Layoffs, the now, and the future?

[Mitch Cronin]

24 "category 1's" in YYZ today... That's aircraft maintenance... "apprentices" many, some licenced... all good guys, some really good guys.

There was a time when someone layed off could go next door and get a job with the competitor, but AC killed off all the competition... Now they've got no place to go.

What's AC gonna do when the older crowd retire and the guys they've layed off all say foxtrot uniform? Where's thier vision for the future?

I think I know the answer to that... there isn't any. Milton doesn't see any future for himself here, so he's making his best effort at a very transparent, temporary coup.... which he'll do his best to capitalize on, to beef up his own resume, for his next job. The rest of us, who'll be around to try to fit the pieces together after it all fall's apart, largely due to a severe lack of any long term thought, can rot in hell... he couldn't care less.

The man is destroying this company. Him and his umpteen dozen yes-men...

Another page in the typically sad story of Canadian aviation.... an American fires the last nails into the coffin of a Canadian aviation icon. The once proud flag carrier of the nation, reduced to ragged sorry sods, begging for nickels and selling their shoes to get by another day.

These guys, 4 of whom I've worked with closely for a couple of years now, were our future... They've been eagerly learning the ropes, and paying attention, and putting out, even to the last day... Last night I worked with 2 of them who put in more effort than a lot of the long timers to get the job done. What a bloody shame.

All for what? Some lies on paper that claim we'll get "productivity improvements" (totaling X million dollars) by scheduling overtime to cover the loss. What hores#!t!

What fools. What incredibly nearsighted, moronic fools would swallow that?

They've blown it folks. This airline is in very, very deep doo doo. Unless someone, somewhere, has a sudden awakening.... and finaly realizes the employees need to be onside to create the fix... I fear we're toast.

...but maybe I'm just depressed at the moment?

[Guest jetblast]

Mitch:

I don't think you are depressed -- you've just come to the realization that there is only so much the rank and file can do. The real problem is that there has to be underlying structural changes at the upper and top levels of that organization. I have watched a series of changes occur starting two years ago today from the outside. Quite frankly, nothing I have seen has been beneficial to the employees, consumers, or other stakeholders.

I hate to say it but it is high time to pull the plug. Look, the boys from the states -- their day is done. It was finished a long time ago. It begs the question, "With the brain drain running North to South, what the hell are we doing taking people going South to North to run what was once the premier carrier?"

So far, no one has been able to provide a good explaination.

The real problem is that they have driven a great deal of talented people away from the industry -- never to return. And that's a shame, not just for AC, but for other carriers out there in this country. I'm not talking about longtimers either -- these were young people. There are greener pastures out there....sometimes it takes a little searching, traveling WAY OFF the beaten path, and taking some substantial risks, but they are there.

I used to know a lot of good people at Air Canada. Too bad they are almost all gone now.

JB

[dagger]

Fess up Mitch, which is it?

A few months ago when concessions negotiations were under way you told us all how mechanics were under paid, in such hot demand - unlike any other airline employees - that you shouldn't have to take a pay cut. You should still be paid more. Obviously your union believed that you all believed that, so they skulled around for a devious way to achieve the cost reductions being asked of the entire work force

While other unions - presumably the overpaid minions actually serving the customer - took direct pay and benefit cuts, you got this convoluted mandatory overtime formula, but no permanent pay cuts.

Now you say: "There was a time when someone layed off could go next door and get a job with the competitor, but AC killed off all the competition... Now they've got no place to go. "

If the laws of supply and demand still apply, that would seem to suggest that you can't just take your certificate and experience and go off and fix planes - or buses or cars or industrial motors - and get the pay and benefits you still have. Otherwise, presumably, you would all be leaving en masse. Maybe you aren't so underpaid. Maybe you are paid more at AC - still - than the current market would pay you to move on.

I don't think you can have it both ways. Maybe if you hadn't had such an exaggerated sense of how your pay entitlement, you would have actually negotiated a better contract, certainly one without this rather silly backdoor extension of the work week, because that's all it is, an attempt to get more productivity out of you.

Now flame away.

[Guest lupin]

Dagger,

This latest contract was negotiated by the IAM without proper representation by maintenance employees.One of the main negotiators was Jim Coller a ramp agent from winnipeg.

The regular negots commitee was not involved in these ccaa negots.We had poor representation,as well as extremely poor communication about what is going on with the whole situation at air canada.

Before the contract (a 300 page document) was put to a vote,the iam gave us a ONE PAGE DOCUMENT with 8 or 10 highlights of the new contract.We were not allowed to view the entire collective aggreement or research it to see if our interests were being served.

We currently have over 3000 people who signed up to be part of a new union with more democratic rules.The restrictive rules of the cirb make it diffcult to get rid of the present union and the fact that Air Canada isn't obbliged to follow the cirb rules because of CCAA protection make it equally hard to get rid of the iam.

for the record,we only need 2700 people signed up to get rid of the IAM,we have over 3000 but the cirb methods of replacing a union are not very easily adaptable to such a large company as ac.

