For those who don't know him, Trice Johnson has written many previous informational pamphlets. He's very well read and well informed.
*******************
Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,
Since some of you know me and my writings from previous AA/APFA
theatrical events, I thought I would give you an update on the latest
show at the APFA election Big Top. Since the APFA President is the
leader of negotiations, it is important that you cast an educated
vote as best you can based on all of the official and unofficial
information provided to you. Just as a reminder, I held an important
position related to APFA strategy and communications in the
successful 2001 Contract Negotiations. I technically worked for John
Ward and took the job under his solicitation, but I have not spoken
to him since at least 2003 and have no affiliation or interest with
any of the respective candidates or other APFA formal activities.
One swing on that trapeze was more than enough thank you very much,
so I am just going to let a few things rip here in the spirit of
democracy, good spirits, and hopefully a break from the usual
rhetoric associated with elections. I did not have any real long
term association with the other major Presidential APFA candidate,
Ms. Laura Glading, who was also on the 2001 negotiating team. I
certainly did hear my share of rumor and innuendo from all sides
during my APFA stint about who was "at fault" or to be praised for
various blunders or miracles. Some of the long term APFA "insiders"
are just so partisan and biased in their prejudices that it makes it
very difficult for them much less a regular line Flight Attendant to
separate fact from fiction or to know exactly what happened even when
one was not there watching events unfold. The long term APFA insiders
frequently depend on their friends and loyalists to tell them what is
happening and this is where events frequently get skewed it seems.
The conversations at APFA Headquarters might resemble something like
this: "I am not really into APFA politics much and just want to
serve the membership in my position here at APFA, but did you hear
that so and so did blah blah blah to you know who and yak yak
yak............." It's all kinda like being at a Christmas dinner
with distant relatives when Aunt Joan cozies up to you on the couch
with her egg nog and rum and says, "I know it's Christmas time and
all and we're all here celebratin the birth of the baby Jesus and
all, but did you know that little cousin, Emma Jean, just had an
abortion." Ugh.........time for some objectivity and a bit of light
levity here in order to clear the air a bit I think.
I will just tell you how to be mindful of a few things related to
some interesting asides and Inconvenient Truths that were seemingly
not clarified well or just plain omitted from your APFA candidate
information booklets and their respective internet websites. I am
only going to highlight the major positives as well as blunders and
grounds for suspicions. Let's keep it straight forward and simple.
These are I believe the most important more recent APFA FACTS and
clarifications as well as my own observations of events and the
candidates as I personally interpreted them in 2001 contract
negotiations as well as info gleaned from their campaign websites
and/or literature.
John Ward----He was the principle Ringmaster (President) during the
APFA 2001 successful contract negotiations although he and Ms.
Glading seem to be duking it out now as to who deserves the most
credit for the 2001 contract as they were both on the negotiations
team. He has a kinda Bill Clinton political astuteness about him.
He is generally either liked or strongly disliked. Very intelligent,
telegenic, photogenic, clearly understands all aspects of the APFA,
politics, the press, and certainly the ugliness of American
Airlines. He has a bit of an iciness and coldness about him which
made it difficult sometimes for me and others to work for him
internally at APFA. He can cut off at the pass most people who don't
agree with his line of thinking. But I imagine his frostiness can
come in quite handy at the bargaining table negotiating with AA. I
don't know if we really want anyone overly personable and "warm and
fuzzy" dealing with AA there. I want someone who AA despises and who
can get just as ugly and nasty as AA's negotiators who will lie, beg,
borrow, and steal their way to get their way in avoiding paying you
one more dime. Ward along with his entire negotiating team certainly
deserve much credit for getting us the 2001 deal. Ward's fall from
grace occurred during the Restructuring Agreement where he is blamed
for getting us the current Restructuring Agreement (RPA). The fact of
the matter is the APFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS (that is, your local base
chairs) are the ones who passed all of these resolutions (read: laws)
which shortened and/or changed the voting periods and/or results.
