The following was provided to us
by retired United pilot, Jim Hosking, who remains
close to the Congressional pension legislation:
Please Circulate
Today the Wall Street Journal
published an article, “Congress Nears a Pension Bill, As Airlines Seem to Get
Relief” (page A2).
This article states that Congress
may provide relief for Northwest and Delta Airlines by granting them 20 years
to fully fund their pension plans.
How can Congress save the
pensions of one segment of the airline industry without saving all the
pensions, including USAir and United, solely based on the timing of the
respective bankruptcies?
Congress was aware of the USAir
and United bankruptcies and was asked to take action to save their pension plans
with similar pension saving legislation. All attempts at initiating
legislation by Congressman George Miller, Ranking Member of the House Committee
on Education and the Workforce, were consistently blocked.
This may be our last chance to
influence this pending bill. Action must be taken immediately. I am
asking everyone to help. The Committee says they will be working on this
for the next few days and hope to have a final bill by the August Congressional
recess.
I am not asking that Congress not
grant Northwest and Delta the relief they need to fully fund and
save their pensions. What I am asking you to ask the members of the
Conference Committee is why are they taking action now to save Northwest and
Delta’s pensions when they turned their backs on USAir and United?
All airline employees and
retirees MUST be treated equally and fairly. The 20 year extension the
Committee is about to approve should be MANDATORY, not voluntary, and it should
apply to ALL airlines.
I know most of you have written before
and recently, but this may be the most important letter to date in our
continuing campaign.
Take the time to write and call
ALL members of the Conference Committee. If we do not write and call, the
Committee will only assume we do not care.
Jim Hosking
j.hosking@verizon.net
Talking Points: (to be
used to compose your original letter, form letters are not as effective as
original letters and are often disregarded)
·
Congress’s inaction to save United and USAir’s
pensions has caused a discrimination against United and USAir employees and
retirees.
·
The saving of United’s and USAir’s pensions
MUST be included in the final pension reform legislation.
·
The 20 year amortization should be MANDATORY,
not voluntary, for all airlines.
·
United and USAir employees and retirees should
not be discriminated against based solely on the timing of the bankruptcies of
their respective companies.
·
Executives at United and USAir have rewarded
themselves with bonuses and retirement plans that should have been used to fund
the pension plans.
·
Executive greed and their unfunded pension
liabilities have weakened their companies and caused under funding in their
employee’s pension plans. The executives should be punished not the
employees and retirees.
·
Retirees are informed and organized. They will
be voting in mass in November rewarding those who have helped us and punishing
those who have turned their backs on us.
Conference Committee Members and Contact Information
|
Title |
DC Phone |
DC Fax |
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|
Senator |
1-202-224-3643 |
1-202-228-0724 |
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|
|
Senator |
Charles |
Grassley |
R |
1-202-224-3744 |
1-202-224-6020 |
|
|
Senator |
D |
1-202-224-3254 |
1-202-224-9369 |
||
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|
Senator |
D |
1-202-224-4654 |
1-202-224-8858 |
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|
|
Senator |
D |
1-202-224-4543 |
1-202-224-2417 |
||
|
|
Senator |
R |
1-202-224-5344 |
1-202-224-1946 |
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|
|
Senator |
R |
1-202-224-6253 |
1-202-224-2262 |
||
|
|
Senator |
D |
1-202-224-2651 |
1-202-224-0515 |
||
|
|
Senator |
R |
1-202-224-3324 |
1-202-224-4952 |
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|
|
Senator |
D |
1-202-224-5521 |
1-202-224-2852 |
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|
|
Senator |
D |
1-202-224-2043 |
1-202-224-7776 |
||
|
|
Senator |
R |
1-202-224-2315 |
1-202-224-6519 |
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|
|
Senator |
R |
1-202-224-6324 |
1-202-228-0604 |
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|
|
Senator |
R |
1-202-224-5251 |
1-202-224-6331 |
||
|
|
Senator |
D |
1-202-224-6472 |
1-202-224-7665 |
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|
|
Senator |
R |
1-202-224-3424 |
1-202-228-0359 |
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|
|
Representative |
D |
1-202-225-2095 |
1-202-225-5609 |
||
|
|
Representative |
R |
1-202-225-1956 |
1-202-226-0683 |
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|
Representative |
R |
1-202-225-2915 |
1-202-225-8798 |
||
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|
Representative |
R |
1-202-225-3561 |
1-202-225-9679 |
||
|
|
Representative |
R |
1-202-225-2271 |
1-202-225-2595 |
||
|
|
Representative |
D |
1-202-225-3436 |
1-202-225-4160 |
||
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|
Representative |
D |
1-202-225-4365 |
1-202-225-0816 |
||
|
|
Representative |
D |
1-202-225-6501 |
1-202-225-6583 |
||
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|
Representative |
R |
1-202-225-5355 |
1-202-226-4523 |
||
|
|
Representative |
R |
1-202-225-6205 |
1-202-225-0704 |
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|
|
Representative |
R |
1-202-225-4201 |
1-202-225-1485 |