Hello, this is the Allegheny MEC code a phone for February 5, 2004.
The MEC met in special session yesterday at ALPA’s Washington DC headquarters. In attendance were the MEC, ALPA Vice President of Administration Capt. Paul Rice, and a staff attorney from ALPA’s Legal Department, Mr. Clay Warner.
The marathon session began just after 1pm, continued past dinner with few breaks, and recessed approximately nine and a half hours later, when there was no longer a quorum, as a number of the MEC members were forced to leave the meeting, to meet work and family obligations. Earlier in the evening, the Company was asked to release some MEC members from duty scheduled for this morning to continue the meeting, however Allegheny and Mid Atlantic Vice President Mike Scrobola personally declined to grant the leave requests.
The published agenda, issued by ALPA President Capt. Duane Woerth, was: quote “Action on formal ratification of the Piedmont Merger Letter(s) of Agreement†end quote. Within that agenda, it was determined that four issues would be addressed. They were a policy manual change regarding speaking limits, the 15 day review of all Letters of Agreement by the MEC as required by an MEC resolution dated February 14, 1997, MEC ratification of the proposed merger LOA as opposed to the past practice of pilot ratification for issues related to pay, working conditions, and career security, and the proposed Allegheny / Piedmont merger LOA.
First, a motion was put on the floor to suspend a provision in the ALG Policy Manual, page 29, Points of Order and Decorum, sub point three, which sets limits on the number of times a member may speak to an issue, as well as the duration of their address. That motion was passed unanimously.
Second, a motion was put on the floor to grant a one-time suspension of the required 15 day MEC review of all Letters of Agreement, mandated by an MEC resolution, dated February 14, 1997. The floor opened for debate, however due to a number of parliamentary procedural issues, and subsequent rulings from the chair, the debate could not be closed, and thus, the issue could not be voted on. No other issues were addressed.
During the course of the meeting, a number of MEC members expressed their continued frustration at what they perceived to be the Association’s reluctance to provide economic and financial analysis information, with respect to the pros and cons of either scenario, and the fact that the meeting was called by Capt. Woerth in the absence of what they considered to be that critical information. It should also be noted that the staff attorney present at the meeting was not familiar with our contract, and thus, was not in a position to provide a legal opinion on matters related to our merger and asset transfer contract language.
Lacking a quorum, which is required to conduct business, the meeting was recessed shortly after 10:30 pm, until noon, on Tuesday, February 10th.
All Allegheny ALPA pilots in good standing are urged to contact their representatives at their earliest convenience, and convey to them their position on the issue of pilot versus MEC ratification of the proposed Allegheny / Piedmont merger.
Continue to check this hotline, our website, and crew room bulletin boards for the latest information.
That’s all for this Allegheny MEC update.
