Aloha merger clause might not save jobs

By Susan Hooper
Advertiser Staff Writer

A clause in some Aloha Airlines labor contracts that was intended to save at least 1,800 jobs in the event of a merger with Hawaiian Airlines might not protect them in the current merger plan.

The clause in the collective bargaining agreement between Aloha and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers says if there is a "merger" between Hawaiian and Aloha that leads to layoffs, they would apply first to employees of Hawaiian Airlines.

But officials of Aloha and the consulting group overseeing the merger said the clause does not apply, because it had to do with an acquisition, not a merger.

The clause has prompted concern and growing tension among Hawaiian Airlines machinists since the merger was announced. Hawaiian Airlines does not have a similar clause in any of its labor contracts, according to Keoni Wagner, a Hawaiian spokesman.

Greg Brenneman, the executive leading the merger, has said jobs will have to be cut from the companies' combined work force of about 6,000, although he has estimated that fewer than 600 positions will be affected.

"The language in Aloha's union contracts was drafted more than 10 years ago in the event that Aloha acquired Hawaiian Airlines," said Stu Glauberman, an Aloha spokesman. "And the proposed merger of Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines is not an acquisition of one airline by another. It's a merger of equals. Therefore, as we understand it, the contract language does not apply."

Glauberman said the language is in several of Aloha's collective bargaining agreements. The contracts use the word "merger" rather than "acquisition," he said. But "when they were negotiating it, the intent of it was to cover an acquisition or a takeover of Hawaiian by Aloha," he said.

There are about 2,200 Hawaiian Airlines machinists and about 1,800 at Aloha, according to Randy Kauhane, assistant general chairman of District Lodge 141 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, chief spokesman for the machinists' union for both airlines.

The machinists' group, which represents more than half of the airlines' combined work forces, is the largest union involved in the merger.

Kauhane said the union's headquarters, or international, and its legal advisers are studying the Aloha contract issue.

"The language is being reviewed, and in the best interests of our membership we will have a response by our international, and it should satisfy both memberships," Kauhane said.

Yesterday a spokeswoman for TurnWorks, the Houston consulting firm Brenneman heads, said: "It is our understanding that the language in the current Aloha contract applies in an acquisition and does not apply in this situation, because it is a merger of equals."

Last week TurnWorks offered flight attendants and several work groups in the machinists' union protection from furloughs associated with the merger if they would agree by the date of the merger to merge the Aloha and Hawaiian seniority lists and to accept, with what TurnWorks calls "minor modifications," the two unions' recently negotiated contracts with Hawaiian Airlines.

Any offer to other machinists' work groups, including mechanics, would come after decisions are made on the type of aircraft in the new company's fleet, TurnWorks officials have said. The type of aircraft will determine how many machinists and pilots are needed in the new company.

In an interview after TurnWorks made its offer, Kauhane told The Advertiser that the machinists' union would not be able to respond until leaders know what will happen to all of the machinists in the merged company.

"We want to get a better view of how they're handling the rest of the (work) groups before we respond," he said of TurnWorks' offer.

Kauhane also said the union did not plan to accept the Hawaiian Airlines contract in its entirety.

"Both contracts have their pluses, and we haven't accepted that offer at this point. And if we do accept a portion of the offer, it won't be the entirety of what they said with the Hawaiian agreement," he said.

"We are still going to be looking at both agreements. What's going to happen with the Aloha contract needs to have some input into the Hawaiian agreement, because there are different variations of different benefits."

Among the issues the machinists are discussing this week are ways to enhance retirement packages, voluntary layoffs and other ways to reduce the impact of merger-related furloughs, the union said.

Reach Susan Hooper at shooper@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8064.