Help Our UAL Friends

A neighbor, who is UAL (ret) asked me to circulate this one.

They make some pretty good points, as the UAL people currently stand to
get reamed pretty badly.

*****************

Due to the bankruptcies of Delta and Northwest there is a very strong
call in Washington for immediate pension relief.* The problem is the
relief as proposed WILL DO NOTHING to help save the pensions at United
Airlines.

If you think it is unfair that Congress changes the law now to help
Delta and Northwest without including United Airlines then you must join
us now.* Write to demand that any pension legislation must include
provisions to save the pensions at United Airlines.

Harry Reid, Senate minority leader said, ³Congress has an immediate
opportunity to pass legislation enabling both companies to keep pension
plans for workers in place.²

Johnny Isakson, senator from Georgia said, ³We want to bring the bill
to the floor as early as next week.²

It is imperative that we ALL write ASAP!* This may be our last chance
to influence Congress.* Writing is worth your time, if United Airlines
is not included in this legislation, you may lose your pensions.* No one
is going to do this for us; we must do this for ourselves.* Pension
legislation must include provisions to save the pensions at United
Airlines.

Here is what is happening in Congress according to our sources:

On the Senate side the Senate Finance and the Senate Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions Committees each have released pension reform
legislation.* The Chairmen and the Ranking Members of both of these
committees are now in negotiations to consolidate these two pieces of
proposed legislation into one bill that they can introduce to the
Senate. Neither one of these proposals have any provisions that will
help United Airlines.* It is up to us to contact them and demand that
United Airlines be included in any remedy.

On the House side the House Ways and Means Committee is still in the
process of formulating their legislative pension reform.* We must again
contact all the members of the House Ways and Means Committee and
emphasize that United Airlines must be included in their legislation.

Compose your letter to be one page maximum.* It does not have to be a
literary masterpiece, but your letter should include: ³Any pension
legislation must include provisions to save the pensions at United
Airlines.²

We need a large number of letters; please encourage your friends and
family to join you in writing.

*

*

*

Points you may also wish to include:

* The pilot¹s pension plan at United has not been terminated.

* Stop the exploitation of the PBGC¹s termination insurance program by
the airlines in bankruptcy.

The PBGC should not be used as a business reorganization tool.

The PBGC is already insolvent and the crisis is worsening.

Any legislation MUST include United Airlines, to do otherwise would be
extremely unfair.

The spending and voting habits of hundreds of thousands of Americans
will be determined by the actions of Congress.

Please Fax your letters to the following offices and follow up with a
phone call:

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Contact Information:

Majority (Republicans)
Minority (Democrats)

Committee Office:
Dirksen Senate Office Building 428
Dirksen Senate Office Building 646

Committee Phone:
202-224-5375
202-224-5465

Committee FAX:
202-224-6510
202-224-5128

Member Name
DC Phone
DC FAX


Michael Enzi (R-WY) [Chairman]
202-224-3424
202-228-0359


Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) [Ranking Member]
202-224-4543
202-224-2417












Senate Committee on Finance

Contact Information:

Majority (Republicans)
Minority (Democrats)

Committee Office:
Dirksen Senate Office Building 219
Hart Senate Office Building 203

Committee Phone:
202-224-4515
202-224-7800

Committee FAX:
202-228-0554
202-228-3904

Member Names:
DC Phone
DC FAX

Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) [Chairman]
202-224-3744
202-224-6020

Max Baucus (D-MT) [Ranking Member]
202-224-2651
202-224-4700


House Committee on Ways and Means (Please contact ALL members):

Contact Information:

Majority (Republicans)
Minority (Democrats)

Committee Office:
Longworth House Office Building 1102
Longworth House Office Building 1106

Committee Phone:
202-225-3625
202-225-4021

Committee FAX:
202-225-2610
202-225-5680


Committee Membership:

