2014 Pilot Discussion

[luvthe9]

Can this be really true of the west reps...............

"Here is a little behind the scenes look at the latest BPR Meeting that they either can't or won't give you because of constraints on what they can tell you.

First off, the latest west BPR Reps continue to act as immature children and will do anything and everything they can to continually disrupt the meetings. For instance, in a serious discussion with the attorney's about important items they are discussing, a west rep will interrupt by asking "How do we get out of this @#&%$ union? It is no small wonder that at least one, if not all of the east reps don't take one or all three of these guys out to have a "Parking Lot attitude change." Their restraint is commendable.

If we have learned nothing else in this unfortunate experience with the west is that many do not deserve to be labeled Professional Pilots. What they are is small minded children with a inferiority complex that shows itself at every opportunity.

Just to give you another example, since they have won NOTHING the last 4 times they have been in court, they are now resorting to threats that they will sue every BPR member that has ever served representing the east. They continue to exhibit a maturity level of someone that is about seven and yet they think they are "winning" the battle. Instead, it reinforces in everyone that associates with them that they can never be held in anything but the lowest esteem.................



..........I wish we had a Union President that had the guts to stand up to Parker and Kirby in public and demand an explanation into their conduct as regards the new Corporate Culture. But that would be totally out of character for Gary. Enough said about that for now..........

 

[end_of_alpa]

A little of this and a little of that at the BPR Meeting

Here is a little behind the scenes look at the latest BPR Meeting that they either can't or won't give you because of constraints on what they can tell you.

First off, the latest west BPR Reps continue to act as immature children and will do anything and everything they can to continually disrupt the meetings. For instance, in a serious discussion with the attorney's about important items they are discussing, a west rep will interrupt by asking "How do we get out of this @#&%$ union? It is no small wonder that at least one, if not all of the east reps don't take one or all three of these guys out to have a "Parking Lot attitude change." Their restraint is commendable.

If we have learned nothing else in this unfortunate experience with the west is that many do not deserve to be labeled Professional Pilots. What they are is small minded children with a inferiority complex that shows itself at every opportunity.

Just to give you another example, since they have won NOTHING the last 4 times they have been in court, they are now resorting to threats that they will sue every BPR member that has ever served representing the east. They continue to exhibit a maturity level of someone that is about seven and yet they think they are "winning" the battle. Instead, it reinforces in everyone that associates with them that they can never be held in anything but the lowest esteem.

More background on the latest Grievance we have "won." The Grievance Committee was forced to negotiate the grievances that we thought we had agreed to when we negotiated the MOU the first time. Let me make sure you understand this. The so called Corporate Culture that Parker and Kirby claim they want has us as "B" scale pilots making less money than the American pilots and when we negotiated the MOU and thought we were getting equal pay for equal work, it never happened. In a nut shell, we were forced to negotiate once again the same items we negotiated once before and thought we got. But are we getting those agreed to items? Maybe eventually since the company will not tell us when, if ever they will agree honor the agreement. There is certainly zero chance they will pay us the back wages that we should get. But I find it interesting that the company will go to great expense to make sure the American Pilots receive what they negotiated, but spend little to make sure we get what is due us. Where would all these people be today without the east pilot's sacrifice? That question has yet to be asked or answered.

That is what happens when you agree to an open ended MOU where many of the items those of us that objected to the MOU as it was negotiated by Gary Hummel tried to warn you about. How many thousands of dollars will each of us not be paid is a good question? The "New American" just made record profits this last quarter once again on the backs of the east pilots.

The BPR had to make a decision. Vote against this agreed to grievance and hope some day we get what was promised or go to arbitration and hope for the best. The Grievance Committee Chairman Dave Ciabattoni recommended they vote for it, so with noses held, they did.

I wish we had a Union President that had the guts to stand up to Parker and Kirby in public and demand an explanation into their conduct as regards the new Corporate Culture. But that would be totally out of character for Gary. Enough said about that for now.

After the last vote, I am convinced more than ever that apathy here is the biggest problem. Too many pilots do not take the time or expend the energy to keep up to date on important issues. I had pilots ask me what that issue was all about in the last pilot vote and when told, they were hoping for another chance to vote since they didn't vote the first time. It is so frustrating that these issues go under their radar because they are too lazy to look up to see what is happening. But we get what we deserve when that happens.