And American Airlines is the culprit who had the whip that ran those
horses around the circus ring until they (the APFA Board of
Directors) got dizzy, fell, and then later showed up as chinese
acrobats in center stage able to contort themselves into all kinds
positions to rationalize their respective actions. But, John Ward is
the one who gets the blame and now looks like the Fat Lady at the
County Fair. However, as President, he should never have put his
name on the resolution to change the original vote results on April
15, 2003. Yet, the APFA Board of Directors was the one that voted on
this and allowed the AA lions and tigers to scare the bejesus out of
everyone at any costs. At the least, John Ward should have just come
out and said either "I am for this vote extension or I am against
this vote extension but the APFA Board will vote on this and have to
take ultimate responsibility, but my position is this." Instead we
get his wishywashy political "double talk" that has it both ways. He
writes on his website:
On the morning of April 15, the Company offered to extend the
balloting period for an additional day. I told Carty that I felt
such a limited extension was likely insufficient but that I would
relate what he had said to the APFA BOD since they alone, and not I,
could decide whether to extend the balloting. I believed then as I
do now, that this was something that the BOD had a right to know and
that I, as APFA President was required to inform them of.
The offer was put forward to the BOD for debate and review on a
Teleconference Meeting of the APFA BOD. Those who attempt to
convince you that, as the "Maker" of the proposed Resolution, I was
advocating its passage are misleading you. In fact, I made clear to
the BOD that I would take responsibility for the withdrawal of the
Resolution unless a strong majority felt that agreeing to the
extension was appropriate under the circumstances. As you know, a
majority of the APFA BOD voted to extend the balloting. As
President, I did not vote on the proposed Resolution.
Despite these facts, I'm not implying that those on the BOD who
voted "yes" to extend the balloting had anything but the best
interests of the membership at heart. Similarly, those who voted
against extending the balloting had legitimate reasons for doing so.
End.
Bottom Line: You can't have it both ways as the previous sentence
implies. Eventually, you have to take a stand. Mr. Ward should have
just come out and stated ON THE RECORD what his own position was on
the vote extension and then allowed the APFA Board of Directors to
vote. Instead, he just deferred to the Board so he would not be held
entirely responsible. Since Mr. Ward put his name on the
controversial revote resolution, one can only logically conclude that
he supported it. Generally, politicians don't put their names on
resolutions that they don't stand behind. Eventually, one has to take
a stand. Isn't this why Hillary Clinton keeps taking the wrap for
voting to authorize the war in Iraq but now suddenly is advocating
a "timely withdrawal" while yet "supporting the troops." This is a
true politician. One who can get the most by stating the least in the
broadest possible terms.
My remarks: We will never know if AA would truly have gone into
bankruptcy if our original NO VOTE had sustained itself. From a
democratic point of view, it is absolutely absurd that the APFA
leadership would even consider extending a vote deadline to allow for
a change of votes after the APFA's initial votes and other AA unions'
votes had been counted and released. Yet, from an economic
viewpoint, we are clearly much better off not being in bankruptcy.
One need only look at United Airlines, Delta, and Northwest Airlines
pay and benefits scales in the APFA Industry Contract Comparion
Supplemental Chart of September 2006 to see how far ahead we are
compared to these carriers who were in bankruptcy. But again, no
matter what anyone tells you, we will NEVER know if AA would have
truly declared bankruptcy over the APFA union's original NO vote on
the Restructuring Agreement.
Summary of Ward: Clearly gifted, intelligent, clever, capable at the
negotiating table obviously, but flawed in APFA internal leadership
at times. I admire the guy for even wanting to go in and try
to "make things right again." I can't think of a prevous APFA
President who was subjected to so much catastrophe, controversy, and
challenge but who still has the tenacity to try again. Since his
wife is a Flight Attendant, maybe the two of them should just take
turns running and holding office and then we would have our own APFA
Clinton/Bush like dynasty right here at APFA. As punishment for his
Restructuring Agreement Blunder From Hell, I sentence him to having
to stand in the TSA Security lines and remove his shoes at least 3
times before each and every one of his flights until we get a better
contract!
