American Airlines Retirees Committee....Protecting Our Benefits Through the Chapter 11 Process |
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Our Mission StatementThe American Airlines Retirees Committee (AMRRC) was formed by the retirees of American Airlines, for the retirees, to provide representation for all work groups at American Airlines past, present, or future.. As an organization, we will create the affiliations and partnerships necessary to gather the communication and education needed to ensure each and every retiree’s interests are protected. We are committed to being one voice for many faces. How Bankruptcy can Affect American Airlines RetireesWhat protections do Employees and Retirees for Health and Wwelfare Benefits when a Company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy? Bankruptcy protections for Active and Retired employees vary depending on whether the pay and health and welfare benefits were protected by a contract or not and whether the person is Active or Retired when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Following the filing by a company for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the laws of the United States allow a business the opportunity to restructure their debts in order to continue operating and to preserve jobs. Companies and individuals to whom debts are owed can expect to lose much of what they were promised, usually pennies on the dollar in the bankruptcy process. A business such as American, that has made promises to their Employees and Retirees without the benefit of a contract in some areas, may be allowed to make changes, reduce or even terminate Active employees pay and health and welfare benefits as they deem necessary in an effort to reduce their cost structure and exit bankruptcy. Workers protected by a Union contract however, will have the ability to go through an 1113 process, relating to every aspect of their contract provisions before the company can change their contractual work rules and then when and if necessary, enter into an 1114 process to obtain relief with regard to Health and Welfare benefits, Disability and Survivorship benefits and Iife Insurance benefits. Unlike Active workers, Retirees, both Union and Non Union have a limited protection provided to them under the bankruptcy statue 1114 (l) during the bankruptcy process which specifies that a “plan, fund or program” cannot be changed within 180 days of the bankruptcy unless a committee is formed, and the company sits down with the group and tries to work out a compromise that is acceptable to the affected parties or if an agreement cannot be reached by the parties, the Company can go back to court and recommend to the court a solution they believe is fair and favors the balance of the equities. Read more here... News Release – American Airlines Retirees CommitteeFor Immediate Release Leader of American Airlines Retirees Group Concerned Retirees Will Not Be Adequately Represented in Company's Bankruptcy Case DALLAS/FORTH WORTH The chairman of the American Airlines Retirees Committee (AMRRC) today expressed his fear that the concerns of a great many American Airlines retirees will not be adequately represented in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines. "AMRRC, which represents a cross section of union, non-union and management retirees, petitioned the bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York to appoint a representative from the AMRRC to the Section 1114 Committee," said Paul Mazzara, chairman of the AMRRC board. "We are greatly disappointed that the Judge and U.S. Trustees did not choose to recognize that the addition of an AMRRC representative would uncompromisingly represent the Airline’s retirees and bring considerable expertise to the negotiations for retirees' medical and other non-pension benefits." Mazzara, a retired American Airlines maintenance employee, formerly represented by the Transport Workers Union's Air Transport Division, said five individuals were named to the 1114 Committee. They include representatives from three unions, a former corporate secretary for American and AMR, and a representative for non-union retirees. "It is understandable that the leaders for the three unions would be appointed," Mazzara said. "However, we do not understand why a former corporate executive and an individual who has no ties that we know of to a broad-based, knowledgeable retiree organization would be appointed over a representative from the AMRRC. "The recently retired senior corporate executive who was American Airlines' Associate General Counsel and Secretary to the Board likely holds sizable amounts of company stock and exercisable stock options that are under water," Mazzara said. "Is this person with a sizable financial interest in the company someone who should represent salaried retirees on the 1114 Committee? I don't think so." Mazzara said that the AMRRC is advocating that it is not too late for the Judge and U.S. Trustees to correct their omission and appoint a representative from the AMRRC so that a broader number of American Airlines retirees will have representation on the 1114 Committee. About the American Airlines Retirees Committee The American Airlines Retirees Committee (AMRRC) was formed by the retirees of American Airlines, for the retirees, to provide representation for all work groups at American Airlines past, present, or future. The mission of the organization is to create the affiliations and partnerships necessary to gather the communication and education needed to ensure each and every retiree’s interests are protected. It is committed to being one voice for many faces. ### Contact: |
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Since our last briefing we have learned more about the makeup of the 1114 Committee appointed to represent American Airlines retirees. The NLRN, independent counsel and AMRRC are disappointed that the committee was limited to five members and believe that more retired members would broaden the scope and knowledge of this committee.
It is the stated mission of an 1114 committee to ‘represent the interests of all retirees’ and it is our goal to assist this committee in achieving this goal in any way possible.
