ALPA/USAPA topic of the week 2/13-2/19

[EastUS]

Oh come on, don't you feel something for poor B?
Word is that he's stuck in an unappy marriage and he needs the $300,000 alpo pays him.

Only $300K!? Ah yes...Line Pilots' dues money well spent...after all; we need to keep only the finest individuals up there "working for us", and who could expect any such quality folk to work for any semblance of the pathetic wages/benefits that those same geniuses have secured for all of us

 

[beachboy]

Fresh off the Eline and what a crock! I am glad AFA has told them go take a flying flip off a rolling donut. Does Inflight and Sherri really have the balls to bring this to the table? Well, she (or her duly appointed lackey) certainly did. Mike Finn is at the table for scheduling trying to screw us 10 ways from Thursday. Here is the bottom line. Any of this crap shows up on my door and I will send it through the shredder FedEx right back to ya Tempe and then vote a big fat NO !

Dear Member,

Negotiations and Our Reserve Systems

Over the last several weeks, the AFA Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) has been negotiating with US Airways management over the Reserve Section. The JNC has used some key concepts of the West Reserve System but largely modeled our Reserve proposal off the East Reserve section with two sweeping changes: a Seniority based Reserve System and a move away from the current East procedure of being on call for 24 hours in a row.

While the Company agreed to fix some problems with the Reserve system, they proceeded to make other parts worse. Your JNC made it clear to management that this is not a zero sum game. We are not looking to patch some holes in one part of the Reserve system while creating leaks in another. We are looking for a Reserve system that improves the quality of life and earning potential for Reserves.

On the positive note, as explained below, management did agree to certain improvements on the East system, such as the elimination of twenty four hour call and the limited use of seniority the day prior to a day of availability. Improvements for West Reserves already agreed to by management include a requirement for the report time of the assignment to be within the RAP and better On-Premise Reserve (OPR) pay, among other improvements.

However, what management gave with one hand, they took away with the other. The following are a list of unacceptable provisions management wants to incorporate into a Reserve system. These provisions have been rejected by your JNC.

Days of availability buckets (limiting trips a Reserve could fly to days of availability)
Moveable days scheduled only before Golden days.
Force Reserves to work until 0330 on Golden Day with no restoration of day off.
Continued used of time balancing.
Eliminate ability to select among multiple available trips on day of assignment.
Allow Crew Scheduling to assign Reserve another segment when they return to domicile after a trip. (Tagging.)
Through Union meetings, the Wilson Survey, the online survey, emails and conversations with individual Reserves and discussions with our MEC and LEC Reserve chairs, the JNC developed a proposal which focuses on two core principles:

1. Quality Of Life
2. The Ability To Earn A Living

Quality Of Life

The JNC proposed a system based on Reserve Availability Periods (RAPS). The Company has agreed to create twelve (12) hour RAP periods in which Reserves will only be contactable within the RAP and only awarded or assigned a pairing that reports within the RAP. This represents an improvement to the current West Reserve system, where Reserves may be assigned trips that report well after the Reserve's RAP has ended.

The JNC has proposed an additional INV or Golden day to match the current West Contract for a total of nine (9) INV or Golden days along with the three (3) OFF or Moveable days.

The JNC proposed a two-hour call out time to report to the airport and no requirement to reside within a two-hour drive time to the airport. The Company has countered with a two-hour call out time to "check-in" at the airport with no residence language.

The JNC has proposed the elimination of Reserve tagging. Tagging under the current West Contract allows the Company to add additional segment(s) to a Reserve trip assignment when they return to domicile after completing the trip.

The JNC proposal would use seniority as the mechanism for trip assignment rather than a time balancing or LTO system. The Company has countered with seniority the day prior but has added a bucket and pool system.

The Company proposal would allow Reserves to bid for trips that day prior in seniority order until they reached a sixty-five (65) hour threshold at which point the Reserve would revert back to LTO until all other Reserves reached sixty-five (65) hours. The Company proposal would assign trips in LTO on the day of assignment. The Company proposal seeks to match trip awards with days of availability.

The JNC proposal cleaned up OPR pay. West Reserves receive one for two for OPR (known as Airport Ready Reserve on the West) and the shift may be extended. AFA proposed and the Company agreed to the East formula of 3:30 for a four hour OPR shift which cannot be extended. Pay for an OPR awarded/assigned a trip during the OPR shift would be pro-rated up until the check in time of the awarded/assigned trip. We are still in dispute about whether an OPR may be required to remain after the end of the OPR shift of complete boarding duties.
The Ability to Earn a Living

The JNC understands Reserve is not what it used to be. Reserve at an airline with no growth can go on for a long time. The JNC believes that any Reserve proposal should take that fact into account. Gone are the days of being on Reserve for six months and therefore a system must be negotiated that allows Reserves to earn a living without having to work all of their days off to do so.