Not withstanding the West BPR Reps, we have a great bunch of east reps and they are doing their best to guide this union with little or no recognition for how much they do and how much they sacrifice of their time and money. They are rarely given Flight Pay Loss and often lose money by doing union work. I salute them, past and present.

Bill Glynn

 

[EastUS1]

First off, the latest west BPR Reps continue to act as immature children......

 
That somehow fails to shock or even surprise at all...

 

[cltrat]

end_ of _alpa  apathy is something you're very correct about and it's not a exclusive to USAPA our union and unions in general I think have the same problem.
No one can be bothered to vote but many of the same people will be the first ijn line to ***** about things.
My feeling is that if you don't vote you forfeit any bitching rights.

 

[electricjet98]

Can this be really true of the west reps...............

Asked...
 
 

Bill Glynn

Answered!

 

[Art at ISP]

The last time we were treated to such drivel on this board it was from that certified whack job Mikey Stein, posting as concerned UAL pilot "767Jetz."  Wow, such an impressive identity for a bottom feeding new hire.
 
The compulsive liar was outed (to no one's surprise) when he left United to return to his well deserved position at the new American.  As a bottom feeding returning furloughee to the West.  How's Phoenix treating you, Mikey?
 
No doubt your American "friend" will have the same success in weakening East resolve that Mikey had. 

I happen to know 767Jetz personally, he's one of my closest friends. He in fact works for United, and has NEVER worked for US Airways...and his name is not Mike.

 

[Phoenix]

I happen to know 767Jetz personally, he's one of my closest friends. He in fact works for United, and has NEVER worked for US Airways...and his name is not Mike.

 
 
Then you can explain his inordinate obsessions with something that is none of his business.  I could not care less about anything much at United, and if I obsessed and made moral judgements about events and issues at United then I'ld be a fool to think pilots at United would not accuse me of being a liar, if I pretended to have no personal skin in their game. 
 
Thank you for vouching for an internet poster.  I always have found your posts to be thoughtful and mature, and would have expected such silliness was beneath you. 

 

[luvthe9]

My favorite jetz story ........This has got to be the all time craziest BMW hater’s story ever. I’m also thinking that my new 335xi is a magnet for trouble. For anyone familiar with my Euro story and our close brush with disaster on the autobahn, you will see an eerie pattern here.

We just took re-delivery of our 335xi sedan at the Performance Center and were on our way to Florida. In South Carolina on I-95 we found ourselves behind an 18 wheeler in the left lane. The speed limit was 70 and he was doing 60 next to another big rig and blocking the traffic. Behind us was another rig and about 20 or 30 cars lined up hoping he would pass and move over to let us by. After several miles like this, he finally moved past the truck in the right lane and several slower cars but still did not move right. We slowly moved right to see if maybe we could get around him in the right lane, since he was obviously not paying attention to the line up of cars behind. As soon as I started to move to the right lane, he moved right. So I figured he was finally moving over. I took a position in the left lane to prepare to pass. But he stayed in the middle of the road and blocked both lanes for a while before swerving back to the left lane. Then he started to move right again and I again prepared to pass. He went half way and blocked both lanes again. This time he stayed there for a good ½ mile or so before swerving back to the left.

He was obviously playing some sort of dangerous game and driving erratically. The whole time I could see him in his side mirror looking right at me. The third time he moved over all the way to the right lane, so I finally had my chance to get past this idiot. The steptronic shifted down a couple of gears and off we went. Again I’m watching him in his mirror and he’s staring right at me. As soon as we were exactly next to him, he aggressively came all the way over at us and deliberately tried to side swipe us. He didn’t only change lanes. He came completely into the left lane and into the shoulder!

It happened so fast that braking was not an option. I knew we were going off-roading at 75 mph and was not going to do it while hard on the brakes. The road was dry, but it had been raining earlier and the dirt and grass was wet and slick. This idiot messed with the wrong guy. Besides trying to kill us, I guess he figured we’d spin out in the grass and stop and he’d go on his merry way. Not a chance! I stayed on the throttle and let x-drive do it’s thing. I felt the car get a bit loose and the luckily there was no embankment. It was bumpy as hell though and I felt the suspension bottom a few times. But I must say that the system worked as advertised. We completed the pass in the grass and came back onto the pavement in front of this guy, grass and dirt flying everywhere! I swear it was like something out of the Duke’s of Hazzard! I looked in my mirror and he swerved at us so aggressively that he almost jack-knifed his rig. It looked like the tail wagging the dog.