The U.S. trustee in the American Airlines bankruptcy case has picked the five representatives who would sit on an official committee of retirees. That list includes:
AMRRC believes that there are other interests that need to be included in discussions. While other groups challenge the composition of the current committee, we are offering our broad knowledge base and experience as assistance for their endeavors.
It is the intention of AMRRC to offer to serve in an ex officio capacity. We believe that creative discussions need to take place within the committee and with the court to try to establish approaches to retiree health coverage that works for our bankrupt former employer and the thousands of men and women who retired counting on certain fixed costs which are now being challenged.
If AMRRC is successful in our present effort of being a direct participant in protecting our retiree benefits, this action could also have broader impacts on future corporations trying to dump retired employee’s pensions and health care plans via using the bankruptcy system. Retirees in this country cannot remain silent – with a wait and see attitude. The time to stand up is now – join us in this collective effort!
One of the many possible solutions is the creation of a VEBA (Voluntary Employee Benefits Associations). We welcome the opportunity to work with the 1114 committee to establish such relief for retiree costs.
As reported earlier AMRRC is an active member of the National Retiree Legislative Network. The NRLN is made up of 38 retiree organizations. We believe we have the tools and the access to be directly involved in representing the interest of ALL AMR retirees.
In our next briefing we will begin to explain the history and potential effectiveness of Volunteer Employee Benefit Associations. Becoming knowledgeable about the purpose of VEBA systems is most important for our present dilemma. Remember to urge other retirees to join our group and to tune in each week to the AMRRC website.
To: AMRRC Members
From: Paul Mazzara, Chairman, AMRRC Board
Subject: AMRRC and NRLN Alliance
You may recall from American Airlines Retirees Committee (AMRRC) emails during the past few months that the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) assisted in the formation of our organization. Also, the NRLN has provided support in a number of other ways, including introducing the AMRRC to U.S. Senators, Representatives and PBGC officials who can possibly influence the bankruptcy process for fair treatment of American Airlines retirees. The AMRRC Board has decided to take our membership in the NRLN a step further in a way that we believe will be beneficial to both the AMRRC and the NRLN.
Based in Washington, D.C., the NRLN is the only nationwide organization solely dedicated to representing the interests of retirees and future retirees. Formed in 2002, the NRLN’s endeavors to secure federal legislation to protect retirees’ employer-sponsored pensions and benefits in addition to keeping Social Security and Medicare strong. The NRLN is a non-partisan, grassroots coalition representing more than 2 million retirees who came to the NRLN from retiree associations and as individual members who have retired from 125 different U.S. corporations and public entities. Members live in all 50 states and practically all Congressional districts and are working together to preserve the retirement benefits they earned during their many years of employment.
The NRLN's legislative priorities include the further strengthening of pension protections under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), protecting and funding retiree health care benefits, securing more affordable and safe prescription drugs, and making sure that Social Security and Medicare benefits continue for present and future retirees. I urge you to go to the NRLN's website at www.nrln.org and click on the "Legislative Agenda" link at the top of the home page to gain an understanding of the full scope of the NRLN's actions in Washington, DC. You may want to become a regular visitor to the NRLN website to click on links to news articles on retirement-related issues.
We have provided AMRRC members’ names, email addresses, and mailing addresses (in order to identify your Congressional District) for you to become part of the NRLN's Grassroots Network. The NRLN's database, a service from a reputable firm that specializes in communications with U.S. government leaders, has stringent security features. Your contact information will only be used by the NRLN to send you Legislative Action Alerts and other retirement-related information. You will not receive any spam emails as the result of being in the NRLN's database. When the NRLN issues an Action Alert, I hope you will add your voice to those of other retirees who take the time to use the NRLN’s sample letter to send a message to elected representatives in Washington, DC. In addition, I hope you will find other emails distributed by the NRLN to contain useful information. The emails will come from nrlnmessage@msn.com so please type this email address in your computer's address book to prevent NRLN emails from being blocked by your security filter. Should you elect to “unsubscribe” from receiving NRLN emails, you have the option of doing so by clicking on a link at the bottom of any NRLN email.
The NRLN's Washington team depends on Grassroots Network members to contact their elected representatives when there is proposed legislation beneficial to retirees or when there is a bill to oppose that would negatively impact retirees. Your AMRRC Board believes that our affiliation with the NRLN is a positive step in serving our members by adding the strength of our association with the influence of the NRLN's coalition of retiree associations and individual members to make retirees' voices heard on Capitol Hill.
Paul Mazzara, Chairman
American Airlines Retirees Committee
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