The JNC believes a Seniority based system for selecting trips is the only fair way to provide someone the necessary reward for their years of service and has proposed just that.

We have not addressed the Reserve Guarantee at this time but we do believe that the guarantee needs to be increased.

The JNC does not believe that Reserves should have to work their days off to earn a living, but we have proposed a pay above guarantee for both trips flown off the ETB and Company time flown on days off be paid above guarantee.
The Company believes otherwise. The Company believes it is in their best interest for every Reserve to come as close to the guarantee as possible without exceeding it. While that may make financial sense for the Company, it makes no sense to the JNC. Our Reserves deserve a system that balances the needs of the Company without putting Reserves into bankruptcy or driving them to the brink of exhaustion.

This is going to be a difficult fight but we are certainly prepared to take it on.

In Solidarity,

- The Joint Negotiations Committee -

Mike Flores - MEC President US Airways
Gary Richardson - MEC President America West Airlines
Carol Austin - AFA US Airways Negotiations Representative
Nicki Kirkeby - AFA America West Negotiations Representative

 

[N965VJ]

What’s a “Golden Dayâ€￾?

 

[N903AW]

What’s a “Golden Dayâ€￾?

A non-moveable (by scheduling) day off.

 

[ALPO NO MO]

What’s a “Golden Dayâ€￾?

It's when the folks at Tempe pee on you and tell you that it's raining.

 

[end_of_alpa]

LET THE WHIPSAW BEGIN!!! Fresh from the East MEC:

COUNCIL 138 UPDATE February 16, 2008

Although we are disappointed that the three-man panels from the East and West were unable to reach consensus, this does not change our position that attrition, furlough with longevity credit, and durability must be included in any agreement. In the meantime, we remain in indefinite separate operations. This means in the West, the operation remains essentially stagnate. In the East, this means that we continue to capture the vast majority of upgrades (400 since the merger), recalls, and additional pilot hiring.

It’s also important to remember, that with the bump-no-flush provisions, we keep all these upgrades. And as part of an arbitration award, we keep all the EMB-190 positions as well. We start sharing the -190 positions only as an IOU after an integration occurs.

It is true that movement will slow down with the Age 60 change, however it will not stop.

Also, we are likely to get the majority of any aircraft additions to the fleet including the new wide-body deliveries at the end of this year. Additionally, when factoring in parity for scheduling and vacation for future pilot staffing, this also creates significant upgrades.

Fraternally, Bob Sauer Chairman Don Baier Vice Chairman Steve Boveri Sec/Treasurer

And then there are the useful ALPA idiots HERE:

One MEC, East and West? Think Again.
2/17/2008

BOS Pilots,

Some observations:

There are no bad guys. Everyone is trying to do what they think is in their group's own best interest. Some just will be able to do it better than others. Which takes us to our next decision. Are we best served by ALPA, or USAPA? And if you have already answered USAPA, why?

Because ALPA serves two masters, both you and the National organization? That may be Prater's job, but it's not the job of your MEC. The job of your MEC is to take care of you, and never once during my time on the MEC, which spans our 2nd bankruptcy, the LOA 93 debacle, and our merger to date, have I ever felt pressure from anyone in "ALPA" to do "what's best for ALPA."

Not once. Nor did I feel any pressure from ALPA National during our preparation for, or engagement with, the West as a member of the "Steering Committee." Think about that for a moment. With perhaps ALPA's fate on this property resting on the outcome, one would think that tremendous pressure would be brought to bear. And yet, there was none.

In fact, quite the opposite. As spokesman for our delegation, and with John Prater sitting beside me, in my opening remarks I made it absolutely crystal clear that the East was not here to "save ALPA," nor were we here as fall guys to simply restart JNC negotiations with Management. And during that entire 10 day lockdown, no one from "ALPA" argued otherwise. The decisions were ours, and ours alone, and we made them.

Same with your MEC. You don't have a "B Plan" today because previous MEC's decided to stay with the "A Plan." Your "A Plan" wasn't frozen, even after the recommendation of your R&I Chairman, because your MEC decided not to freeze it.

You lost the opportunity of having 19.3% of the stock in the new US Airways because your MEC decided that it wasn't a TA, so you couldn't vote on it. And you had a DOH argument presented to Nicolau, even when he gave us one more chance to modify it before he rejected it, because your MEC had already threatened to recall the Merger Committee if they even blinked.

Rogue MEC? Out of touch with it's membership, and doing the wishes of ALPA National? Hardly. They were doing what they felt you, the membership, wanted. And if you didn't want it, where were you then?

So vote for USAPA if you think they can best represent you, but don't vote for them simply because you believe that your MEC has been a puppet of ALPA National. If that's your reason, then your vote would be based on a lie.

