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This message just in from United Association of Flight Attendants:

Absolutely amazing!

The worst part of the meeting was when Los Angeles Customer of  the year, James Anderson, stepped up to the microphone and respectfully  addressed Tilton as a shareholder and a loyal customer who spent $100,000 at United just last year.  Employees clapped and cheered for Mr.  Anderson.  He explained to Tilton that he felt caught in the middle of all  of this and expressed concern about the discord at the meeting and the state of  employee morale at the airline. He questioned whether he should continue  to buy tickets on United Airlines. Tilton shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's your prerogative if you want to take your business elsewhere but this is going  on at every airline in the industry.  Where are you going to go?"   There was a shocked silence from the room and Mr. Anderson seemed bewildered at  having been so easily dismissed.

 
 Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008, 7:30 AM Latest DEAR AFA: June 13, 2008
 

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to Dear AFA. Today is Friday, June 13th and this is Sara Nelson,  reporting and Glenn's Gotta Go.
Shareholder Meeting a Raucous Event Shareholder meetings are often a glitzy event - an annual glorification of the company brand, the Board of Directors and the senior management.  This year the UAL Shareholder meeting was set to begin early  in the morning, in out-of-the-way Woodland Hills, California, in a small meeting  room at the rather large Warner Center Marriott.  The hotel itself had numerous entrances and exits as it sat in the middle of a business complex that occupied an entire square block.  Hotel security, United's corporate security and private security were all on the scene.  Clearly, this was no  annual celebration and glorification of the United brand.  The people  currently in charge of United Airlines viewed the meeting rather more like a  pesky SEC requirement with some sort of imagined security risk.  This was  the first, and one of the only clues, that these people knew they were doing  something wrong. Barely after sunrise Thursday morning, Flight Attendants gathered at LAX to board a coach bound for Woodland Hills.  Others drove  from their homes in the Los Angeles area or flew in the night before in order to be positioned in Woodland Hills at the start of day, ready to hold Glenn Tilton  accountable for his greed and contempt for employees and our great airline.  We met other Union Members - Pilots, Mechanics, workers from Ramp  and Customer Services, Technicians and Controllers – all of us uniformed and committed to our collective resolve to drive out those who have taken from our families, neglected our airline and lined their own pockets.  We were  joined by Union Members from our parent Union - CWA, the Writer's Guild, The  Screen Actors Guild and Unite He re, representing hotel workers recently  organized and eager to use their new voice.  Nearly 400 Union Members  formed six picket lines in areas around the many entrances to the Warner Center  – positioning ourselves to greet the offenders.  Some of the picket signs  read, "No Way To Run An Airline," "Hedging??? What's Up Oil Man?" and the most quoted, "Glenn's Gotta Go." A few minutes after 8 a.m. one of the picketers spotted two large passenger vans with blackout windows headed to the side service entrance.  Two groups of picketers ran to the entrance and jeered at the vans as they drove  down the slope to the loading docks.  A spontaneous chant of "Glenn's Gotta  Go – Glenn's Gotta Go" erupted and echoed into the service entrance as Board  Members and Senior management covered their faces while quickly piling out of  the vans and scurrying into the building.  The chant turned to "Shame on  You – Shame on You!" as picket signs moved up and down to create a visual  exclamation mark.
 
At 10 minutes to nine in the morning nearly 100 employees lined  up in single file to enter the meeting after our shareholder credentials were  checked. The media is describing the meeting as 'raucous,' and that's no understatement.  From the start Tilton attempted to quiet questions and  limit the time of the meeting.  From all directions shouts rang out demanding he listen to the questions and concerns of the shareholders  present.  One man threatened a complaint to the SEC for violations of the  rights of shareholders.  The only time the room became totally silent was  as Tilton introduced each Member of the UAL BOD.  Then, as he rushed the  names of the two Union Members on the Board, the room erupted into extended  cheers and clapping for our colleagues. Throughout the meeting picket lines were maintained at various  locations outside while Flight Attendants and other workers inside shouted  questions at Tilton and the UAL Board of Directors, whose backs were turned to  the employees and other shareholders.  Tilton and General Counsel Paul Lovejoy were booed and hissed when the directors were re-elected and when it was  announced that the executives won approval of their new $130 million dollar  bonus plan. When introduced by MEC President Greg Davidowitch, the Say on  Pay Proposal received enormous cheers and standing ovation, but later Lovejoy  and Tilton smugly reported the resolution failed with 21% approval. Even  though the big corporate shareholders voted with Tilton from their own boardrooms, our Say on Pay proposal gained support from many shareholders who  are not also employees and furthered our fight against executive greed. The  failed proposal didn't silence the room and as Tilton tried to claim a "renewed  commitment to all of our stockholders" we shouted "prove it – give up your pay  and bonuses – prove it!"  Not surprisingly, Tilton declared he deserved his  pay and challenged others to stand in his place.  Instantly, several  volunteers stepped up. None of Tilton's fear tactics worked.  When he reported ominously on the price of fuel, an employee shareholder shot down the nonsense  by pointing out his failed predictions of $50 a barrel for fuel when the price  was $65 and his failure to plan effectively with fuel hedging.  She said, clearly, fuel is not the problem but your management is.  Others pointed to money lost on Ted and the further expense of reconfiguring those aircraft. A Flight Attendant stated that once again management was taking concessions from  the employees, hurting our customers and putting strains on safety by cutting  staffing now while promising management cuts later. Mostly the subject turned right back to Tilton's pay and every  time he tried to cut off the remark by saying, "we've already talked about  that."  Taking away Tilton's pay won't solve all the problems he's created  at our airline, but clearly money is the only motivation for the current executives.  So, we will continue to attack their pay and demand new leadership that can prove they're as committed to the success of United Airlines as we are.
 
Passenger of the Year Dismissed - Glenn's Gotta Go The worst part of the meeting was when Los Angeles Customer of  the year, James Anderson, stepped up to the microphone and respectfully  addressed Tilton as a shareholder and a loyal customer who spent $100,000 at United just last year.  Employees clapped and cheered for Mr.  Anderson.  He explained to Tilton that he felt caught in the middle of all  of this and expressed concern about the discord at the meeting and the state of  employee morale at the airline. He questioned whether he should continue  to buy tickets on United Airlines. Tilton shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's your prerogative if you want to take your business elsewhere but this is going  on at every airline in the industry.  Where are you going to go?"   There was a shocked silence from the room and Mr. Anderson seemed bewildered at  having been so easily dismissed.  He paused before quietly stating, "What  I'm trying to say is that I'm concerned about this.  You talked about aircraft enhancements in your presentation – and they're great – but they don't  put smiles on the faces of your employees."& 

After the meeting, several Flight Attendants gathered around Mr.  Anderson and thanked him for his loyalty and encouraged him to continue to fly  with us. He said he would.  Throughout the morning Mr. Anderson had passed $10 Starbuck's cards to every employee with the message clearly written  for his many crews, "Thank you for another safe flight and thank you for keeping  the skies friendly." If you have the pleasure of flying with him, tell him how  much we enjoy his company and his appreciation of the people who truly make up  United Airlines. .

BigJetCity.com

Email: info@bigjetcity.com


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