All the Best, John!
Laura Glading--I have really never met her personally at all. She
comes across as extremely polished, pleasant, and knowledgeable with
a kind of NBC Today Show Katie Couric type personality who is
neither overly aggressive nor soft but somewhere in the middle. She
who would probably be a good substitute hostess on ABC's THE VIEW.
Nothing overly threatening, controversial, or dangerous. She
certainly has plenty of APFA "experience" having a thick resume in
all kinds of areas. Until Ward became President, Glading was
appointed by the APFA Board of Directors to be the primary
spokesperson after Tentative Agreement 1 (which she supported) under
Denise Hedges went up in flames after a few APFA clowns juggling with
fire accidently threw one torch too high and caught the entire circus
tent on fire. If you are looking for experience as well as someone
who has a wide range of support from APFA insiders both old and new
but you just can't stomach voting for Ward, then Glading may be the
candidate for you. Glading likes to point out that she has
the "support of political groups across the board" at APFA which
somehow transcends political divisiveness. This is always a nice
idea, but if one is liked a bit too much by everyone then it is
difficult to know exactly who the candidate is and where his/her
principles lie. The ultimate politician is the one who "blows in the
wind" so I am not sure her claim of having the support of all of
these political groups is exactly an asset. Laura was groomed really
by our current President Tommie Hutto-Blake who prides herself on
mentoring the next group of leaders at APFA. From my perspective,
there is only one really serious and dangerous piece of evidence
against having Glading as President and leader of negotiations. Not
one of the members of the previous negotiating team who got us
the "good" contract in 2001 and who worked with Laura Glading closely
for about two years is endorsing her for President of APFA. They are
ALL (except for one who formally endorsed no one) endorsing Ward for
President. And this includes negotiators that were either appointed
by the APFA Board of Directors or were elected by the APFA
membership. This is very concerning to me because this tells me that
Laura Glading did not win over too many of her fellow negotiators in
2001 as friends or supporters. Laura has lots of support elsewhere
in APFA but apparently not enough support among her fellow
negotiators from 2001 for whatever reasons. For that reason alone,
she probably would need to be put in the cannon and fired from one
end of the circus tent to the other in order to see if she can land
on her feet.
Summary of Glading-- Lots of APFA experience in a wide range of
areas; has clear support of a good cross section of former and
current APFA bureaucrats and insiders. Very well spoken and has a
much softer and gentler style than John Ward. But her days of
allegedly transcending political boundaries at APFA will likely be
numbered because to be effective you have to take a strong stand and
make difficult decisions which means that some performers fighting
for her coveted APFA attention, loyalty, and positions won't get to
be in the center ring and will get pissed off. Since she does not
have the formal support of any of the previous negotiators from 2001,
I would say she should be forced to fly 767 coach galley AND work the
duty free cart both directions on her JFK flights to Europe and back
until she can rescue us from the current Restructuring Agreement.
Good Luck Laura!
Steven Baumert-- Known for his publishings of The Baumert Report
which analyzes the financial and corporate fortunes, thievery,
misleading financial operatives, and misinformation coming from AMR
Corporation. Clearly has good intentions and an understanding of
AMR's financial positions. He is a real outsider with some obvious
intelligence who wants to capitalize on those Flight Attendants who
are sick and tired of seeing the same recycled APFA candidates just
donning different colored rubber noses, wigs, and makeup in their
attempts to keep control of the APFA Big Top. Given that he has no
experience and no record doing anything at APFA, you will have to ask
yourself whether you want to assume this kind of risk in electing
someone to chair negotiations who may not even know how to find his
way to APFA Headquarters and get himself in the door right away much
less start negotiating a contract and governing APFA as an
institution. Generally, one starts off in the peanut gallery and
then works his/her way up to center stage. I think it is great that
total outsiders want to participate in the process, but am not sure
if it is wise to elect someone so inexperienced at APFA at this
moment and catapult them into the negotiations limelight on opening
night without even having a decent dress rehearsal. Baumert seems
like the Ralph Nader outsider from the US Presidential election of
2000 or possibly the Ron Paul vote in the current US election cycle.
