Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot(R) Program Lands in Schools Nationwide

Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot(R) Program Lands in Schools Nationwide
Southwest Airlines' Pilots Volunteer to Share the Spirit of Learning with Thousands of Students across the United States

DALLAS, Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX

Today, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) announced the official takeoff of its award-winning, educational and mentoring program, Adopt-A-Pilot(R). Each Spring, fifth-grade students in more than 1,400 classes across the country will "adopt" Southwest Airlines Pilots through a program that leads students through science, geography, math, writing, and other core subjects, all based in aviation-related activities. Students also will research careers, reinforce life values, and realize the importance of staying in school.

"Our pledge to our communities is the inspiration that drives the Adopt-A-Pilot(R) program. Our Employees empower the participants to learn and understand they can be all they want to be in life through education," said Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Communication and Strategic Outreach.

US Airways Inks Deal with Sabre for Ticket Distribution

By Eric Torbenson/Reporter
etorbenson@dallasnews.com | Bio
8:31 AM on Tue., Mar. 1, 2011 | Permalink


It's been pretty quiet on the American Airlines Direct Connect vs. global distribution system model, but here's US Airways solidifying its approach to stick with Sabre and the GDS crowd:

SOUTHLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- US Airways has signed a multi-year, full content distribution and merchandising agreement with Sabre Travel Network , making all of its fares and schedules available to Sabre Connected travel agents, including its ancillaries. "US Airways recognizes the value of the Sabre global distribution system and our innovative leadership in helping airlines market and sell their products, including ancillaries, to millions of travelers worldwide," said Greg Webb, president of Sabre Travel Network. "Sabre is the world's most efficient, cost-effective travel marketplace and US Airways joins the many global airlines that understand the GDS is an important source of revenue and revenue growth." US Airways will include its initial ancillary, Choice Seats, in the Sabre GDS. US Airways' Choice Seats provides the option for travelers to purchase some of the most popular seats in the coach cabin for an additional fee. In addition to today's announced full content deal with US Airways, Sabre also has full content, long-term distribution agreements in place with other U.S. major carriers including, United Airlines, Continental Airlines and the recently merged Delta-Northwest.
American and Sabre have called a truce until June in their battle over how tickets are sold.

British Airways May Review Expansion Plans Due to Oil Spike

BA's International Airlines Group monitoring situation in Libya and Middle East, with fuel accounting for quarter of costs



Dan Milmo
guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 February 2011 08.49 GMT
Article history

The aviation powerhouse created by the merger of British Airways and Spain's Iberia has warned it may curb its expansion plans following the latest spike in the oil price.

International Airlines Group hinted it might cut back on schedules by flying aircraft less often if the latest increase in oil prices did not recede. "We are monitoring the impact of the current Middle East instability on fuel prices and have the flexibility to change our capacity plans if necessary," said IAG.

Oil prices rose to close to $120 a barrel on Thursday, but have fallen back to just over $113 a barrel.

Experts: GOP Budget Cuts Will Hurt Economic Growth

Tue. March 01, 2011

House Republicans’ plan to cut $61 billion from the federal budget could harm the economic recovery, say two independent economic analysts.

Investment firm Goldman Sachs estimates the GOP plan would reduce U.S. economic growth by up to two percent this year, while Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi says the plan would lead to the loss of 700,000 jobs by the end of 2012.

“While long-term government spending restraint is vital, and laying out a credible path toward that restraint very desirable, too much cutting too soon would be counterproductive,” says Zandi. “The economy is much improved and should continue to gain traction, but the coast is not clear; it won’t be until businesses begin hiring aggressively enough to meaningfully lower the still-high unemployment rate.

IAM Members Gain From Tanker Win

Workers across the country cheered the news of the tanker contract win. From left, John Jenkins, Gary Ottinger, Janis Tawrel and Josh Allen join the celebration on the 767 line in Everett, WA.

Tue. March 01, 2011

The news that Boeing won the U.S. Air Force contract to build a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers is a big triumph for the IAM, who has fought nearly 10 years to help bring this award to fruition. And no where is the win more evident than in Washington, Kansas and Connecticut, where 50,000 jobs - existing and future - were on the line.

At a time when aerospace workers have been hit harder with layoffs than at any other time since the Great Depression, IAM members and their communities are savoring the taste of victory.

District 751 members in Washington will build the planes. It has been an “incredible partnership,” said District 751 President Tom Wroblewski to thousands of Boeing workers who gathered on the Everett factory floor to celebrate the signing of the contract. “For 10 years, we have worked hand-in-hand on this issue – on the political front, on the shop floor - and together we made this happen.”

IAM Flight Attendants at Continental Ratify Industry Leading Agreement

Tue. March 01, 2011

The IAM announced that Flight Attendants at Continental Airlines have voted to ratify a new interim collective bargaining agreement that will raise their top base pay to $52.53 per hour while providing a no-furlough guarantee for the duration of the accord.

The contract was ratified by 68 percent of voting members, with 70 percent of the overall membership participating. The new interim agreement covers 9,300 Flight Attendants based in Houston, TX, Newark, NJ and Cleveland, OH. The 20-month contract is retroactive to January 1, 2010.

