More Labor Problems at Buffett's NetJets

Unionized employees to conduct informational picketing

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NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP)

Sep 22, 2014, 09:37 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As contract talks drag on at Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK/B) NetJets, Inc., unionized pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and related employees, maintenance controllers, stock clerks and flight dispatchers are picketing at customer locations in California, New Jersey and the company's Columbus, Ohio corporate headquarters, according to the NetJets Union Coalition (NUC).

NUC is a coalition between the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), the pilots' union, and the Teamsters, which represents all of the other unionized NetJets employees. NetJets, which operates a fleet of luxury business jets, is currently negotiating over new labor contracts covering approximately 4,000 unionized employees.

"NetJets is demanding compensation and benefit concessions from unionized employees at the same time it is reporting record profits and investing in foreign operations," NJASAP President FO Pedro Leroux said. "This is corporate greed, pure and simple."

Based on Buffet's 2013 annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, revenue at NetJets rose 7.5 percent in 2013 to approximately $4.1 billion. At the same time, the United States is experiencing a significant increase in private aircraft travel, the company is expanding operations in Europe, mainland China and Brazil. An Aug. 21, 2014, Bloomberg news article reported, "A rise in high-net-worth individuals in Latin America's biggest economy is keeping demand in Brazil strong at NetJets, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/B), after record sales last year."

"The employees I represent at NetJets are hard-working middle class Americans," Teamsters Local 284 President Paul Suffoletto said. "NetJets's demand for compensation and benefit concessions is another example of how large corporations are trying to destroy the middle class."

Flight attendant negotiations have been ongoing for more than four years whereas the pilots' union has been in negotiations for more than a year. As a result of NetJets's demand for concessions, little progress has been made in negotiations covering flight dispatchers, mechanics and related employees, maintenance controllers and stock clerks.

In addition to the company's corporate offices in Columbus, picketing is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. Both airports are frequently used by NetJets customers. Coalition representatives have explained the informational picketing event is part of a larger effort to bring public attention to escalating labor problems NetJets.

"It took NetJets many years to win the support and confidence of its workforce," Leroux said. "But, the company's reckless pursuit of concessions is destroying everything that others worked very hard to build." Suffoletto added, "The unions at NetJets are not backing down, and we are going to do everything we can to win this fight."

About NJASAP
Founded in 2008 as an independent labor organization, the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) represents the professional interests of the 3,000-plus pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation, Inc. For more information, visit us at www.njasap.com or www.facebook.com/njasap.

About the IBT
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico including more than 80,000 workers throughout the airline industry in every craft and class. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

SOURCE NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP)