Tag Archives for unions.
With United warning of possibly furloughing up to 40% of employees and doing something similar it’s worth underscoring just how successful it appears Southwest Airlines to be as it works to reach a goal of not furloughing anyone at all.
Southwest Airlines has made the most generous offer to its employees to take an ‘early out’ or an extended leave.
Early in the pandemic I warned you to be indispensable in your job, that we were in recession and work from home couldn’t be an excuse to let up at work. A lot of jobs would be lost and you needed to position yourself so that yours wouldn’t be one of them.
In normal times performance matters at work. That’s not true at airlines, and certainly not true during these times. Non-union workers are being let go en masse, and at a scale where it’s difficult to separate the poor performers from the stars. And union employees mostly see jobs preserved or lost based on seniority alone – performance and value creation for the company have literally nothing to do with the decision.
The independent Association of Professional Flight Attendants represents cabin crew at American Airlines. They have been dysfunctional for years and to Sara Nelson, the supposed ‘most powerful flight attendant in America,’ they look like a juicy target for her Association of Flight Attendants which is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America and AFL-CIO.
United Airlines took a public approach telling all employees they expect to need fewer staff going forward and releasing the letter to media.
Southwest was more circumspect, holding private discussions with union leaders about how to avoid layoffs in the fall. They told unions that without concessions they expect to have to furlough employees. Southwest’s biggest union has gone public with a loud rejection.
Delta can’t take government money and furlough pilots. Without the ability to furlough pilots they can’t get pilots to agree to cuts. And pilots getting full pay while everyone else suffers is going to make it hard for Delta to make the case to other work groups to remain non-union.
Ground and flight attendant employees get a 4% raise. Employees who receive merit-based pay adjustments will have a 4% increase in the total compensation pool available to them. And bonuses are expected to be higher, too.
Just as importantly the airline communicates that it is investing in solving pain points in jobs, and employees are reminded that they’re empowered to address the most important issues at the airline (safety). It’s a well-written memo.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