He would be a good vote to at least shake up the APFA Board of
Directors and force a run off between the other two major candidates,
Ward and Glading. If he wins, the APFA den of lions and tigers
a.k.a. Board of Directors will likely keep him on a tight leash or at
least have him for breakfast and lunch should they get hungry for
some blood. Hats off to this intelligent man for throwing his hat
into this ring!
Rock Salomon-- Oh my, now it gets really fun! Talk about some nice
and tasty meat for the APFA Board of Directors to feast upon. If you
think they will be shocked at having to deal with Baumert as
President, then they will be frothing at the mouth to devour this guy
for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. Saloman was the chief instigator
of the lawsuit challenging the legality of the RPA vote/revote
fiasco. But then again, what did our Board of Directors think was
going to happen? They should not be surprised that a few really
angry, tenacious, and highly dedicated Flight Attendants like Rock
Salomon would take them to court and cost the APFA thousands of
dollars in legal fees to fight this lawsuit . If Saloman gets
elected, you can bet yourself every turkey deli sandwich, can of
Lays Potato Chips, oversized oatmeal cookie, breakfast snack mix, bag
of M&M's, and all other transaturated fatted "Buy on Board" goodies
that the APFA bureacrats will have security guards at most every APFA
Board of Directors meeting to control the amount venom and torches
that will be hurled at the other. I have to admire the guy for
challenging the veracity of the RPA vote scandal, but I think it
highly dubious that he could come in and govern the APFA effectively
whether we be in negotiations or not. Vote for him if you have a
real taste for dare devil risks and love to watch circus bungee
jumpers or the blindfolded man throw knives around the pretty girl
strapped to a wall. Rock definitely knows how to rock the APFA boat!
In conclusion, be grateful that ANY of these people put themselves
up for candidacy at this time in APFA/AA history. The challenges will
be more than formidable. Right now, AA is around 14 BILLION dollars
in debt I believe, needs to replace much of its fleet of airplanes,
and is looking at crude oil fuel bills of approaching $100 per
barrel. Mr. Arpey and company will be in no mood to give away
anything at the bargaining table even if they do collect their
fat "incentive bonuses" every April until 2010. AA will make the
argument to the National Mediation Board that our Flight Attendants
and pilots still receive very generous benefits relative to the
competition as well as continued funding of our pension plans. All
of this is true, but that is still no excuse for all of the "hits" we
have taken since 2003 and AA DID NOT declare bankruptcy.
Furthermore, our productivity is very high compared to most all of
the major carriers. We also have the "advantage" that all of the
other AA unions will be in contract negotiations together. If we
don't all kill each other off first, we may definitely have some
leverage with AA and with the national media or on the political
stage.
Quite honestly, other than electing a competent APFA President, the
United States Presidential and Congressional elections of 2008 will
influence our bargaining effectiveness considerably. A labor
friendly President and Congress along with the respective politically
appointed National Meditiation Board and Departments of
Transportation and Commerce Secretaries put considerable influence on
the respective parties to reach a deal in the final hours of
negotiations. It is essential that you vote for national
representatives who reflect labor's interests if your primary concern
in voting is your own job, salary, and benefit protections.
In the meantime, cast your vote, grab your popcorn and cotton candy
and take a ringside seat at the Greatest Aviation Union Show on
Earth. Ballots are due on January 17, 2008. Feel free to pass this
email along to anyone you wish.
