Flight Attendants Scrap Deal With American

Union calls new vote on news of executive bonus plan

Saturday, April 19, 2003 Posted: 4:05 AM EDT (0805 GMT)
FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- Outraged by news that troubled 
American Airlines had planned to give its executives bonuses, 
flight attendants rescinded their approval of wage cuts and 
plan to vote again, a union official said late Friday. 
No date for the new vote was set. Wednesday, the flight 
attendants agreed to more than $10 billion in wage concessions 
over six years. The airline had said it would file for bankruptcy 
protection if the union did not approve the cuts. 
Thursday, one day after approving the cuts, the union learned 
that in October, American had granted 45 of its officers special 
supplemental retirement benefits that would be out of the reach 
of creditors if the company were to file bankruptcy, said 
John Ward, president of the Association of Professional 
Flight Attendants [APFA]. 
"This taints the agreement that was ratified just two days 
ago in a wrenching process for our members," Ward said in 
a statement. "Every APFA member -- those who voted for the 
agreement and those who voted against it -- are outraged 
by this action, as am I." 
In addition, the company divulged that it had approved 
cash retention bonuses to its top six executives in March 2002, Ward said. 
American Airlines said Friday that its top management had 
canceled the bonus plans. 
"I sent a letter to CEO Don Carty today condemning both 
the [Supplemental Executive Retirement Program] and the 
retention bonuses, and expressing my outrage that the 
company had indicated to the press that the union groups 
had been briefed on these programs," Ward said Friday. 
He said he received a letter from Carty apologizing for 
failing to fully brief the flight attendants. 
"So much for 'fair sharing' of the pain of the company's 
restructuring," Ward said in his letter to Carty. 
"So much ... for a new company 'openness.'" 
The Allied Pilots Association voted Tuesday to take 
concessions to avoid bankruptcy and said it also 
was outraged by the revelation. 
The pilots union accepted Carty's apology Friday. 
"These retention agreements were created a year ago in 
March 2002 when, after the events of September 11, the 
industry was struggling and our board of directors had 
serious concerns about our ability to retain our senior 
management in light of the potential loss of several key 
executives," Carty said in a letter to employees. 
He apologized "for any misunderstanding about the benefits 
made available to members of senior management. 
"My mistake was failing to explicitly describe those 
retention benefits, and because of that, many employees 
felt they were kept in the dark," Carty said. 
"Please know that it was never my intention to mislead you. 
I offer you my sincere apology, as I have to our union leaders." 
Steve Blankenship, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, 
said the pilots "appreciate the gesture ... it's a move in the right direction." 
But, he said, "Trust has been violated." 
Because the retirement benefit represents one already earned, 
in some cases over a period of 17 years, American said the 
initial payment to the fund remains in place. It did not say 
how much money was in that payment. The retirement program 
was set up in 1985 but not funded until October. 



AMR outrage 
Can't company boards get a better deal on executives? Plus: 
More trouble for Sears and KKR.
April 18, 2003: 4:16 PM EDT 
By Adam Lashinsky, CNN/Money Contributing Columnist


PALO ALTO, Calif. (CNN/Money) - What you've simply got to 
admire about executives and the boards that hire them 
(usually made up of executives from other companies) 
is their creativity and initiative at sticking their hands in the cookie jar. 
Slap them on the wrists for one no-no -- say, excessive 
use of stocks options -- and they'll figure out any 
number of other ways to get what they consider to be theirs. 
The latest cause for outrage is word that even as the 
flight attendants and other unionized employees of AMR's 
American Airlines were voting to reduce their own pay, 
the executives of AMR were protecting the salaries that really matter. 
Their own, of course.
The special goodies come in the form of a trust to 
protect the pensions of 45 top AMR executives, because 
it seems the board feels that executive pensions are 
more important than those of the rank and file. 
The board also established retention bonuses for six 
top executives equal to twice their base salaries. 
The sad part is that American's antics aren't unique. 
According to a boffo piece in the current issue of 
Fortune by Janice Revell, all sorts of companies, 
including Delta Air Lines, UAL, EDS and FleetBoston, 
have set up sweetheart deals for their top executives. 
With many of the plans, executives who were only around 
for a short time get compensated as if they'd given years of service. 
This executive pay debate used to be huge about 10 years ago -- 
the last time there was a prolonged slump in the economy. 
Then, during the boom times, the media was too busy writing 
about secretaries at Cisco Systems getting rich to notice 
how CEOs were being paid not to work. 
Retention bonuses? How difficult do these boards really 
think it would be right now to find a qualified, experienced 
executive to run a big company for, say, $1 million a year? 
Since when did it become necessary not merely to pay 
someone for well for a job well done, but to pay them 
excessively for work they don't do as well? 

