a situation looks unsafe, it probably is.