UPS pilots peeved over furloughs

UPS’s decision to furlough dozens of pilots may have a lasting impact on labor relations between the company and its 2,800-member pilots union.

The two sides will start preliminary contract talks in the summer of 2011 against the backdrop of union disappointment in the furloughs.

UPS grounded 54 pilots Sunday, but that number could grow to 300 by 2011. It was the first time UPS ever furloughed pilots.

“I feel betrayed,” said Tom Kalfas, a UPS captain and secretary of the Independent Pilots Association. “We’re vexed as to why we’re here.”

The union usually keeps a low profile but officers visited with media this week to tell their side of the furlough story.

They say they spent most of 2009 finding ways to cut $131 million in costs by 2011, as requested by UPS.

By last fall, the pilots had identified $117 million in savings, but that fell short of UPS’s goal. UPS, facing a drop in express shipping volume amid the weak economy, then said it needed the union to come up with $244 million in savings by 2015 instead.

It was a “bait and switch,” Kalfas said. “It’s a fundamental change [in labor relations]. UPS definitely crossed the line. We’re in territory we’ve never visited before.”

Now, pilots are refusing to work overtime, he said. That puts UPS’s fewer than 200 non-union, management pilots in a position to have to fill in, he said.

The Sandy Springs-based company said it regrets the furloughs, but that they were necessary after the pilots failed to guarantee they could reach the $244 million goal voluntarily.

“Certainly, broadly speaking the whole thing is unfortunate,” said Mike Mangeot, spokesman for UPS's airline, which is based at a Louisville, Ky., hub.

Airline pilots who are furloughed remain on seniority lists and can be recalled in order.