Tuesday, August 20, 2024 NetJets escalated its dispute with 3,430 unionized pilots by recently terminating two prominent Union leaders, including the NJASAP Vice President and the Strategy Group chair. NJASAP, the independent labor organization representing the NetJets pilots, condemned the firings as unlawful, unjust, and retaliatory, especially after the $1.6 billion in gains secured by the pilots during mid-term negotiations earlier this year.
The Union plans to challenge these unprecedented terminations through the contract-based minor dispute resolution process. “These union leaders were not terminated because of anything they did as NetJets pilots, but because of their role in supporting contract negotiations,” NJASAP President Capt. Pedro Leroux said .
“The NJASAP Vice President, a duly elected Union official, is a 23-year NetJets captain with an unblemished professional record, and the NJASAP Strategy Group chair is an 18-year captain with a likewise spotless tenure at NetJets. “Even so,” Leroux continued, “these union officials were aggressively interrogated about lawful, protected activities.” The move to terminate these Union officials began in late-May when they, along with 11 other pilots, were subjected to Crewmember Review Board meetings, during which they were badgered with the same questions asked repeatedly and in multiple ways about the Union’s lawful and protected activities conducted by NJASAP strategy officials.
Company officials were laser focused on gathering information about Union members’ participation in informational picketing and other demonstrations to focus public attention on the dispute. “In a word, NJASAP members are outraged by the company’s egregious conduct,” Leroux said . “Intimidation and retaliation aside, this behavior equates to unlawful surveillance of protected union activity under the Railway Labor Act.
” The terminations come as NJASAP has emphasized their interest in resetting the labor-management relationship at NetJets since the parties signed an agreement in principle in early February. “Choosing to terminate two high-ranking Union leaders is not simply another hurdle to resetting the landscape, but a move reflective of a strategy that is not sustainable in the long term,” Leroux said . It is this very action coupled with other Union concerns that compelled the NJASAP president to challenge NetJets CEO Adam Johnson to reconsider the course that the company seems to have set.
“The parties can certainly, in time, repair the partnership,” Leroux said, adding , “but NetJets must replace adversarial tactics with a sustained, good faith commitment to resolving our differences. Otherwise, the parties will continue to waste time, money and energy on managing a feud rather than fully capitalizing on the growth potential in our industry sector.”.
