21 Airlines Fined for Fixing Passenger, Cargo Fees

AP Photo/Jacques Brinon





Mar 6, 1:22 AM EST
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the airline industry took a nose dive a decade ago, executives at global carriers scrambled to find a quick fix to avoid financial ruin.

What they came up with, according to federal prosecutors, was a massive price-fixing scheme among airlines that artificially inflated passenger and cargo fuel surcharges between 2000 and 2006 to make up for lost profits.

The airlines' crimes cost U.S. consumers and businesses - mostly international passengers and cargo shippers - hundreds of millions of dollars, prosecutors say.

But the airlines caught by the Justice Department have paid a hefty price in the five years since the government's widespread investigation became public.

To date, 19 executives have been charged with wrongdoing - four have gone to prison - and 21 airlines have coughed up more than $1.7 billion in fines in one of the largest criminal antitrust investigations in U.S. history.

The court cases reveal a complex web of schemes between mostly international carriers willing to fix fees in lockstep with competitors for flights to and from the United States.

Convicted airlines include British Airways, Korean Air, and Air France-KLM. No major U.S. carriers have been charged.

Michael Moore Rallies Wis. Pro-Union Protesters

AP Photo/Andy Manis

Mar 6, 4:30 AM EST
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore urged Wisconsin residents Saturday to fight against Republican efforts to strip most public workers of their collective bargaining rights, telling thousands of protesters that "Madison is only the beginning."

The crowd roared in approval as Moore implored demonstrators to keep up their struggle against Republican Gov. Scott Walker's legislation, saying they've galvanized the nation against the wealthy elite and comparing their fight to Egypt's revolt. He also thanked the 14 state Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to block a vote on the bill, saying they'll go down in history books.

"We're going to do this together. Don't give up. Please don't give up," Moore told the protesters, who have swarmed the Capitol every day for close to three weeks.

Police said there were "tens of thousands" of protesters but didn't give a specific count. The vast majority of the crowd was pro-union, and no one was arrested or cited. Rallies drew huge crowds the previous two Saturdays, too: about 70,000 on Feb. 19, and an even larger one on Feb. 26.

Wisconsin Republicans Getting Nervous About Losing Senate Votes

by James Parks, Mar 4, 2011

Opponents of the right of public employees to bargain for middle-class jobs in Wisconsin are getting nervous that three Republican state senators may switch their votes and support public employees. Stephen Moore writes in the Wall Street Journal that with a 19-14 majority in the state Senate, Republicans cannot lose more than two votes if they want to ram through Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-worker agenda.

The pressure is building on the Republicans. Consider, 14 Democratic senators have been out of state since Feb. 17 and the public response to their action has been overwhelmingly positive.

Now a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that 62 percent of respondents oppose eliminating collective-bargaining rights for public-sector workers over health care, pensions or other benefits. And working people have launched recall efforts against eight of the GOP senators.

NFL Exec: We Are Committed to Collective Bargaining

by Tula Connell, Mar 4, 2011

This afternoon, the National Football League Players Association and managers extended the contract deadline for another seven days while negotiations continue.

After the extension was announced, Jeff Pash, executive vice president of labor for the National Football League and the chief negotiator for a $9 billion business said he backed the collective bargaining process.

…we are committed to collective bargaining. All over this country, collective bargaining is being challenged. We’re committed to it. We believe it can work. It has worked. We believe it will work across the country is being challenged and he supports the collectivel bargaining process.

Someone get Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on the phone. Oh, the Koch brothers already did.…

New Director Wants Tampa International Airport to Offer More International Nonstops

By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, March 6, 2011

Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers handles fewer than half as many passengers as Tampa International, yet has the same number of nonstop flights to Europe.

One.

TIA's new boss, Joe Lopano, hopes to reverse his airport's long-standing failure to improve international service by taking a page from the playbook of his neighbor to the south.

As it turns out, the Fort Myers Metro area is home to more than 93,000 Germans and people of German ancestry. That's why Air Berlin, Germany's second-biggest airline, offers direct flights to its hub in Dusseldorf.

Does that explain why Lopano now wants to know how many Europeans own property in Tampa Bay?

Pilots' Union Leaders Re-elected at Continental

On Friday March 4, 2011, 6:06 pm EST

HOUSTON (AP) -- Pilots at Continental Airlines re-elected three top officials of their union, and said there would be a new election after Continental is absorbed into United Airlines.