Regards,
Trice Johnson
IMA
*******************
Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,
Since some of you know me and my writings from previous AA/APFA
theatrical events, I thought I would give you an update on the latest
show at the APFA election Big Top. Since the APFA President is the
leader of negotiations, it is important that you cast an educated
vote as best you can based on all of the official and unofficial
information provided to you. Just as a reminder, I held an important
position related to APFA strategy and communications in the
successful 2001 Contract Negotiations. I technically worked for John
Ward and took the job under his solicitation, but I have not spoken
to him since at least 2003 and have no affiliation or interest with
any of the respective candidates or other APFA formal activities.
One swing on that trapeze was more than enough thank you very much,
so I am just going to let a few things rip here in the spirit of
democracy, good spirits, and hopefully a break from the usual
rhetoric associated with elections. I did not have any real long
term association with the other major Presidential APFA candidate,
Ms. Laura Glading, who was also on the 2001 negotiating team. I
certainly did hear my share of rumor and innuendo from all sides
during my APFA stint about who was "at fault" or to be praised for
various blunders or miracles. Some of the long term APFA "insiders"
are just so partisan and biased in their prejudices that it makes it
very difficult for them much less a regular line Flight Attendant to
separate fact from fiction or to know exactly what happened even when
one was not there watching events unfold. The long term APFA insiders
frequently depend on their friends and loyalists to tell them what is
happening and this is where events frequently get skewed it seems.
The conversations at APFA Headquarters might resemble something like
this: "I am not really into APFA politics much and just want to
serve the membership in my position here at APFA, but did you hear
that so and so did blah blah blah to you know who and yak yak
yak............." It's all kinda like being at a Christmas dinner
with distant relatives when Aunt Joan cozies up to you on the couch
with her egg nog and rum and says, "I know it's Christmas time and
all and we're all here celebratin the birth of the baby Jesus and
all, but did you know that little cousin, Emma Jean, just had an
abortion." Ugh.........time for some objectivity and a bit of light
levity here in order to clear the air a bit I think.
I will just tell you how to be mindful of a few things related to
some interesting asides and Inconvenient Truths that were seemingly
not clarified well or just plain omitted from your APFA candidate
information booklets and their respective internet websites. I am
only going to highlight the major positives as well as blunders and
grounds for suspicions. Let's keep it straight forward and simple.
These are I believe the most important more recent APFA FACTS and
clarifications as well as my own observations of events and the
candidates as I personally interpreted them in 2001 contract
negotiations as well as info gleaned from their campaign websites
and/or literature.
John Ward----He was the principle Ringmaster (President) during the
APFA 2001 successful contract negotiations although he and Ms.
Glading seem to be duking it out now as to who deserves the most
credit for the 2001 contract as they were both on the negotiations
team. He has a kinda Bill Clinton political astuteness about him.
He is generally either liked or strongly disliked. Very intelligent,
telegenic, photogenic, clearly understands all aspects of the APFA,
politics, the press, and certainly the ugliness of American
Airlines. He has a bit of an iciness and coldness about him which
made it difficult sometimes for me and others to work for him
internally at APFA. He can cut off at the pass most people who don't
agree with his line of thinking. But I imagine his frostiness can
come in quite handy at the bargaining table negotiating with AA. I
don't know if we really want anyone overly personable and "warm and
fuzzy" dealing with AA there. I want someone who AA despises and who
can get just as ugly and nasty as AA's negotiators who will lie, beg,
borrow, and steal their way to get their way in avoiding paying you
one more dime. Ward along with his entire negotiating team certainly
deserve much credit for getting us the 2001 deal. Ward's fall from
grace occurred during the Restructuring Agreement where he is blamed
for getting us the current Restructuring Agreement (RPA). The fact of
the matter is the APFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS (that is, your local base
chairs) are the ones who passed all of these resolutions (read: laws)
which shortened and/or changed the voting periods and/or results.