Majority Member Name (24)
DC Phone
DC FAX

William M. Thomas (R-CA) [Chairman]
202-225-2915
202-225-8798

E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL)
202-225-3026
202-225-8398

Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT)
202-225-4476
202-225-4488

Wally Herger (R-CA)
202-225-3076
202-226-0852

Jim McCrery (R-LA)
202-225-2777
202-225-8039

Dave Camp (R-MI)
202-225-3561
202-225-9679

Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
202-225-2871
202-225-6351

Jim Nussle (R-IA)
202-225-2911
563-927-5087

Sam Johnson (R-TX)
202-225-4201
202-225-1485

Phil English (R-PA)
202-225-5406
202-225-3103

J. D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
202-225-2190
202-225-3263

Gerald C. (Jerry) Weller (R-IL)
202-225-3635
202-225-3521

Kenny C. Hulshof (R-MO)
202-225-2956
202-225-5712

Ron Lewis (R-KY)
202-225-3501
202-226-2019

Mark Foley (R-FL)
202-225-5792
202-225-3132

Kevin Brady (R-TX)
202-225-4901
202-225-5524

Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY)
202-225-5265
202-225-5910

Paul Ryan (R-WI)
202-225-3031
202-225-3393

Eric I. Cantor (R-VA)
202-225-2815
202-225-0011

John Linder (R-GA)
202-225-4272
202-225-4696

Melissa A. Hart (R-PA)
202-225-2565
202-226-2274

Bob Beauprez (R-CO)
202-225-2645
202-225-5278

Chris Chocola (R-IN)
202-225-3915
202-225-6798

Devin Nunes (R-CA)
202-225-2523
202-225-3404


Minority Member Name (17)
DC Phone
DC FAX

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) [Ranking Minority Member]
202-225-4365
202-225-0816

Fortney (Pete) Stark (D-CA)
202-225-5065
202-226-3805

Sander M. Levin (D-MI)
202-225-4961
202-226-1033

Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)
202-225-4016
202-225-9219

Jim McDermott (D-WA)
202-225-3106
202-225-6197

John Lewis (D-GA)
202-225-3801
202-225-0351

Richard E. Neal (D-MA)
202-225-5601
202-225-8112

Michael R. McNulty (D-NY)
202-225-5076
202-225-5077

William J. Jefferson (D-LA)
202-225-6636
202-225-1988

John S. Tanner (D-TN)
202-225-4714
202-225-1765

Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
202-225-6235
202-225-2202

Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
202-225-4865
202-225-3073

Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
202-225-2611
202-226-0893

Stephanie T. Jones (D-OH)
202-225-7032
202-225-1339

Mike Thompson (D-CA)
202-225-3311
202-225-4335

John Larson (D-CT)
202-225-2265
202-225-1031

Rahm Emanuel (D-IL)
202-225-4061
202-225-5603

Also please write your own Congressman and your two Senators. Special
attention should be given to Senators from California and Illinois where
large concentrations of United employees and retirees reside:

Senator Dianne Feinstein
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0504

(202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954

Senator Barbara Boxer

112 Hart Senate Office Bldg.

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-3553

Fax: (415) 956-6701

Senator Dick Durbin

332 Dirksen Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-2152
Fax: (202) 228-0400

Senator Barack Obama
713 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2854
Fax: (202) 228-4260

Orval Fairbairn wrote:

A neighbor, who is UAL (ret) asked me to circulate this one.

They make some pretty good points, as the UAL people currently stand to
get reamed pretty badly.

*****************

Due to the bankruptcies of Delta and Northwest there is a very strong
call in Washington for immediate pension relief. The problem is the
relief as proposed WILL DO NOTHING to help save the pensions at United
Airlines.

If you think it is unfair that Congress changes the law now to help
Delta and Northwest without including United Airlines then you must join
us now. Write to demand that any pension legislation must include
provisions to save the pensions at United Airlines.




If you're going to bail out United too, then how about Continental and
the others?

