Enjoying Retirement

By: Jim DeKay, retired Continental Airlines mechanic, Local 986

“Retirement”—it’s that time in our life we all look forward to, some of us with excitement and anticipation and some with anxiety and trepidation. I retired after 37 years of employment from Continental Airlines on December 1, 2006 and so far my retirement has been very enjoyable and worry-free. I am grateful to both Continental, and especially the Teamsters, for the financial security I have through my pension and the peace of mind and comfort that brings.

A little history on why I am grateful to the Teamsters for my current situation: In 1983, Frank Lorenzo, the then CEO of Continental,  filed Chapter 11, abrogated the contract in effect between Continental Airlines and the IAM, gutted the work rules, reduced wages and terminated the pension plan. For you at United does this sound familiar? In 1985, the IAM withdrew its representation of the mechanics and we were left as at-will employees. In 1987, Continental did reinstate a defined pension plan, but employees were only covered from 1987 forward regardless of the number of years they had been employed. At the same time, a 401(k) was instituted, but with no company match (employee contributions only). Subsequently, Continental agreed to grant employees additional credit toward the defined pension plan but only for years worked after 1984.

This brings us to why I am grateful for the Teamsters. In 1997, the mechanics at Continental were successful in gaining the Teamsters as our representative and bargaining agent. The first contract negotiated and ratified in 1999 concentrated on improving the work rules and increasing pay rates. Our wages were increased from one of the lowest in the industry to about middle of the legacy carriers. When we returned to the bargaining table beginning in September 2001, among other things we wanted to again improve the work rules, increase wages and improve the pension plan. Needless to say, 9/11 made bargaining extremely difficult. Nevertheless, thanks to the Teamsters, we were able to improve the work rules, increase wages to one of the highest in the industry and dramatically improve the pension. When the contract was ratified in 2002, employees received credit for up to thirty years’ service and received a $40,000 bonus if over age 55 and retired in the current year. In addition to the improvements in the defined pension plan, the company would now have a 401(k) match based on a sliding scale and years of service. Because of the improvements the Teamsters were able to make, Continental mechanics were finally able to retire with dignity and security.

In 2004, Continental threatened Chapter 11 unless the employees were willing to give up $500 million dollars in savings. To avoid Chapter 11 the mechanics agreed to enter into concessionary bargaining and we began bargaining in earnest early in 2004. All of the employee groups save the flight attendants reached agreements on or before April 1, 2004 and the flight attendants reached an agreement later. Even in concessionary bargaining, of all the employee groups at Continental, the Teamsters were the only group that was able through negotiations to have all wages reinstated and most importantly kept both the defined pension plan and 401(k) plan with company match intact. In addition, the company agreed they could not reduce the pension plan prior to the next round of negotiations.

No threat of the PBGC, no worries my pension can be reduced, financial security: THANK YOU TEAMSTERS. Now, I think I’ll go fishing.