And American Airlines is the culprit who had the whip that ran those
horses around the circus ring until they (the APFA Board of
Directors) got dizzy, fell, and then later showed up as chinese
acrobats in center stage able to contort themselves into all kinds
positions to rationalize their respective actions. But, John Ward is
the one who gets the blame and now looks like the Fat Lady at the
County Fair. However, as President, he should never have put his
name on the resolution to change the original vote results on April
15, 2003. Yet, the APFA Board of Directors was the one that voted on
this and allowed the AA lions and tigers to scare the bejesus out of
everyone at any costs. At the least, John Ward should have just come
out and said either "I am for this vote extension or I am against
this vote extension but the APFA Board will vote on this and have to
take ultimate responsibility, but my position is this." Instead we
get his wishywashy political "double talk" that has it both ways. He
writes on his website:
On the morning of April 15, the Company offered to extend the
balloting period for an additional day. I told Carty that I felt
such a limited extension was likely insufficient but that I would
relate what he had said to the APFA BOD since they alone, and not I,
could decide whether to extend the balloting. I believed then as I
do now, that this was something that the BOD had a right to know and
that I, as APFA President was required to inform them of.
The offer was put forward to the BOD for debate and review on a
Teleconference Meeting of the APFA BOD. Those who attempt to
convince you that, as the "Maker" of the proposed Resolution, I was
advocating its passage are misleading you. In fact, I made clear to
the BOD that I would take responsibility for the withdrawal of the
Resolution unless a strong majority felt that agreeing to the
extension was appropriate under the circumstances. As you know, a
majority of the APFA BOD voted to extend the balloting. As
President, I did not vote on the proposed Resolution.
Despite these facts, I'm not implying that those on the BOD who
voted "yes" to extend the balloting had anything but the best
interests of the membership at heart. Similarly, those who voted
against extending the balloting had legitimate reasons for doing so.
End.
Bottom Line: You can't have it both ways as the previous sentence
implies. Eventually, you have to take a stand. Mr. Ward should have
just come out and stated ON THE RECORD what his own position was on
the vote extension and then allowed the APFA Board of Directors to
vote. Instead, he just deferred to the Board so he would not be held
entirely responsible. Since Mr. Ward put his name on the
controversial revote resolution, one can only logically conclude that
he supported it. Generally, politicians don't put their names on
resolutions that they don't stand behind. Eventually, one has to take
a stand. Isn't this why Hillary Clinton keeps taking the wrap for
voting to authorize the war in Iraq but now suddenly is advocating
a "timely withdrawal" while yet "supporting the troops." This is a
true politician. One who can get the most by stating the least in the
broadest possible terms.
My remarks: We will never know if AA would truly have gone into
bankruptcy if our original NO VOTE had sustained itself. From a
democratic point of view, it is absolutely absurd that the APFA
leadership would even consider extending a vote deadline to allow for
a change of votes after the APFA's initial votes and other AA unions'
votes had been counted and released. Yet, from an economic
viewpoint, we are clearly much better off not being in bankruptcy.
One need only look at United Airlines, Delta, and Northwest Airlines
pay and benefits scales in the APFA Industry Contract Comparion
Supplemental Chart of September 2006 to see how far ahead we are
compared to these carriers who were in bankruptcy. But again, no
matter what anyone tells you, we will NEVER know if AA would have
truly declared bankruptcy over the APFA union's original NO vote on
the Restructuring Agreement.
Summary of Ward: Clearly gifted, intelligent, clever, capable at the
negotiating table obviously, but flawed in APFA internal leadership
at times. I admire the guy for even wanting to go in and try
to "make things right again." I can't think of a prevous APFA
President who was subjected to so much catastrophe, controversy, and
challenge but who still has the tenacity to try again. Since his
wife is a Flight Attendant, maybe the two of them should just take
turns running and holding office and then we would have our own APFA
Clinton/Bush like dynasty right here at APFA. As punishment for his
Restructuring Agreement Blunder From Hell, I sentence him to having
to stand in the TSA Security lines and remove his shoes at least 3
times before each and every one of his flights until we get a better
contract!
