COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 27, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In
legal papers sent to the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft
Pilots (NJASAP), NetJets, Inc., said a vice president
published vicious anti-union content on social media throughout a
four-year period. NJASAP is the labor union representing
the 2,700-plus pilots employed by the Columbus, Ohio-based carrier. In
December, the Union filed a lawsuit in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Ohio accusing the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A
and BRK.B) subsidiary of using social media to conduct a massive
unlawful campaign to harass and intimidate pilots. NetJets provides
business and leisure travel on private luxury business jets to its
wealthy customers, including Berkshire Hathaway Chairman
Warren Buffett.
"The aviation industry is based on trust. Lives depend on it,"
NJASAP President Pedro Leroux said.
"Passengers trust pilots to operate aircraft in accordance with the
highest safety standards. Pilots trust flight attendants to carry
out critical safety procedures in the cabin. Crews trust mechanics,
flight dispatchers and other ground personnel. We all need to be
able to trust the managers and senior executives responsible for
the safety of operations. NetJets's conduct, including CEO
Jordan Hansell's incredible claim
that the vice president acted alone, breached the trust of the
entire workforce, customers and Warren
Buffett and jeopardizes the viability of NetJets."
After a Twitter account with the handle "TwinkieTheKid" was
activated, NetJets hung Twinkie snack cakes next to photographs of
pilots on the walls of its corporate offices, where they still
remain. However, Hansell claims NetJets did not become aware of the
Twitter content until after the Union filed the lawsuit. The
Twitter account was used to intimidate pilots and their families.
Blogs falsely blamed the Teamsters Union for thousands of job
losses at Hostess Brands, Inc., following a 2012 bankruptcy and
threatened the same fate awaited NetJets workers if pilots did not
accept deep concessions at the highly profitable carrier. The
lawsuit also accuses NetJets of conducting illegal surveillance of
pilots, threatening to blacklist them and other illegal conduct
designed to cripple NJASAP.
"Admitting one of their own was behind the social media accounts
used to harass and threaten pilots and their family members
confirms that NetJets has been operating outside the boundaries of
the law and basic decency," Leroux said. "NetJets is
responsible for page after page of hateful propaganda that
demonized its own pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and flight
dispatchers, mocked hardworking Americans in other occupations, and
threatened that NetJets pilots would lose their jobs for exercising
rights enjoyed by all workers in the
United States. We are very confident the evidence will prove
the vice president was no 'lone wolf.'"
In court filings, NetJets originally defended the social media
content detailed in the Union's lawsuit, describing it as
"competitive jockeying and sharp bargaining." However, on
April 21, several hours before
NetJets was required to respond to NJASAP discovery requests,
Hansell sent a letter to the Union apologizing for the content and
claimed NetJets was unaware of the multi-year, anti-union campaign
conducted via Twitter and blogs. The vice president blamed by
Hansell reported directly to senior managers of the company. NJASAP
is seeking thousands of documents and computer records from NetJets
and plans to depose Hansell and other high ranking company
officials. Union officials vow to expose the roles other managers
played in the effort to intimidate pilots and crush their
Union.
About NJASAP Founded in 2008 as an independent labor
advocate, the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots
(NJASAP) represents the professional interests of the 2,700-plus
pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation, Inc., a
Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary. For more information, visit our web
site, www.njasap.com, Facebook page, www.facebook.com/njasap, or
Twitter feed, @njasap.
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SOURCE NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots
(NJASAP)