9/20/05
To All My Fellow Pilots, Concerned Airline Employees and Friends,
There is a renewed energy among our list, I am hearing from list members that I have not heard from in months, saying that they have written all the letters recommended in the request letters of the last couple weeks. A big thanks to all of you that have completed these tasks.
Please make sure you have faxed and called Senator Jay Rockefeller’s office. Larry Isham has reported that he has obtained the name of Senator Jay Rockefeller’s staff member in charge of pension issues. His name is Patrick Robertson. Do your best to speak to a person; try not to just leave a voice message.
By now each of you should have written Senator Grassley and Senator Baucas of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Enzi and Senator Kennedy, of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), these Senators are in negotiations to combine the proposed legislation that came out of these two committees into one common bill. So far there are NO provisions in either of these bills that will help the retirees of United Airlines. It is up to us to convince them that it would be unfair for them to save the pensions of Delta and Nothwest and not the pensions at United only because our companies filed for bankruptcy at different times.
Note: Senator Baucas’s proper fax number is: (202) 224-0515, I published the wrong number earlier.
You also should have by now written the entire membership of the House Ways and Means Committee and their Majority and Minority offices. This committee is still meeting to formulate their version of pension reform legislation. We MUST send them the same message. ANY PENSION REFORM LEGISLATION MUST INCLUDE PROVISIONS TO SAVE THE PENSIONS AT UNITED AIRLINES. To do otherwise is to treat United’s retirees unfairly.
If you are missing any of the names or contact information for the targets mentioned above, please contact me and I will provide you the information you need.
Phone calls are VERY important; they may carry as much or more weight than your letters. Please call as many offices as you possibly can and deliver the same message.
Talking Points:
· It is imperative that any legislation considered (by your committee) must include provisions to save the pensions at United Airlines.
· It would be unfair to save the pensions at Delta and Northwest and not include the pensions at United Airlines when the only difference is the date the companies filed for bankruptcy.
· The PBGC is insolvent by $23 billion dollars and their shortfall is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to be $87 billion in 10 years and $119 billion in 15 years.
· We either need a permanent solution to this pension crisis or TIME for Congress to find a solution. Inaction will cost the taxpayers dearly.
· There are alternatives to termination that benefit the taxpayers and the retirees more than termination. Alternatives such as Freezes, Split/Freezes and increased amortization time tables.
· United is projecting that they will make a profit of $1 billion each year after exiting bankruptcy. Some of this profit should be used to fulfill their pension promises. A promise made should be a promise kept.
· The PBGC should not be used as a corporate reorganization tool or a pension dumping ground. This was not Congress’s intent.
· If United terminates their pensions and the pensions of Delta and Northwest are saved this will create a competitive imbalance that will cause problems in the future.
· If this crisis is not corrected, it will spread to other industries obligating the taxpayer even more.
· Inaction by Congress will affect 100’s of 1,000’s of retirees changing the way they spend, pay taxes and VOTE.
The more letters and phone calls we can generate the better chance of success we will have. These are the most important phone calls and letters we have written in the past year. Please do your part and then motivate your friends to do the same.
Jim Hosking
Retired Pilots Network