All the Best, John!Laura Glading--I have really never met her personally at all. She
comes across as extremely polished, pleasant, and knowledgeable with
a kind of NBC Today Show Katie Couric type personality who is
neither overly aggressive nor soft but somewhere in the middle. She
who would probably be a good substitute hostess on ABC's THE VIEW.
Nothing overly threatening, controversial, or dangerous. She
certainly has plenty of APFA "experience" having a thick resume in
all kinds of areas. Until Ward became President, Glading was
appointed by the APFA Board of Directors to be the primary
spokesperson after Tentative Agreement 1 (which she supported) under
Denise Hedges went up in flames after a few APFA clowns juggling with
fire accidently threw one torch too high and caught the entire circus
tent on fire. If you are looking for experience as well as someone
who has a wide range of support from APFA insiders both old and new
but you just can't stomach voting for Ward, then Glading may be the
candidate for you. Glading likes to point out that she has
the "support of political groups across the board" at APFA which
somehow transcends political divisiveness. This is always a nice
idea, but if one is liked a bit too much by everyone then it is
difficult to know exactly who the candidate is and where his/her
principles lie. The ultimate politician is the one who "blows in the
wind" so I am not sure her claim of having the support of all of
these political groups is exactly an asset. Laura was groomed really
by our current President Tommie Hutto-Blake who prides herself on
mentoring the next group of leaders at APFA. From my perspective,
there is only one really serious and dangerous piece of evidence
against having Glading as President and leader of negotiations. Not
one of the members of the previous negotiating team who got us
the "good" contract in 2001 and who worked with Laura Glading closely
for about two years is endorsing her for President of APFA. They are
ALL (except for one who formally endorsed no one) endorsing Ward for
President. And this includes negotiators that were either appointed
by the APFA Board of Directors or were elected by the APFA
membership. This is very concerning to me because this tells me that
Laura Glading did not win over too many of her fellow negotiators in
2001 as friends or supporters. Laura has lots of support elsewhere
in APFA but apparently not enough support among her fellow
negotiators from 2001 for whatever reasons. For that reason alone,
she probably would need to be put in the cannon and fired from one
end of the circus tent to the other in order to see if she can land
on her feet.
Summary of Glading-- Lots of APFA experience in a wide range of
areas; has clear support of a good cross section of former and
current APFA bureaucrats and insiders. Very well spoken and has a
much softer and gentler style than John Ward. But her days of
allegedly transcending political boundaries at APFA will likely be
numbered because to be effective you have to take a strong stand and
make difficult decisions which means that some performers fighting
for her coveted APFA attention, loyalty, and positions won't get to
be in the center ring and will get pissed off. Since she does not
have the formal support of any of the previous negotiators from 2001,
I would say she should be forced to fly 767 coach galley AND work the
duty free cart both directions on her JFK flights to Europe and back
until she can rescue us from the current Restructuring Agreement.
Good Luck Laura!
Steven Baumert-- Known for his publishings of The Baumert Report
which analyzes the financial and corporate fortunes, thievery,
misleading financial operatives, and misinformation coming from AMR
Corporation. Clearly has good intentions and an understanding of
AMR's financial positions. He is a real outsider with some obvious
intelligence who wants to capitalize on those Flight Attendants who
are sick and tired of seeing the same recycled APFA candidates just
donning different colored rubber noses, wigs, and makeup in their
attempts to keep control of the APFA Big Top. Given that he has no
experience and no record doing anything at APFA, you will have to ask
yourself whether you want to assume this kind of risk in electing
someone to chair negotiations who may not even know how to find his
way to APFA Headquarters and get himself in the door right away much
less start negotiating a contract and governing APFA as an
institution. Generally, one starts off in the peanut gallery and
then works his/her way up to center stage. I think it is great that
total outsiders want to participate in the process, but am not sure
if it is wise to elect someone so inexperienced at APFA at this
moment and catapult them into the negotiations limelight on opening
night without even having a decent dress rehearsal. Baumert seems
like the Ralph Nader outsider from the US Presidential election of
2000 or possibly the Ron Paul vote in the current US election cycle.
