UNION FILES NEW LAWSUIT AGAINST PHI
Dateline: June 2, 2008
On Friday, May 30, 2008, Office and Professional Employees International Union, AFL-CIO (OPEIU) and its Local 108, through counsel and authorization of President Mike Goodwin, filed a new lawsuit seeking to compel PHI to process and/or arbitrate certain grievances that to date PHI has refused to process in accordance with its contractual and statutory obligations.
As previously reported, "On November 16, 2007, Judge Doherty denied PHI's Motion to Dismiss Various Claims Raised in the "Return to Work Case." This ruling is a significant victory for the OPEIU, Local 108, and plaintiff pilots"...
". PHI argued the Court did not have jurisdiction over these claims because they were grievances and, therefore, "minor" disputes under the Railway Labor Act ("RLA") and have to be resolved in the System Board of arbitration procedure. The Court rejected this argument and found two separate and independent bases to hear these claims."
The approximately 30 pending grievances involve claims related to the major lawsuit, scheduled for trial in early November 2008 at the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette/Opelousas Division.
Status of Contract Pilot Grievance Lawsuit
Following an arbitrator's decision and award in the Union's favor on December 15, 2007 concerning the timeliness of a grievance, PHI filed suit to have that award vacated shortly thereafter. The arbitration decision and award concluded that Grievance Number 010506-001 was timely filed and arbitrable, thus paving the way to hear the merits of the case concerning the illegal use of "contract pilots" in violation of the CBA.
Contained in the Union's response and counterclaim, we assert, among other things, that the Union is entitled to a preliminary and permanent injunction ordering PHI to arbitrate the merits of Grievance Number 010506-001.
Additionally, a companion grievance filed by the Union on June 6, 2007, (of which PHI refuses to process) contends that PHI continues to violate the existing, but expired, provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and "Green Book" which provide specific limitations as to the reasons and methods for any such subcontracting out of represented work, as well as the time limitations that may or may not be permitted for such subcontracting.
We expect to hear from the court on those matters within the next few months and will keep you updated. This suit is separate and apart from the major lawsuit that addresses the bad faith bargaining allegations, pre and post strike issues, return to work violations, etc.
State of California v. PHI
The status of appeal by PHI in the case involving the illegal withholding from the final pay checks of three (3) pilots based in California is set for trial. The State of California has denied PHI's two previous appeals regarding its illegal behavior, each time increasing the amount owed to the pilots by compounding additional penalties and interest levied upon the Company.
What started out as a few thousand dollars, including interest and penalties for the illegal withholding from the final pay checks of those pilots, as of August 31, 2007, the sum of $658.50 (initial amount withheld), interest of $65.48 and $11, 836.80 in additional wages accrued as penalty, has now mushroomed into the tidy sum of $12,560.78, due and payable to each pilot as of that date.
PHI has subsequently appealed the August 2007 ruling, and has requested postponement for trial. That matter is now set for hearing before the Honorable Bradley, L. Boeckman, Judge of the Superior Court of the State of California, on October 7, 2008. Stay tuned.
In unity,
Paul Bohelski,
OPEIU Local 108 Trustee
Email: paulbrep@gmail.com or paulbrep@sbcglobal.net
PDF file: Special Update 02Jun08.pdf