Earlier this week United released the long anticipated Pass Travel Survey. This is an excellent opportunity to let your thoughts and opinions be heard. To find the Survey, log on to your respective United or Continental web site and on the Flying Together home page, find the survey link on the left hand side below Travel Tools and under the All Employees heading. The title is Pass Travel Survey.

• All Employees
• Interim Travel Policy
• Pass Travel Dress Code
• Pass Travel Survey

Once you click on the Survey link, you will get the following message:

Let's Fly Together

We want to hear from you about what you value most as elements of pass travel. Please take a moment to complete this survey about the Pass Travel Program. Although this is a survey, not a vote, your feedback will be used to help us fashion the Pass Travel Program for the combined airline.

The Pass Travel survey will be open until Dec. 8, 11:59 P.M. Central Time. Once responses have been submitted, reentry to this site will not be permitted.

Please notice the deadline, and once you fill out the survey, your answers can not be changed. You will not be allowed back in to fill out another survey.

For your convenience, the difference between the two travel programs boarding priority are listed below. There are many other differences in travel benefits, so please take the time to read all the pages of the in the side by side comparison carefully. You will see this information at the start of the survey.

UNITED

Category	Count
BP6B retirees* 25+	27,032
BP8A retirees* less than 25	12,252
BP8A employees	46,265
*Retirees include Early Out

BOARDING PRIORITY – Definitions in Boarding Order

All board by seniority within category

BP6B (27,032 Retirees > 25 years)
Retirees with 25 or more years of service when traveling on Domestic flights (50 U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada) and their accompanied or unaccompanied spouse, domestic partner or enrolled friend, and their dependent children through age 24.

Parents must be accompanied by retiree, spouse, domestic partner or enrolled friend.

BP8A (12,252 Retirees < class="text-red-font">(46,265 employees)

Employee and Retirees with less than 25 years of service, their accompanied or unaccompanied spouse, domestic partner or enrolled friend and children under age 22.

Accompanied dependents age 22 – 24 and accompanied parents.

Employee, retiree or spouse, domestic partner or enrolled friend and children under age 22 traveling with one companion.

Retirees with more than 25 years of service and their accompanied or unaccompanied spouse, domestic partner or enrolled friend, and their dependent children through age 24 on international flights. Parents must be accompanied by retiree or spouse, domestic partner or, enrolled friend.

BP8B
Employee, retiree or spouse, domestic partner or enrolled friend, parent, and dependent children through age 24 with 2 or more companions.

Unaccompanied dependent children age 22 – 24 of employees or retirees with less than 25 years of service.

All unaccompanied parents.

BP8C Unaccompanied companions
Companions are any friend or relative of the employee or retiree’s choosing, including their adult children.

CONTINENTAL

Category	Count
SA2P and above	4,174
SA3P Employees	39,297
SA4R retirees 25+	1,541
SA4R retirees less than 25	9,269
SA5A early out	4,470

BOARDING PRIORITY – Definitions in Boarding Order

All board by seniority within category

SA2P and above (4,174 employees)
Supervisors, Managers and above with direct reports and with a minimum of three years company service.

SA3P (39,297 employees)
Front line employees, clerical and management below supervisor level and their accompanied spouse, domestic partner or travel companion and children through age 20 or through 25 if a full time student and parents.

SA4R (10,810 retirees)
Retirees and their accompanied spouse or domestic partner and children through age 20 or through 25 if a full time student.

SA4P
Employee’s unaccompanied eligible pass riders which include spouse, domestic partner or travel companion and children through age 20 or through 25 if a full time student, children age 21 and above and not a full time student and parents.

Retiree’s unaccompanied eligible pass riders which include spouse or domestic partner and children under the age of 20 or through 25 if a full time student.

SA5A (4,470 Early Out participants)
Early Out participants and their accompanied or unaccompanied spouse or domestic partner and children through age 20 or through 25 if a full time student.

SA5E Extended Family Buddies
Extended Family Buddies are employees’ parent-in-laws, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren.

SA5C Unaccompanied Buddies
Friends and family not included above.