Fix The Economy 101

by David R. Kaspersin

The Enron Effect: The American Public’s Hostile Attitudes Toward Top Business Managers.
Large majorities think most are overpaid at the 
expense of other workers, and they are angry about it.

In a recent Harris Pole, 87 Percent Say CEO's Are OVERPAID !
(The other 13 Percent were CEO's :)

Want to fix the ecconomy ?
It's really so simple. Cut all top CEO's and managers pay !
And I mean drastic cuts.
NO ONE needs to make the kind of money they are paid.
As I have said before, "I believe the majority of them are taking 
advantage of their employees to make the bottom line look good, 
keep the stockholders and the board happy, and get their big bonus." 
(And of course the Board of Directors are also well taken care of)

Fact: The middle class need to be paid well !
Again, its so simple, 
NO DECIENT PAY, NO BUY GOODS, and America's economy suffers.
I made this simple so some corporate heads can understand it. 
no pay, no buy goods / no buy goods, YOUR company goes out of business !

And if you are a middle class worker, you must be tired of working so hard,
while getting further behind ?
AND - - - Arn't you tired of paying more taxes than your rich boss does.
Its time for the middle class to stand up and be heard !
The situation in America today is near the breaking point.

 Dave Kaspersin
10/2002



Fix The Economy 102

1. No one who makes over X.XX per year or is worth more than XX.XX
can hold office.

2. No one who is backed by a company / individual worth over XX.XX
can run for office.

In other words, we take the power away from the rich,
and give the running of this country back to the people !

 Dave Kaspersin
10/2002

Update 11/12/02 

Kodak Confirms Layoffs, Says It Will Improve Competitiveness

Rochester, NY - Eastman Kodak Co. representatives have announced 
that the company will be laying off between 1,300 and 1,700 employees 
worldwide, including hundreds of Rochester-area workers.
The company will be closing its Lee Road plant, where single-use 
cameras are made, putting 500 people out of work. While sales of 
single-use cameras are up, they are too expensive to make here, 
company representatives said. Single-use camera production will 
be moved to plants in China and Mexico, where labor is cheaper. 
George Conboy of Brighton Securities said, "Assembly of those cameras 
with Rochester-area wages are making sales of those 
cameras much less profitable...and Kodak needs to compete profitably."
In addition, 150 positions in the Global Manufacturing and Logistics 
units at Kodak Park will be cut, and approximately 150 jobs will be 
eliminated from Research & Development worldwide, which could also 
affect local workers. Kodak is also ending a sensitizing operation 
for graphic arts and X-ray films in Guadalajara, Mexico, cutting 300 jobs there.
Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle has said he will ask the county's 
job training and placement program to help displaced workers.


===================================================================

Wake Up Kodak !

"Single-use camera production will be moved to plants in 
China and Mexico, where labor is cheaper."

Laying off Americans, and sending their jobs to
China and Mexico is just one more straw on
the backs of all American workers. All this
does is quicken Kodak's demise. And what is sad
is very few corporations see what they are doing to themselves.
If we don't keep our people working, and paid well, who will
buy Kodak's products ? Downsizing only puts money in the Corporate
heads' pockets. Corporate greed is destroying our economy.

Dave Kaspersin



Kodak's Perez May Reap Millions

By Ben Rand 
Democrat and Chronicle 
(April 11, 2003) — 
A fortune awaits Antonio M. Perez if he succeeds as 
a top executive at Rochester’s largest employer. 

The new president and chief operating officer at 
Eastman Kodak Co. will receive 100,000 shares of 
restricted stock and 500,000 stock options in his first year, 
according to a federal securities filing. 

Perez will also receive a cash salary and may land a cash bonus. 
Those figures were not disclosed. 

The stock has an estimated potential value of $8.3 million, 
most of which comes from the option grant. That figure is 
based on Thursday’s closing price of $31.35 and a rough 
formula provided by compensation experts. 

The $8.3 million is not cash in the bank. The precise value 
will fluctuate with the price of Kodak shares on the New York Stock Exchange, 
which depends on the company’s financial success. The option package, 
in fact, could become worthless. 

Perez’s stock package is identical to the award given to 
Patricia F. Russo, who held the job between April 2001 and 
January 2002 before joining Lucent Technologies Inc. as chief executive officer. 

Perez comes to Kodak from Hewlett-Packard Co., where 
he ran the company’s $16 billion consumer media division. 

The compensation reflects Kodak’s belief in Perez’s abilities, 
spokesman Gerard Meuchner said. “The world is increasingly 
competitive, particularly in the market for executive talent,”
 he said, “and Mr. Perez is an executive of considerable talent.”