“This interim agreement provides immediate raises and important merger protections as United and Continental integrate their operations,” said IAM General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. “After we win representation rights for the combined Flight Attendant group, we will return to the table and negotiate long-term improvements for all 25,000 Flight Attendants.”

AFL-CIO Blog Archives for February 2011

Read the AFL-CIO blogs for February 2011.

New Poll: U.S. Public Opposes Weakening Bargaining Rights

by Tula Connell, Feb 28, 2011

The American public opposes weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of nearly two to one: 60 percent to 33 percent, according to a New York Times/CBS poll.

Those surveyed said they opposed, 56 percent to 37 percent, cutting the pay or benefits of public employees to reduce deficits. A majority of respondents who have no union members living in their households opposed both cuts in pay and benefits and taking away the collective bargaining rights of public employees. While a slim majority of Republicans favored taking away some bargaining rights, they were outnumbered by large majorities of Democrats and independents who said they opposed weakening them.

Attacks on Workers in States Have Energized Working People

by James Parks, Mar 1, 2011

The attacks on public employees has energized working people across the country, motivating them and helping them to believe they are going to win their struggle to keep bargaining rights in states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, says Katie Kistner, vice president of AFSCME Council 40 in Wisconsin.

Kistner was one of three workers to address the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Washington, D.C. today.

All the workers said the attacks also have helped unify working people. Pete Rimsans, executive director of the Indiana State Building and Construction Trades Council, said a proposed a new law in the Hoosier State, which supporters misleadingly call “right to work,” brought working people together. Even though those who work in the building trades would be exempt from the proposed law, Rimsans says, everybody strongly opposed the plan.

More Than 20,000 Rally in Ohio for Public Employees

by James Parks, Mar 1, 2011

More than 20,000 people turned out for a rally outside the state Capitol in Columbus, Ohio, today as the state legislature began hearings on Gov. John Kasich’s onerous anti-worker bill known as Senate Bill 5 or S.B. 5. The bill would, among other things, take away the freedom of public employees to bargain collectively for good middle-class jobs.

Will Klatt, a student at Ohio Sate University who wants to become a teacher, said he spoke at the rally because:

all across the county workers and students are being attacked. We need a united front to win the struggle ahead. The tuition hikes many states are implementing is going to make attending college unattainable for many working class students. We need to become partners with our union brothers and sisters if we are to win the struggle ahead.

In Michigan, Attack on Workers and on Democracy

Jesse Sipe, Michigan State AFL-CIO field communications representative, sends us this report.

While people around the world have been fighting for freedom and democracy, the Michigan legislature has recently taken a step in the opposite direction. The Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation that will greatly extend the powers of emergency financial managers (EFMs). This bill essentially will take away our voting power by allowing EFMs to remove locally elected officials without seeking authority or approval from any elected body or from the people.

This bill is not just an attack on workers—it is an attack on democracy itself.

The Senate is expected to readily follow suit, as Republican lawmakers find this bill necessary to cut costs and pull Michigan out of this crippling budget deficit. If this legislation is passed, it will create a system with no checks and balances on the power that emergency financial managers will wield. The constitutionality of this bill is heavily questioned due to this fact.

So-Called Right to Work Laws Don’t Boost Jobs

by Tula Connell, Mar 1, 2011

Opponents of working families and their unions have been trying to ram so-called right to work laws through state legislatures. Such laws make it illegal for a group of unionized workers to negotiate a contract that requires each employee who enjoys the benefit of the contract to pay his or her share of the costs of negotiating and policing it.

A study out today shows these laws hurt economies and don’t create jobs. The study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) concludes:

• So-called right to work laws have not increased employment growth in the states that have adopted them.

• The case of Oklahoma, which in 2001 became the latest state to pass one of these laws, particularly underlines their failure to spur job growth. Since the law passed, manufacturing employment and relocations into the state reversed their climb and began to fall, precisely the opposite of what advocates promised.

• These laws may actually harm a state’s economic prospects and ability to develop employment in high-tech manufacturing, the “knowledge” sector and service industries dependent on consumer spending in the local economy.

Profile of Jacksonville Mayoral Candidate Rick Mullaney

Posted: February 20, 2011 - 7:36pm
By Matt Galnor

Rick Mullaney built his first team in the mid-1970s, convincing guys from the University of Florida debate team to spend a summer in the Midwest, working 13-hour days hawking books door-to-door.

As a prosecutor, he eventually led the hiring efforts, persuading top law students to put off the big bucks to learn the ropes in the courtroom.

Mullaney walked into silk stocking law firms, plucking high-priced talent to the Jacksonville General Counsel's Office, convincing them to leave the high-priced part for government work.

Profile of Jacksonville Mayoral Candidate Audrey Moran

Posted: February 20, 2011 - 7:42pm
By Paul Pinkham

It was time to pray, but the preacher was a no-show.

After an awkward pause in Jacksonville's annual homeless memorial last December, Audrey Moran quietly stepped to the podium and led the tiny gathering in prayer.

