COLUMBUS,
Ohio,
March 28,
2014
/PRNewswire/ -- In a powerful display of solidarity,
approximately 200 unionized NetJets employees participated in an
informational picket across the street from the Berkshire Hathaway
(NYSE: BRK) subsidiary's corporate headquarters to focus attention
on escalating attacks on their pay, benefits and working conditions
amid record profits. The event was hosted by the NetJets Unions
Coalition (NUC) whose formation was announced earlier this
month.
The Coalition is an alliance of the NetJets
Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), which represents
the 3,000-plus NetJets pilots, and the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters (IBT) Local 284 whose members include approximately 500
NetJets dispatchers, flight attendants, maintenance controllers,
mechanics and stock clerks.
"Today's picket was a watershed moment," NJASAP
President First Officer John
Malmborg said. "Coalition members sent the message they are
firmly aligned and will not stay silent while our separate
collective bargaining agreements are attacked." Added Teamsters
Local 284 President Paul Suffoletto,
"In each negotiation, NetJets has made it clear they want
concessions: They are focused on wringing every cent possible from
employee agreements while posting record profits, aggressively
paying down debt, and making profit-sharing payouts to non-union
employees. The irony is not lost on anyone, and our members will
not consider regressive agreements."
All four of NetJets's organized employee groups are
currently engaged in collective bargaining, and the progress of
each negotiation has been anything but brisk. For instance, the
Flight Attendants are scheduled to begin government-supervised
mediation on Monday in Dallas
after more than three years of talks.
Malmborg and Suffoletto agreed their members,
standing shoulder-to-shoulder along Bridgeway Avenue, sent a very
powerful message. "A spirit of unity has spread like wildfire
throughout our ranks, infusing our members with a sense of resolve
unlike any we have ever seen at NetJets," Malmborg said. "As a
Coalition, our efforts to focus public attention on how management
greed has tarnished the luster of the world's leading fractional
ownership program provider is just beginning. Several events have
been planned through the spring and beyond."
About NJASAP Founded in 2008 as an
independent labor affiliate, the NetJets Association of Shared
Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) represents the professional interests of
the 3,000-plus pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation,
Inc. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the
Association is governed by a nine-member Executive Board, who is
supported by seven professional staff members and a network of
150-plus volunteers who manage more than 20 committees. For more
information, visit us at www.njasap.com or
www.facebook.com/njasap.
About the IBT Founded in 1903, the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million
hardworking men and women throughout the
United States, Canada and
Puerto Rico including more than
80,000 workers throughout the airline industry in every craft and
class. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on
Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/teamsters.
SOURCE NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots
(NJASAP)