Thursday, July 9, 2009

One thing about this industry, someone will always do your job for less

The race to the bottom continues. When I picked an airline I had many reasons why I picked my airline versus others. One was pay AND work rules. While I'm not at the top paying regional, I am far from the bottom. One thing about this industry is, no matter what, someone will always be willing to do your job for less money.

http://www.wisn.com/news/19998628/detail.html

Midwest Airlines Announces Furloughs For Pilots, Flight Attendants
Employees Say Furloughs May Start In September

POSTED: 10:05 pm CDT July 8, 2009
UPDATED: 10:56 pm CDT July 8, 2009
MILWAUKEE -- Midwest Airlines informed its pilots and flight attendants Wednesday there will be furloughs in the near future.

The employees were informed through letter.

Midwest officials said they have made no announcements as to when these furloughs are to start. Employees, however, said they are due to start furloughs in September.

While company officials said things are looking up for Midwest Airlines since it has been bought by Indianapolis-based Republic Airways, many employees say the situation continues to get worse.

"We need our jobs," said Midwest Flight Attendants Union President Toni Higgins, "and we need to be able to earn a respectable wage."

Company leaders informed pilots and flight attendants Tuesday that they are reducing the number of Boeing 7-17s from nine to five.

The Midwest Flight Attendant's Union president said employees anticipated cuts, but not as early as September.

"It's devastating to the flight attendants," said Higgins. "When republic purchased us, at least we knew what was happening with the company."

"By no means did they anticipate they were going to start losing their jobs a month and a half later," Higgins said.

A Pilots Union representative said the Union is waiting for more details, but called the situation "regrettable" and "unfortunate" considering there are already so many unemployed pilots.

Midwest officials say they don't have specific details on how many employees will be affected....

The Flight Attendants' president, however, predicts the situation will continue to get worse.

"The threat is there that the longer you wait to do the merger the more and more jobs that are going to go away," Higgins said.

Flight attendants and pilots have filed for federal mediation for ongoing contract negotiations.

Another big step in this process will be negotiating a merger plan between Midwest unions and Republic unions. Representatives said they are looking for that to happen as soon as possible.

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