The Air Line Pilots Association said Friday that Jay Pierce was re-elected to a 2-year term as chairman of the Continental unit, and Doug Marotta and Randy Hodge were re-elected as vice chairman and secretary-treasurer.

Parent company United Continental Holdings Inc. plans to combine the two carriers, including reaching a labor contract covering both groups of pilots and combining pilot seniority lists. After that, the union would hold new elections. The United pilots are also represented by ALPA.

US Airways Pilots Issue Statement of Support for Wisconsin Workers' Right to Union Representation

Press Release Source: US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) On Friday March 4, 2011, 5:23 pm EST

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA), representing the pilots of US Airways, supports the state, local and municipal employees of Wisconsin in their fight to maintain their collective bargaining rights. Below is a statement provided by Captain Mike Cleary, president of USAPA:

"The governor and legislature of Wisconsin have embarked on an extremist attack on established labor laws that have existed for more than 50 years. Middle class families are at risk as Governor Walker attempts to blame and punish public sector workers for the state's economic woes. The economic crisis we find ourselves in wasn't caused by union workers in this country; it was caused by those in corporate America and on Wall Street who engaged in irresponsible lending practices.

Rick Scott Rejects Obama Administration's Last-Ditch Pitch On High-Speed Rail

Sam Stein
HuffPost Reporting
stein@huffingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON -- Putting a formal end to attempts to satisfy his concerns with the project, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has rejected a last-ditch effort by the Department of Transportation to build a portion of a national high-speed rail system in his state.

Scott had what an official described as a "not long" phone conversation with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Friday morning, informing LaHood that he would continue to refuse $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project. The money will likely now be available to other states.

LaHood met with Scott earlier this week while he was in Washington for a conference of governors, attempting to satisfy Scott's concerns with the project following his rejection of it the previous week. At that time, Scott had insisted that overruns could end up costing his state more than $3 billion.

UCubed Demands New Focus on Jobs

Fri. March 04, 2011

The new unemployment numbers are in, and the results continue to depress. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that unemployment numbers have decreased for the third month in a row to 8.9 percent – the lowest since 2009. But, the tenth of a percent change is not to be confused with any real job creation, warns UCubed Acting Executive Director Rick Sloan.

“Only 192,000 new jobs were created last month,” said Sloan. “The BLS report of 8.9 percent unemployment is a far cry from the real – nearly 18 percent – unemployment rate. There are still millions more underemployed Americans.

“When you’re out of work for weeks, months and in many cases years, the only number you care about is ONE: yourself. The jobless want to go back to work. Our nation’s leaders must focus less on taking away jobs and more on creating them.”

Here are some facts about the real unemployment rate:

Official unemployment only counts for 48% of the total unemployed
7 million workers are not counted as “officially unemployed,” including discouraged workers and those who have been out of work for 99 weeks
4 million workers haven’t searched for a job because there are no jobs available to them
There are 8 million underemployed workers unable to find full-time work
Let’s help these folks out. Head over to UCubed’s Facebook page and sign up today!

Fair and Balanced, For a Change

Thu. March 03, 2011

It is not unusual to see mistakes and misinformation, deliberate or otherwise, in news stories about labor unions and union members. From pensions to payrates, the hard-won benefits enjoyed by union members are a constant target for right-wing publications aiming to fuel tension between union and non-union workers.

An exception to that norm is the coverage provided by business reporter Ted Reed in the Street.com. From his days as a reporter covering airlines and airline workers for various newspapers, to his current online coverage, Reed routinely provides refreshing insights and coverage without the customary bias.

In a recent article titled “Should Wisconsin Look to the Private Sector,” Reed examines the showdown in the Midwest, where Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker and others are seeking to eliminate collective bargaining rights for state employees.

Citing successful negotiations at several major U.S. corporations, Reed asks if maybe Gov. Walker should take a lesson from the private sector, where crisis negotiations with labor unions have produced gains for all involved.

For his article about the situation in Wisconsin, Reed interviewed industry experts and union leaders, including NFFE-IAM Federal District 1 President Bill Dougan, who voiced the opinion of many union members when he said, “It's pretty clear that what's going on in Wisconsin has little or nothing to do with the budget deficit.”

Dougan was equally clear in his remarks about the real but often misrepresented purpose of collective bargaining, "The bottom line is that labor and management share a lot of the same interest in terms of making employers more efficient in delivering their services,” Dougan said. "We're all about helping federal agencies be successful and delivering on their mission, because their being successful ensures that they continue to get funding that keeps our folks employed.”