Not that I dont feel bad for all the union workers and their pensions, but I
also feel bad for all the people who lost money with enron.
I am paying a 1000 a month for medical insurance, you think we could pass a
bill to help pay for that. I dont know where all this money is goin come
from, but I guess we will worry about that later.
My 401k took quite a hit when the market crashed you think we could pass a
bill for that also.
You all new this was coming it was just a matter of when. Its time to stop
the bailouts.

"Newps" wrote in message
...


Orval Fairbairn wrote:

A neighbor, who is UAL (ret) asked me to circulate this one.

They make some pretty good points, as the UAL people currently stand to
get reamed pretty badly.

*****************

Due to the bankruptcies of Delta and Northwest there is a very strong
call in Washington for immediate pension relief. The problem is the
relief as proposed WILL DO NOTHING to help save the pensions at United
Airlines.

If you think it is unfair that Congress changes the law now to help
Delta and Northwest without including United Airlines then you must join
us now. Write to demand that any pension legislation must include
provisions to save the pensions at United Airlines.




If you're going to bail out United too, then how about Continental and the
others?

Yeah... ok... next time somebody makes me a promise and I'm dumb enough to
trust them with my future instead of relying upon myself, when they don't
follow through with their promise for what ever reason, I'll go crying to
the government. yeah, right. OR, going way out on a limb here and doing
some real radical thinking, I could take some of my overpaid wages that they
gave me for my underperformance and incompetence and sock them away any way
I choose so I would have nobody to blame but myself. But that wouldn't be
very New Age American, would it?

Ask the victims of Katrina to call their congressmen to help UAL pensioners.
Ask our troops in Iraq to call.
Ask the widows and the family members that have lost loved ones in either
event to call.

Don't ask me.

Jim

Closing the door after the cow leaves, but ...

The government needs to throw the *******s who underfunded the pension plan
in prison. After that, no executive will consider letting a plan get in
that position.


- Carl -

I have some empathy for these people, but they are not high on my list
of deserving victims. It's interesting that people want the government
out of their lives until they need something; then it's a run for the
taxpayers handout. Let this group of people ask the unions to make up
their pensions, IMO.



Orval Fairbairn wrote:
A neighbor, who is UAL (ret) asked me to circulate this one.

They make some pretty good points, as the UAL people currently stand to
get reamed pretty badly.

*****************
x: (202) 228-4260

I suggest you lock up the Congress critters as UAL and the other legacy
carriers are only doing what the law permits. If they were ignoring the
law, the SEC would have done a number on them long ago for incorrect
financial reporting by a public company.

"Carl Ellis" wrote in message
.. .

Closing the door after the cow leaves, but ...

The government needs to throw the *******s who underfunded the pension
plan
in prison. After that, no executive will consider letting a plan get
in
that position.


- Carl -

And what about USAirways' pensions. They got wiped out in the last
round of Ch. 11. Will this bring those back too?

I assume your impassioned cry also extends to Enron employees, and will
extend to the Ford and GM employees if their pension/financial cause a
Chapter 11 filing. I assume you want taxpayer bailouts for all bankruptcy
filings, right, or just for the commercial airlines?

(The same airlines that argue -- correctly --- that they are subsidizing
GA).

Is your proposal to not allow the airline to get out of its pension
obligation and instead just disolve under its financial obligations?
What is the difference to the retired? Either way, the feds have to
take over the pension fund and the retired get less. Letting the
airline go out of business doesn't change anything. Maybe you should
point the finger at the unions that created an unrealistic pension to
begin with and didn't allow changes to the program as discount airlines
ate their shorts.

It seems like your proposal not only kills the pension but also the
investors (most of which are retirement funds). If you work towards a
structured retirement you know that its only as good as the company
itself. No one would have an expectation otherwise. My current
employeer has a structures retirement program and we're fighting to
kill it. Once it goes away the IRS will let us make real contributions
to personal IRAs.

-Robert