- Merger protection/Seniority Integration in the event of a merger!
- What our (concession) money is buying
- Tax preparation – go to the experts
1. Merger protection/Seniority Integration in the event of a merger!
Is our seniority at risk in the event of a merger?
I have received emails from many of you asking what will happen to our seniority if Northwest is bought by or merges with another carrier. Here are three important facts regarding the integration of seniority lists in a merger:
- Our contract provides important protections for our seniority in the event of a merger in Section 1 “Scope and Recognition” (see contract excerpts at the end of this email). Section 1.E. contains language that protects seniority integration for this contract and the next one. Remember, the Northwest flight attendants campaigned strongly against the company’s attacks on this language in 2005 and early 2006 and were able to protect the strongest scope language in the industry.
- Congress has recently passed protections for seniority integration. The McCaskill-Bond amendment to the omnibus spending bill added provisions for the “integration of seniority lists in a fair and equitable manner" and that disputes over seniority be submitted to binding arbitration. See article here.
- The Delta Board of Directors has committed to its employees (in writing to flight attendants) that: “Delta will not agree to or consummate any merger or similar transaction with another carrier unless either (1) Delta, in accordance with its past practice, is able to work with the affected employee groups to merge seniority lists to protect each group's reasonable pre-transaction expectations and contributions, or (2) the other carrier agrees, as an irrevocable condition of the transaction, to provide for binding seniority integration procedures for Delta employees and the corresponding groups at the other carrier, under sections 3 and 13 of the Allegheny-Mohawk Labor Protections Provisions”. These are the same provision we have in Section 1 of our contract. (see the end of the email for Allegheny-Mohawk language).
What we’re buying now?
- We can never forget that every day, even as we struggle to put food on the table or pay for our children’s healthcare, Northwest is spending our concession money on new uniforms, airline takeovers and the NWE training. The Justice Department recently approved the purchase of Midwest Airlines by Northwest and TPG. Northwest spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this acquisition. Read article here.
- To add insult to injury, AFA, which is increasing our dues to $43 per month (more than 2 hours of work each month for our junior flight attendants) has just announced that THEY will be spending our hard earned money on a mobilization effort of self-promotion. Our dues money will be used to sing the virtues of AFA . . . to us!
- NOTE: In the age of big business acquisitions and big union bureaucracy, it is the worker who is left to pay the bill.
Tax preparation – go to the experts
“There are two systems of taxation in the USA; one for the informed and one for the uninformed.” ~
Recently (December 12, 2007) Warren Buffett was quoted: The newspaper article first states “To a question about tax disparities, Buffett said he surveyed 13 workers in his office and found that they paid an average tax rate of 32.9 percent, compared with the 17.7 percent that he pays.” Buffett says “My cleaning lady pays a higher tax on her earnings than I do on my dividends and investments.” He goes on “It’s better to earn in the boardroom than in the bathroom.”
It is TAX preparation time – please go to the experts.
Please don’t be fooled by an adequate looking 2007 W-2. Many flight attendants have remarked that the concessions don’t seem so bad once they look at their W-2s. Remember, your W-2 reflects about $8,000 in Equity Claim and Surplus Severance Package money. Subtract the $8,000 and you’ll have an accurate picture of what your earning potential will be in the year ahead.
In the meantime, if you want to preserve as much of your 2007 income as possible, consider using Tax Crew to prepare your tax return. They have been in business for 15 years and are aircrew tax experts. They are the only full-service tax firm (with Enrolled Agents) that also prepare a detailed Per Diem Report, which lets you claim the maximum government meal rates for your layovers. For more information and a free Tax Organizer and newsletter: Link here. http://www.mytaxcrew.com
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Current NWA Flight Attendant contract language:
Section 1.C.1. states:
“This Agreement shall be binding upon any successor including, but not limited to, and merged company or companies, purchaser, assign, assignee, transferee, administrator, receiver, executor and/or trustee(hereinafter “successor”), of the Company which acquires ownership and/or control of all or substantially of the equity securites and/or assets of the Company.
Section 1.E. states
The Company shall not enter into any agreement to a Successor Transaction (as defined in paragraph C.1., above) or to any Partial Transaction (as defined in paragraph D, above) unless the other party to the transaction agrees in writing, as a condition of the transaction, to (1) provide Labor Protective Provisions for Northwest Airlines Flight Attendants no less favorable than the Labor Protective Provisions specified by the CAB in the Allegheny-Mohawk merger, including Sections 3 and 13 relating to fair and equitable seniority integration, but excluding Section 8 (Transfer Expenses) and Section 9 (Home Purchase) thereof; (2) provide to a Flight Attendant who is required to change his/her base station as a result of such Successor Transaction or Partial Transaction transfer expenses in accordance with Section 13.A. of this Agreement; and (3) assume the terms of this Section 1.E. and of Section 1.C.2., above. For purposes of this paragraph, a seniority integration process shall not be deemed less favorable than that provided by Sections 3 and 13 of the Allegheny-Mohawk LPPs if it provides for either (1) date of hire seniority integration, or (2) “fair and equitable” seniority integration with arbitration of any disagreement before a neutral arbitrator. This paragraph E. shall remain in full force and effect concurrently with this Flight Attendant Agreement and the next ensuing Flight Attendant Agreement.
Allegheny-Mohawk Labor Protections Provisions regarding seniority integration:
Section 3. Insofar as the merger affects the seniority rights of the carriers' employees, provisions shall be made for the integration of seniority lists in a fair and equitable manner, including, where applicable, agreement through collective bargaining between the carriers and the representatives of the employees affected. In the event of failure to agree, the dispute may be submitted by either party for adjustment in accordance with Section 13.
Section 13 (a). In the event that any dispute or controversy arises with respect to the protections provided herein, which cannot be settled by the parties within 20 days after the controversy arises, it may be referred by any party to an arbitrator selected from a panel of seven names furnished by the National Mediation Board for consideration and determination. The parties shall select the arbitrator from such panel by alternatively striking names until only one remains, and he shall serve as arbitrator. Expedited hearings and decisions will be expected, and a decision shall be rendered within 90 days after the controversy arises, unless an extension of time is mutually agreeable to all parties. The salary and expenses of the arbitrator shall be borne equally by the carrier and (i) the organization or organizations representing the employee or employees, or (ii) if unrepresented, the employee or employees or group or groups of employees. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties.