There were no TV cameras to record the moment, no rich donors to impress. It wasn't even a campaign event.

But it was symbolic of who Moran is, said Ju'Coby Pittman-Peele, president of the Clara White Mission.

"She is the kind of person if something needs to get done, and there's no one there to do it, she'll do it," she said. "She is one who likes to resolve instead of complain about an issue."

Profile of Jacksonville Mayoral Candidate Mike Hogan

Posted: February 20, 2011 - 7:51pm
By Jim Schoettler

To his army of supporters, Jacksonville mayoral candidate Mike Hogan is about as close as one can get to walking on water.

They describe him as a steady, honest and faith-driven leader. They tout his work as a fiscal conservative Republican with a track record of constituent service unmatched by any other candidate.

But Hogan's opponents say they fear him and what they believe is a lack of vision to lead the city forward. They believe he will focus more on potholes than big-picture projects.

They also accuse him of making unrealistic promises, such as never raising taxes, just to get elected.

Profile of Jacksonville Mayoral Candidate Alvin Brown

Posted: February 20, 2011 - 7:31pm
By Deirdre Conner

Endorsed in local events by his former bosses - President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore - Alvin Brown has brought plenty of star power to Jacksonville to testify that he's more than qualified to be the city's next mayor.

At the same time, Brown is fighting to prove that his local connections are strong enough to be among the top two vote-getters in the March 22 election.

A few mornings a week, he takes his listening ear to different parts of town, talking to voters over pancakes and Sausage McMuffins. He works the crowd, introducing himself and jotting down notes about their concerns: Jobs, education, city finance.

Profile of Jacksonville Mayoral Candidate Warren Lee

Posted: February 20, 2011 - 7:46pm
By Charlie Patton

Warren Lee admits the race he is running for Jacksonville mayor is the political equivalent of pushing a rock up a steep hill.

The 45-year-old Lee, who left his job as a correctional officer in the state Department of Juvenile Justice in July, is a political unknown in a race where four of the candidates have had long careers in government. All four have raised far more money than Lee, who, at last report, had raised less than $7,000.

"I make no bones about it," Lee said. "I'm the unfunded candidate."

Jacksonville Council Imposes City-favored Contract on CWA Union

Posted: February 28, 2011 - 6:27pm
By Timothy J. Gibbons

After spending about an hour Monday pondering whether the Fair Labor Standard Act is fair enough, the Jacksonville City Council gave the mayor's office the contract it wanted with the local Communication Workers of America union.

That decision is now sent to the 600 union members for a vote; if they reject the contract, council will impose it.

Made up of people like librarians, computer programmers and engineers, the CWA came to impasse with the city over overtime issues.

NFL Owners, Players Fight Over Billions, But They're Not the Ones Who Would be Hurt Most by Lockout

Gary Myers
Tuesday, March 1st 2011, 4:00 AM

It's okay if you find it impossible to pick a side to root for in this ridiculous NFL showdown of billionaire owners vs. millionaire players.

The average NFL franchise was valued by Forbes last year at $1.02 billion and that was down 2% from the previous year. How can you feel bad for owners who charge $20,000 for PSLs and now are asking the players to give back $1 billion?

And can we really sympathize with players who have benefited tremendously financially - those who become solid starters for a few years are set up for life - as the league exploded into a $9 billion a year industry?

The rookie minimum was at a healthy $325,000 last season. How many college grads - or those who leave school early without a degree - can say they walked right into a $325,000 job? The salary cap in its first year in 1994 was $34.6 million and in 2009 was $127 million. There is plenty of money for everybody, but greed, on both sides, can cloud reality.

Smith: NFL to Get $5B Without Playing

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The question to DeMaurice Smith was simple, coming from Cincinnati receiver Chad Ochocinco, asking how serious he viewed the possibility of football not being played in 2011.

Smith did not hesitate.

"On a scale of 1 to 10," Smith said Thursday, "it's a 14."

With that, the executive director of the NFL Players Association painted perhaps the bleakest picture yet regarding prospects of labor strife in the league, which could be looking at a 2010 season with no salary cap and, if the collective bargaining agreement expires as scheduled in March 2011, a lockout that year.

"I keep coming back to an economic model in America that is unparalleled," said Smith, who often repeated phrases for emphasis. "And that makes it incredibly difficult to then come to players and say, on average, each of you needs to take a $340,000 pay cut to save the National Football League. Tough sell. Tough sell."

NFL Lockout, Decertification: What it All Means

Published March 01, 2011 | Associated Press

NEW YORK – A primer on a potential labor shutdown in the NFL, which could happen this week.

Q: What does a lockout mean?

A: If the owners impose a lockout of the players after the collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of the day Thursday, there would be no on-field football action or communication between players currently in the NFL and the teams. Team doctors would be allowed to monitor the progress of injured players, but not at the team's facility, the league says.

No offseason workouts or minicamps would be held during a lockout. No players, including those drafted in April or rookie free agents, could be signed. Players would not have medical coverage provided by the teams, but can continue their coverage by paying for it themselves.