I was not letting this guy get away with this. We got into the right lane and he continued along at 60mph keeping him in my mirror at a safe distance. He didn’t know what to do because I don’t think he was expecting me to come out the other side. I called 911 and got local police on the line. At the next exit he tried to get off quickly hoping I’d keep going since I was in front of him, but I suspected this. When he suddenly swerved off the highway, I stopped HARD and was able to get off as well, now behind him. We followed him at a safe distance to a truck stop where he pulled over beside some other trucks. We parked across the street with the police on the phone until they showed up. When he saw the police cruiser exiting the highway in the distance, he started to pull away, but it was too late. I waved the cop over and signaled to him which truck it was. He pulled him over and we had about a good 1 hour chat.

The end result is that he got a $350 reckless driving ticket that goes on his CDL license and is NOT a good thing for a professional truck driver. The officer said that this is a very big deal for them. If he had witnessed it himself he probably could have hauled the guy off to jail. I have to go to court to testify against him next month.

Now for the car itself. First of all, all I can say is thank God for xdrive. While the car hit hard a few times, I’ve hit much worse pot holes in New York in the past with other cars. The car does not pull in either direction, but I plan to have the alignment checked just in case. We got a snoot full of grass and one of the small rubber air dams under the front bumper partially came off. I also got a small scratch on the front driver side wheel.

I crawled under the front of the car and to my surprise there was no evidence what so ever of anything touching the bottom of the car. BMW designs the car so that nothing hangs down from the underside. Very cool! And I’m happy our xi has an inch of extra clearance! And for those who think x-drive in only for areas with brutal winters, you are wrong. This kind of unexpected thing can happen to anyone, anywhere. You never know when you might find yourself off-roading! I’m convinced that xdrive made the difference in this case. Either way, this is the second time that the capabilities of this car have saved us from imminent disaster. (Click here to read about my autobahn experience.)

And for those of you asking why a truck driver would do such a thing, or thinking that maybe I somehow provoked him, let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. My pregnant wife would have been the first person yelling at me if I was driving even the slightest bit aggressively. And even she was urging me to pass this idiot because of his erratic driving.

Thank God everyone escaped without a scratch. I hope the judge throws the book at this idiot when I see him court!

 

[luvthe9]

I happen to know 767Jetz personally, he's one of my closest friends. He in fact works for United, and has NEVER worked for US Airways...and his name is not Mike.

. Geez that's strange we have picture of him and his mother in the BMW showroom, our friends seem to say otherwise.

 

[luvthe9]

Asked...  Answered!

......... Correctly!!!!

 

[mrbreeze]

Breeze, I'm well into my 50's so I don't think I need a fake ID to get my peyote.

Heck, in your state all you have to do is walk outside with your morning cup to get that Colorado high....and the munchies.

Less than 2 weeks after pot was legalized and I see this guy clearing his driveway. 🙂

 

[end_of_alpa]

Asked...  Answered!

So there you have it.

 

[end_of_alpa]

Less than 2 weeks after pot was legalized and I see this guy clearing his driveway. 🙂

New West paper shredder for the Nicolau award. New meaning for the term "blowing it out ones a$$."

 

[snapthis]

Less than 2 weeks after pot was legalized and I see this guy clearing his driveway. 🙂

 
I didn't need to see that....nice return. View attachment 10179
 
 
Note to self, by all means get rid of that jpg. View attachment 10180

 

[Phoenix]

Reconvening BPR Special Meeting Notice

In accordance with the USAPA Constitution and Bylaws Article 5, Section 3 C; and the Union Operating Manual Section 3 III; the Board of Pilot Representatives Special Meeting from April 23, 2014 will resume by telephone conference call today, Monday, April 28, 2014, at 1900 EDT and adjourn at 2200 EDT or the conclusion of business. The agenda remains as previously approved by the Board.

USAPA Communications
 
 
Soooo.... either negations with the APA are continuing and there is just about nothing to report, and the BPR will receive an update about nothing, or a watershed agreement is on the verge of being approved, the BPR is familiar, and is about to get on board...