My point.....the present union did not properly represent the maintenance employees

Secondly, there actually are jobs out there that will offer salaries similar to AC.But like at most companies you have to start at the bottom.With 2 weeks holidays and on the bottom of the payscale with a slow progression to the higher wages.

With a situation like that,you won't be seing employees like mitch (senior)leave AC to be at the bottom of the list at the other companies.What we are seing is the laid off employees ,going to competitors,to other related industries and they will not be comming back to AC,this could be where the shortage of maintenance people will manifest itself.Prior to the economy downturn,there was a shortage of maintenance employees.I suspect that same shortage will be back as soon as the industry is out of its present slump.Your evaluation of maintenance wages is a good one for the present aviation downturn.But it doesn't look at the upcoming years and is (in my opinion)very narrowsighted.

Lupin

[Mitch Cronin]

Hi Dagger,

I'm not about to flame away at you.

I think we are underpaid, and one day we'll see that corrected. I see NWA posted a profit. Interesting that they and SWA are the two airlines with the highest paid maintenance staff.

As for your question "which is it"... Fair question. I suspect these guys will be able to transfer their skills to other jobs quite well, but it's this industry that will suffer the result. As will they, if it was aviation they had their hearts set on.

Sad to see, but AC wants it to appear that our numbers were too great... I believe they're about to learn they were wrong.

They think the losses will be covered by scheduled overtime... I don't think so. People, at least independently thinking people -- something somewhat common to folks who choose to fix airplanes for a living -- don't automatically fit the instant will of pen and paper. Treating people like crap to look good on paper might fool an outside onlooker for a short while, but the costs, I think, will be very real, and substantial.

I don't think you can look at anything in the current situation as a measure of what's right.

Maybe I'm wrong Dagger... maybe I was wrong before too... maybe employee morale does have zero value... but I don't think so. Do you?

[Mitch Cronin]

[dagger]

first, I am not in agreement with Lupin's analysis below that the situation for AMEs is transitory, that we will soon snap back to a shortage situation. There are systemic changes taking place. The airlines that are growing pay less, have less restrictive work rules, or both. With the dollar heading to 80 cents US, Air Canada can kiss goodbye to some of its third party work. And that, too, will mean less work for AMEs generally because this loss doesn't mean a gain for another entity. It's entirely possible that there are going to be too many aviation mechanics on the market, and most will to take lesser paying work in other industries. You call it a loss to the industry, but it's only a loss if the available work remains the same. If the overall need shrinks, then there are too many AMEs.

As for the morale question, an airline needs decent employee morale but I have seen airlines with terrible morale make good money, and airlines with decent morale take a pasting financially. In AC's case, I hardly expected people to feel good about things around now. Until AC comes out of CCAA, with a clear plan and direction and perhaps some new blood in management, nothing is going to change. The remaining issues are contentious and have to be hashed out in order to bring things to a steady state before management can really bring things around. Continental was a good example. It had to complete its second restructuring and stumble around a bit before Bethune was brought in wish a fresh approach. I assume AC will go the same route over the next few years. I know that's not a very satisfying answer, but it's the most logical course. One wouldn't expect a big change in leadership during delicate negotiations with creditors. The only good thing I can tell you is that it's always easier for a company magnimous and even generous when it's profitable, and I believe with a six percent US growth rate now occurring, we will soon see AC doing pretty well overall.

[Mitch Cronin]

Whether or not current trends are transitory is almost irrelevant when you consider the low numbers of new entrants, the percentage of those exiting the industry after layoff, who won't accept a recall, and the retirements to come. The future looks as bad now as it did 3 years ago, I reckon.

It is a loss to the industry, because a lot of time and energy was invested in training these guys... and many of them were among the most productive in terms of the hands on, nuts and bolts of aircraft maintenance. Young, keen and eager to please isn't easily replaced by those older, jaded and extremely dissatisfied. The naivete in this notion of scheduling overtime to fill the void is amazing. I'm stunned by the idiocy that seems to run this airline... A child could see the folly in this for gawd sakes.

Scheduled overtime has or will eliminate 250 people system wide, for a projected savings of $15 million... Do you know how quick that paltry $15 million get's eaten up by a few delays? How much does it cost to put a plane load of people in a hotel overnight? How much revenue is lost while an airplane sits in the hangar?"...but Daddy, what happens when the rest of the mechanics are so unhappy they don't want to work hard?" Do they really think a guy dragged in against his will is going to be as productive as the guys they just tossed out?

Absolute, flippin' lunacy.

You talk of less pay and less restrictive work rules, but I don't know if you've given any thought to that... Considering the axiom, you get what you pay for, do you want people who do what we do to be paid peanuts and treated like garbage? We're not automatons who park our brains at the door and report to an assembly line. Air Canada calls us "technicians"... we maintain machinery that many people's lives depend on. Our work is very technical and demanding. We have valuable skills, we perform a very valuable function, we have a lot of responsibility, we can't easily be replaced... we know it and we have our limits.

I appreciate your view for hope and I hope you're right. No one's asking for generosity while we're in the toilet. We've conceded lot's... more than what was asked for. ...but no one I know of is prepared to lay down and take the filth being shoved our way.