Eight Years of the "Working Together" Relationship
Flight Attendants have Contributed $2.9 BILLION to AMR's Bottom Line and Yet Executives Still Demand More
With the Aid of the Government (the NMB and now the Bankruptcy Courts) AMR Now Plans to Extort More from Employees
We say it’s Time to Fight Back!!!
To the right is a view of the APFA Bulletin Board in Boston Operations taken on Thanksgiving Day 2011. As you can see from the photograph, there's was absolutely NOTHING on the Bulletin Board other than the names and numbers of the local base reps and base council — NOTHING about the state of negotiations. Four years of negotiating and the leadership is nothing short of silent.
Photo of the APFA BOS/BOSI Bulletin Board taken on Thanksgiving Day 2011. As you can see, there's absolutely NOTHING on there regarding negotiations.
As we head into Chapter 11 (Reorganization), it's import to know that employees still have many options available and that APFA can take many directions in addressing membership concerns.
Historically the bankruptcy courts have been hard-hitting on employees while simultaneously being sympathetic to the very executives who instigated the bankruptcy filing. Public opinion on that has changed dramatically in the wake of the mortgage and financial meltdowns, but that doesn't mean that the courts have changed. As the following Bloomberg video points out, AMR was able to file for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York even though the carrier has no airports in the Southern District. The reason corporations flock to the Southern District is because it's a corporate-friendly environment. The Southern District panders to corporations so that corporations will bring their bankruptcy business to their court. It's a business just like any other.
While it's typical that employees will be stymied from being able to take any strike action against the employer in bankruptcy, that doesn't mean that employees are hogtied. There's a great deal of politics involved in bankruptcy so it's important that employees have a solid plan for dealing with bankruptcy without relying on the government and the courts to protect their interests.
As all three labor groups jockey for position, I want flight attendants to know that we've been talking with a team of professionals (including a top-notch corporate bankruptcy firm) about how to proceed forward. Because we spent eight years fighting AMR in Federal Court over the 2003 Restructuring Agreement, we have the executive depositions to insure that AMR's execs will not back-peddle from what they told the courts in 2004.
To reiterate, AMR admitted that there was no bankruptcy threat in 2003, and that the $1.8 billion demanded annually from employees was nothing more than a plug-and-play figure from a low-cost carrier labor comparison AMR did in 2001 (before 9/11) in an effort to align American with low-cost carriers. It was about changing American' business model, not saving the airline from bankruptcy.
When we consider that five of the six banks targeted by the Occupy the Boardroom movement have an intimate influence on the board of AMR, it's obvious that there's a tremendous amount of of outside influence affecting AMR's decision to file for bankruptcy. Knowing this given employees a plethora of opportunities to fight back.
To learn more, please visit: www.CorporateCampaign.org
The ED Show said it best:
Ed Schultz says that it's "American Airlines turn to screw workers." He also states that AMR has "$24 billion in assets, $29 billion in liabilities and $4 billion in cash." Clearly there's no need for bankruptcy.
It's interesting to note that AMR filed for bankruptcy in the "Southern District" when in reality AMR has no airports in the Southern District.
The reason corporations flock to the Southern District is because it's a corporate-friendly environment. The Southern District panders to corporations so that corporations will bring their bankruptcy business to them.
There's a lot of money in bankruptcy, and the Southern District wants that money spent locally. It's always about money, and the Federal Court system is no different. The tide will change when employees become educated on corporate America's dirty little secret.
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains how the bankruptcy of American Airlines shows us why voting for president is even more important than you think.
"Bain and the other consultant's lawyers working on the american airlines bankruptcy are being paid $14 million a month. that's more than double what american airlines put in its pension fund last month."
Bloomberg Law questions how AMR was able to file for bankruptcy in the Southern District when the airline has no airports in that district. Apparently AMR was able to file there because they own a tiny piece of real estate. My question is, when was it purchased?
"Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia talks with Bloomberg News bankruptcy columnist and editor-at-large Bill Rochelle about the week's bankruptcy news and legal developments including AMR-American Airlines and MD Global."