As for me, I'm voting for ALPA. I don't want an in-house Union which includes the pilots from the West. Once that happens, we'll have one less claim to "Separate Operations," because we'll have one common MEC, representing all the US Airways pilots.

Far better, in my view, to maintain Separate Operations as we have it today, which ALPA National has no other choice but to acknowledge since, as always, it's your MEC's call, not theirs.

Trusteeship? On what grounds? After this 10 day lockdown, John Prater knows better. Trusteeship can be challenged in court, and we would have every reason to do so.

What would Separate Operations accomplish?
------------------------------
1. Locks in seat protection with Capt upgrades on every future bid (no bump, no flush in the next merger).

2. Enter the next merger with the Nicolau Award on the shelf, and challenged in court by our lawsuit (a lawsuit that would disappear if we go USAPA).

3. Capture all staffing ratio increases on the East, for the East (rationalization of ratios that appears to be going on now), and with all East new hires on the bottom of only the AAA list (so that if they furlough on the West, only West pilots go).

4. Capture all growth with an IOU arrangement (as we did with the EMB 190's), which provides more immediate upgrades.

5. Pay Parity Now, with opportunities to open up our contract early with the China flying negotiations, etc., or prepare for our own Section 6 contract opener which is only 18 months away.
---------------------------
USAPA? I don't trust that with a combined MEC we'll be able to accomplish any of this for the AAA Group. After all, all it takes is enough East MEC votes to side with the West on any issue, and the East loses control of the process. Won't happen?

Think again.

The ALPA structure has been set up to provide autonomy for each MEC to determine it's own destiny. Since May of last year, this MEC has done a damn fine job of doing so. And I say that with your support, the next MEC can do the same.

With Respect,

Garland

And the AWA guys blame USAPA??? The East pilots have their fair share of MEC idiots running around. There is no discounting that. Here is what the ALPA unions have learned from US and are now in SEVERE trauma regarding it:

"While US Airways now operates under a single operating certificate and many of the corporate synergies have been achieved, a joint pilot contract has not yet been reached, and as a result, the pilots have been unable to capture any meaningful value from the merger transaction."

That will sum it up for the Transportation industry.

ENJOY YOUR CAREER! WITH LOVE AND AFFECTION....ALPA!

 

[Phoenix]

The job of your MEC is to take care of you, and never once during my time on the MEC, which spans our 2nd bankruptcy, the LOA 93 debacle, and our merger to date, have I ever felt pressure from anyone in "ALPA" to do "what's best for ALPA."

Not once. Nor did I feel any pressure from ALPA National during our preparation for, or engagement with, the West as a member of the "Steering Committee."

If he would stop slurping so loudly then maybe he would be able to hear them?

 

[AAA73Pilot]

FYI:


Fellow pilot,

As we have mentioned previously, we continue to be very satisfied with the representation we are receiving from our law firm, Seham, Seham, Meltz and Petersen (SSM&P). In fact, the more "concerned" ALPA becomes, the more certain we are that we chose correctly.

As we have from the beginning, we have shared with you the opinions of others who have used SSM&P's services in the past. Satisfied clients of SSM&P include ALPA President John Prater, and AWA MEC Chairman John McIlvenna. USAPA President Stephen Bradford just received another letter, this one from Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) National Director Steve MacFarlane, who was directly involved in every discussion held by AMFA to consider their negotiation and strike strategy at NWA. We thought we might share with you a few lines from Mr. MacFarlane's letter:

"There are so many misrepresentations and outright lies in the article identified as “The Seham Seriesâ€￾ that it is difficult to know where to begin." "It is fair and healthy for us to discuss and debate all issues of importance in and out of the labor movement. What isn’t right and something we should not tolerate is the practice of character assassination and the spreading of lies. I challenge the author(s) of these amateurish and sophomoric articles to come out of the shadows and enter into honest and open debate. I will gladly make myself available in person or on a conference call to discuss any AMFA issue or to directly testify to the high character and very effective representation that we have received from Lee Seham and his law firm." (AMFA National Director Steve MacFarlane, February 18, 2008)

(Click here to read the full text of Mr. MacFarlane's letter.)

Others, to which ALPA has referred and misrepresented, have also written to us expressing their outrage. Continue to watch the USAPA site for additional postings.

Rather than just "concerned," we think ALPA's "really worried."

Thanks for your continuing support.

 

[700UW]

Strike strategy at NW?

AMFA lost, the came back after the strike and accepted a worse offer and let all the scabs keep their jobs and NW is down to 950 Mechanics, a loss of a couple of thousand jobs.

I wouldnt use the AMFA strike as a reference for Seaham, lol!

 

[hp_fa]

FYI:


Fellow pilot,

As we have mentioned previously, we continue to be very satisfied with the representation we are receiving from our law firm, Seham, Seham, Meltz and Petersen (SSM&P). In fact, the more "concerned" ALPA becomes, the more certain we are that we chose correctly. ......