He would be a good vote to at least shake up the APFA Board of
Directors and force a run off between the other two major candidates,
Ward and Glading. If he wins, the APFA den of lions and tigers
a.k.a. Board of Directors will likely keep him on a tight leash or at
least have him for breakfast and lunch should they get hungry for
some blood. Hats off to this intelligent man for throwing his hat
into this ring!
Rock Salomon-- Oh my, now it gets really fun! Talk about some nice
and tasty meat for the APFA Board of Directors to feast upon. If you
think they will be shocked at having to deal with Baumert as
President, then they will be frothing at the mouth to devour this guy
for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. Saloman was the chief instigator
of the lawsuit challenging the legality of the RPA vote/revote
fiasco. But then again, what did our Board of Directors think was
going to happen? They should not be surprised that a few really
angry, tenacious, and highly dedicated Flight Attendants like Rock
Salomon would take them to court and cost the APFA thousands of
dollars in legal fees to fight this lawsuit . If Saloman gets
elected, you can bet yourself every turkey deli sandwich, can of
Lays Potato Chips, oversized oatmeal cookie, breakfast snack mix, bag
of M&M's, and all other transaturated fatted "Buy on Board" goodies
that the APFA bureacrats will have security guards at most every APFA
Board of Directors meeting to control the amount venom and torches
that will be hurled at the other. I have to admire the guy for
challenging the veracity of the RPA vote scandal, but I think it
highly dubious that he could come in and govern the APFA effectively
whether we be in negotiations or not. Vote for him if you have a
real taste for dare devil risks and love to watch circus bungee
jumpers or the blindfolded man throw knives around the pretty girl
strapped to a wall. Rock definitely knows how to rock the APFA boat!
In conclusion, be grateful that ANY of these people put themselves
up for candidacy at this time in APFA/AA history. The challenges will
be more than formidable. Right now, AA is around 14 BILLION dollars
in debt I believe, needs to replace much of its fleet of airplanes,
and is looking at crude oil fuel bills of approaching $100 per
barrel. Mr. Arpey and company will be in no mood to give away
anything at the bargaining table even if they do collect their
fat "incentive bonuses" every April until 2010. AA will make the
argument to the National Mediation Board that our Flight Attendants
and pilots still receive very generous benefits relative to the
competition as well as continued funding of our pension plans. All
of this is true, but that is still no excuse for all of the "hits" we
have taken since 2003 and AA DID NOT declare bankruptcy.
Furthermore, our productivity is very high compared to most all of
the major carriers. We also have the "advantage" that all of the
other AA unions will be in contract negotiations together. If we
don't all kill each other off first, we may definitely have some
leverage with AA and with the national media or on the political
stage.
Quite honestly, other than electing a competent APFA President, the
United States Presidential and Congressional elections of 2008 will
influence our bargaining effectiveness considerably. A labor
friendly President and Congress along with the respective politically
appointed National Meditiation Board and Departments of
Transportation and Commerce Secretaries put considerable influence on
the respective parties to reach a deal in the final hours of
negotiations. It is essential that you vote for national
representatives who reflect labor's interests if your primary concern
in voting is your own job, salary, and benefit protections.
In the meantime, cast your vote, grab your popcorn and cotton candy
and take a ringside seat at the Greatest Aviation Union Show on
Earth. Ballots are due on January 17, 2008. Feel free to pass this
email along to anyone you wish.
Regards,
Trice Johnson
IMA
