Union Says Job Security Threatened
The
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) issued the following statement
this week from its president, Captain John Prater, in response to
recent public statements made by MAIR Holdings CEO Paul Foley,
indicating that in his estimation MAIR is no longer bound by a
January 2004 job security agreement with ALPA that requires all
MAIR operations above 19 seats be flown by Mesaba pilots.
"Our international union stands behind the Mesaba pilots in this
ongoing fight. We take the Letter of Agreement between ALPA and
MAIR Holdings very seriously, and I have devoted Association
resources and legal expertise to fight MAIR's bizarre lawsuit
challenging that agreement. ALPA will not allow pilot jobs to be
stolen -- and the Mesaba pilots have the Association's 60,000
members on their side.
"ALPA firmly believes that this letter of agreement remains in
full effect and continues to be binding on MAIR. More than $120
million in profits produced by pilots and other hard working Mesaba
employees was funneled to MAIR Holdings before Mesaba Airlines
entered bankruptcy in October 2005. Mesaba employees were forced to
take significant cuts in wages and benefits in bankruptcy to help
the carrier survive this upstreaming scheme.
"Our pilots came very close to striking Mesaba during protracted
contract negotiations, which culminated in January of 2004. The
strike was averted, due in no small part to the attainment of the
job security commitments which are recited in the MAIR Letter. MAIR
CEO Paul Foley committed job security to Mesaba pilots then, and we
expect him to remain committed to them today.
"During Mesaba's Bankruptcy Court proceedings, Mesaba
unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the Court to allow it to
nullify the letter between ALPA and MAIR. After being rebuffed by
the Minnesota Bankruptcy Court, MAIR has now run to Texas to ask a
federal court there to invalidate the same letter. This shameless
forum shopping ought to be seen for what it is -- an attempt to
evade a legal obligation that was freely entered into by MAIR
Holdings, and a legal obligation that MAIR has recognized it was
bound by since January 2004. ALPA calls on MAIR Holdings to
withdraw the lawsuit and honor its agreement with the Mesaba
pilots."
Mesaba operates as a Northwest Jet Airlink and Airlink partner
under service agreements with Northwest Airlines. The airline
serves 72 cities in the United States and Canada from Northwest's
and Mesaba Aviation's three major hubs: Detroit, Minneapolis/St.
Paul, and Memphis. Mesaba Aviation operates an advanced fleet of
regional jet and jet-prop aircraft, consisting of the 34 passenger
Saab SF340, and the 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jet.
Mesaba filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 13,
2005 and continues to operate as a debtor-in-possession. As Aero-News reported,
Northwest agreed to take over Mesaba as a full-fledged
subsidiary last month.