Letter from Council 24 President
Dear Colleagues,
We apologise for the length of time that has passed since we last sent out any information. Now that United has reached its decision, it has become much easier to identify the tasks that we need to accomplish. Many of you who attended last Saturday’s meeting will have felt extremely frustrated by the complete lack of information provided by the Company. At Council 24 we have been identifying the problems and issues to management ever since we first learned about the possibility of closure (see our 12 December letter to Jane Allen posted at www.afacdg.org). Obviously, the fact that management was not prepared means that our issues are simply not a priority concern for them.
It is our intention to do our very best to protect all of you. That means achieving different things for different people. Some of you cannot envisage a future with United being based anywhere else other than France. For you, we intend to obtain the full benefit of French employment and social law. For those of you that can transfer, we need to oblige United to resolve the commuting and lack of information difficulties. We need more slots in Frankfurt and we need the Company to explain clearly how they have reached this decision and why no other solution for Paris was possible.
Right now we need to hear from you to learn your concerns and for you to understand how we are responding to this situation. To this end, we are planning to be available for individual meetings at the local AFA office Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 14:00. A meeting between AFA and United is planned for Friday 3 February at Chicago, which both Sharon and Michael will be attending. After that we plan to hold two further general local council meetings in order to discuss the base closure and related issues as well as the replacement pension plan.
Please do not negotiate with management. We asked you to stop discussing French unemployment during Saturday’s meeting because we felt that this might harm, rather than help us all in finding a decent and equitable solution. Remember that we have been working on this since September and are fully informed on our rights and options in France. Yes, the situation is dynamic and yes, many of you are upset because we do not seem to be able to provide much clarity at this time. However, a dynamic situation is one that – by definition – can move and it is our intention to move it in the direction we need. We have prepared for Friday’s meeting with the Company and the direction we take afterwards depends in large part on management’s reaction to our concerns. If you believe that yelling at members of management will change things, then both of us would be hoarse by now!
What you need to do, other than supporting each other through these difficult times, is not to jeopardise your future prospects. That means do your job do the best of your ability.
Fly safe and in solidarity,
Sharon and Michael