Ray Rogers of Corporate Campaign, Inc. talks about AMR's sham bankruptcy filing and what the unions should do.
In response to AMR's assault on the Allied Pilots Association, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the Transport Workers Union and their members, as well as the CWA, which is involved in organizing American's passenger service agents, the unions should all work together on four key fronts simultaneously. This is necessary not only to protect their own interests and professions, but to help prevent further assaults of this type on other workers within and outside the airline industry.
The unions at American Airlines should:
1. Aggressively challenge the sham restructuring proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York where the bloodletting will be from the rank and file workers and their unions.
Airline reporter Charles Leocha wrote in 2007 that bankruptcy courts have just about rolled over and played dead for airline management. "I can't remember the last time I heard pilots, flight attendants and other union members had been favored in any court decision that involved a confrontation with management," he said.
Just look at the lavish compensation and treatment afforded United/Continental's and Delta/Northwest's executives after their Chapter 11 filings. Compare that with the heavy losses and shoddy treatment suffered by the unions and employees at these airlines.
Why did AMR file for Chapter 11 in the Court for the Southern District of New York? According to Lynn LoPucki, author and professor at UCLA's and Harvard's Law Schools, companies choose this particular court because history has shown its judges will bend over backwards to accommodate big business in order to attract cases which generate millions of dollars in fees through their Court. This court is not about justice. It's about politics, business as usual and maintaining the status quo.
This court should be aggressively challenged in the public and political arenas. Right now, the unions should be planning to pack the courtroom, the hallways leading into the courtroom and to hold demonstrations and vigils outside the courthouse, while also reaching out to the public and political leaders to stop these unjust proceedings.
2. The unions should campaign to replace corrupt members of the AMR board of directors who made the decision to file for Chapter 11. Two good places to start would be Judith Rodin, who represents Citigroup's and the big banking interests, and John Bachman, senior council board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is no friend of unions. If Rajat Gupta, the crook from Goldman Sachs, hadn't been forced to resign earlier from AMR's board, I would have added his name to the top of the list as well.
3. The unions should establish a multimillion-dollar defense fund so that they have the resources to take the offensive and wage a campaign on many fronts. They need a national campaign headquarters staffed with top notch organizers, researchers, writers, and media and public relations specialists to wage a winning effort that will maximize involvement of the unions' membership, their families and other individuals and organizations who want to support their struggle for justice -- and there will be many other individuals and organizations that want to support this fight.
4. Lastly, once the unions have really gotten management's attention and respect, they need to form a real partnership and a program with the company to maintain good labor relations and work together to build American's brand name and make the flying public want to fly American Airlines.
Epilogue:
All the solidarity in the world will not prevail in the struggles against AMR unless the unions have a winning strategy along with the resources and organizational know-how to carry it out. That strategy must deal with the present situation during Chapter 11 restructuring proceedings, and must continue to assure that the unions secure fair treatment and contracts in the future.
There a misconception that AMR's bankruptcy is about restructuring the airline and restoring shareholder value. This notion couldn't be farther from the truth. In reality, AMR's bankruptcy is nothing more than an accounting tool. It's designed to transfer wealth from those who have little to those who have everything.
When I look at AMR's bankruptcy filing, what I see is Phase II of AMR's "Turn-Around Plan." It's an extension of the "working together" relationship AMR's enjoyed for the past eight years with American's unions -- only now it's with the bankruptcy court system. AMR's bankruptcy is a business strategy -- that's all.
I also believe that AMR could raise revenue by selling off assets listed in the company's bankruptcy filing. Assts like the $30 million corporate townhouse in London and American's hotel in Caracas add little revenue to American and could certainly shore up AMR's bottom line.
Anther issue that's been raised during this bankruptcy filing is an issue that's referred to as "venue shopping." Venue shopping is a practice whereby a corporation literally shops around for a bankruptcy court that will be most sympathetic to its needs. In AMR's case, rather than filing in the Eastern District -- Queens -- AMR instead filed in the Southern District -- Manhattan -- simply because the corporation owns a small piece of property somwhere on the island.