Vacation Pass Boarding Employees receive a higher boarding priority when traveling on a vacation pass i.e. … SA2P and SA3P employees traveling on a vacation pass will board at same priority as SA1P. See Vacation Pass program below.

Radioactive mouse hunt

RICHLAND, Wash. —
After catching a radioactive rabbit just north of Richland, Hanford workers now are on the hunt for a radioactive mouse.

Radioactive mouse droppings have been found in the same area where radioactive rabbit droppings were found earlier this month. About 60 mouse traps have been set, but the two mice caught so far have not been contaminated.

The Washington State Department of Health is monitoring the situation, but does not believe there is a danger to the public, said Earl Fordham, the department's regional director of the Office of Radiation Protection.

No contaminated droppings have been found near areas that are open to the public, said Todd Nelson, Washington Closure Hanford spokesman.

Because the mouse and rabbit droppings were found in the same area, Washington Closure Hanford believes the animals ate or drank a common source of radioactive cesium contamination. Another theory is that a mouse may have gotten into contaminated rabbit droppings.

When Hanford workers began finding radioactive rabbit droppings, they checked 18 rabbits that were trapped or shot with pellet guns. Just one was contaminated, and it was killed and disposed of as radioactive waste.
By ANNETTE CARY
Tri-City Herald

Click here for the rest of the story.

The story for the day.
Jock

Negotiations Update

The Union Bargaining Committee came to San Francisco this week to reach an agreement with United Airlines over the last remaining and very important work-rule related items at issue in the negotiations. The two most significant remaining issues relate to classifications (including the Company’s demand to eliminate lead ratios), and hours of service (including the Company’s demand to significantly extend 7-day coverage at the San Francisco Base).
The Union Bargaining Committee has made several attempts to resolve both of these issues, but the Company has barely budged. This week, the Company rejected the Union’s latest attempt to resolve the lead ratio issue and refused to provide any assurance of job and scope protections related to the leads. The Union Bargaining Committee was extremely disappointed with the Company’s response and unanimously believes that any further attempts to bargain directly with the Company over this and the remaining contract issues will be a waste of time. The negotiations therefore ended on a sour note for the Committee.
At this point, the Union Negotiating Committee is considering its options, and will discuss whether it is time to invoke NMB mediation. Although the Union Bargaining Committee believes that the parties ultimately can still reach an agreement with the Company – and remains firmly committed to reaching such an agreement – it is not certain whether the Company’s post-bankruptcy leadership and its bargaining team can overcome the Company’s history of poisoned and regressive labor relations.

Veterans Day

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as "the Great War." Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars.

Loss by Oberstar Will Leave a Void For Labor

The loss in this week’s midterm elections by Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) silences a long time champion of labor and airline passengers’ rights.

Oberstar, a senior member of the House of Representatives was the Chairman of the House Transportation Committee had served for 18 consecutive terms. Long seen as a champion of passenger rights and a strong friend of labor who has fought to keep airlines from outsourcing maintenance work offshore, he was also very cautious when it came to airline mergers and how they might affect passenger rights.

“In this election season where vicious, abusive attacks on elected officials who stood up for the American worker and the public became the standard; Congressman Oberstar’s defeat is a tremendous loss for Minnesota, the travelling public and American workers is profound,” said Airline Division Director David Bourne. “Congressman Oberstar’s concern for the travelling public and labor often put him at odds with management, yet he never wavered in his concern and support of the citizens of our country. The shoes he leaves behind will be very hard to fill.”

Seattle Upddate

To all SEA Mechanics,

If you have not heard, Continental Mechanics approved their contract 2250 to 860 against with 84% of the membership voting. Overall good numbers, and we hope with this, UAL can get back to the bargaining table.

On th parkng lot issue; we had a meeting with SEA General Manager Jim Witzman and I think we were able to prove a valid point that this does not really save the money he pretends to save. In the end, I am hopeful that we can find a solution that will be favorable to all SEA mehanics including GQ/PV. This means ALL of us staying at the maintenance facility.

I will let you know.

Dave