ASTAR pilots ratify contract
ASTAR Air Cargo pilots have ratified a labor contract with the company, concluding long and sometimes contentious negotiations.
About 88 percent of eligible ASTAR pilots voted on the proposal, with 93 percent of them in favor, according to ASTAR Air Cargo Capt. Patrick Walsh, chairman of the ASTAR pilots union master executive council.
Under the terms of the deal, ASTAR flight crewmembers will receive retroactive pay and more than 20 percent in pay increases during the course of the four-year agreement, according to a news release from the crewmembers’ union, the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA).
In addition, the pilots get furlough protection and a commitment from the company to secure new aircraft, the release said.
One aspect of the job security convenant in the contract prevents the company from laying off any pilot for the first two years of the agreement, which will go into effect Saturday.
The two sides began negotiations in January 2005, and since April 2006 the talks were held with the assistance of the National Mediation Board.
John Dasburg, ASTAR chairman, CEO and president, said management is “extremely pleased” by the outcome of the ratification vote among the pilot membership.
“This agreement is fair and equitable for both the company and our pilots. The contract provides increased wages, benefits and security for our pilots, while also providing ASTAR with a platform for future business growth in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” Dasburg said.
Last September, hundreds of ASTAR pilots held an informational picket and rally along Rombach Avenue in Wilmington near the road frontage of the J.W. Denver Williams Jr. Memorial Park.
In addition to the uniformed pilots carrying signs bearing messages such as “ASTAR Air Cargo pilots seek a fair contract” and “Fair Contract or Strike,” the eye-catching centerpiece of the quietly conducted labor march was a large inflatable rat, attired in jacket and tie, grasping money bags of yellow and red (DHL colors) and champing on a fat cigar.
ASTAR Air Cargo and ABX Air are the two primary air carriers in the United States for DHL Express.
About 525 pilots are employed at ASTAR Air Cargo, according to figures released last fall.
ALPA is the world’s largest pilots union, representing more than 60,000 members at 43 airlines in the United States and Canada.
Like ABX, the operational hub for ASTAR is the DHL Air Park in Wilmington. ASTAR Air Cargo boasts a fleet of 43 aircraft.