Why is this topic worth discussing with USAPA members or here? The fact that the topic is being raised makes me wonder why it is being raised. It just seems like a really defensive statement to me.

 

[end_of_alpa]

Why is this topic worth discussing with USAPA members or here? The fact that the topic is being raised makes me wonder why it is being raised. It just seems like a really defensive statement to me.

Defensive? The ACPC brought it up. AMFA sets the facts straight about the strike.

 

[end_of_alpa]

Strike strategy at NW?

AMFA lost, the came back after the strike and accepted a worse offer and let all the scabs keep their jobs and NW is down to 950 Mechanics, a loss of a couple of thousand jobs.

I wouldnt use the AMFA strike as a reference for Seaham, lol!

I like your consistency....blame everyone else for your failed union work...first the pilots in "92" (I don't remember the date exactly) and then these guys stand up in bankruptcy and against all odds. Sorry, I'll side with the underdog. Sounds like you side with the "scabs"!

 

[700UW]

NW was not in Bankruptcy when the strike started.

The AMFA History at NW:

SCAB SCHOOLS

NWA sets up "Scab Schools" to begin to train replacement workers for future use. In some accounts, the media had reported the carrier had began training these people 18 months prior to the actual strike. (See NWA Scab School video news report)iv So what did AMFA do in response? Sadly, and unforgivably, the AMFA sat by and did nothing: it did not even protest while these scabs were being trained.

NWA's scab training should have made it very clear to AMFA that the company fully intendedon continuing business as usual should there be a strike.

NEGOTIATIONS

The company was eager to get to the table ASAP and filed a Section 6 on 10/14/04, before the union even filed (usually the unions file Section 6 notices before the company). AMFA reacted by filing their Section 6 filing on 11/4/04. The company then handed AMFA a concessionary proposal on 11/12/04.
(Reference AMFA Negotiating Committee Update #4, Issued Nov. 18, 2004)v

After months of talks going nowhere, AMFA remained in denial and continued to make their members believe they were in traditional negotiations, or that they would at least have a chance of turning the concessionary proposal into a traditional contract negotiation with improvements based on the membership's prioritized contract surveys/ballots. (Reference AMFA "Contract Proposal Prioritization" Letter to Members dated February 22, 2005)vi

Moving forward to 04/24/05: even after several months of bargaining, the AMFA still didn't realize the state of the industry and the barrel the company had them over (diminished work force and replacement workers that are being trained) or the fact that every other legacy carrier had taken concessions by then.

As if there weren't enough issues going wrong for the AMFA during this time, they continued to ask for members to observe at the negotiations table.When asked by the company why there was such a delay in bringing a counter-proposal back, AMFA informed the company that the delay was due to the arduous task of taking all the members' requests in order to make one proposal. At one point the senior mediator in the case even told them they would be allowed to have observers if they just capitulated to the fact that they were in a concessionary negotiations. (Reference AMFA NWA Negotiations Update #15, Issued April 24, 2005).vii

THE STRIKE

On July 19, 2005, the AMFA members voted by referendum to authorize Delle-Femine, "…to call a strike at any time after the 30 day cooling-off period ends". This was without having presented a company offer for the membership to vote on. (Reference AMFA-NWA Strike Authorization dated July 19, 2005)viii

In a July 25, 2005 memo to its members, the AMFA informed the members that the AMFA had reports indicating that half of the mechanics in "Scab School" were failing their background checks, drug and alcohol tests and technical training. This undoubtedly gave the AMFA membership false hope one month before the actual strike. (Reference AMFA Q&A memo dated July 25, 2005)ix

NWA made a final contract offer to AMFA on 8/19/05. The AMFA did not allow the membership to vote on or even see this offer before calling for self-help.

The AMFA went on strike 08/20/05 and on the same day NWA imposed their new set of work rules. The AMFA continued to make their members believe they had the upper hand and that they were having a significant impact on the carrier's day-to-day operation. (Reference AMFA undated and unsigned memo titled "NWA Bankruptcy and AMFA Members")x

Even a month into the strike, on days 33 and 34, AMFA continued to inform its membership they were making progress. They communicated this even after the company began to bring in the scabs. (Reference AMFA Strike Update Day 33 & 34 Scab report)xi

By November, 2005 the company had made several offers, each one worse than the previous. The company's operations were returning to normal. But Delle-Femine continued to tell the AMFA members that the company was struggling, even though by all indications the strike had become completely ineffective.xii

After several months on strike, the membership was finally allowed to vote on a tentative agreement that Delle-Femine described on December 14, 2005 as "…by far the worst contract in the history of airline labor". After the rejection of that agreement, negotiations broke off for more than seven months. Communication virtually ceased to exist from the AMFA National to the striking NWA members. The majority of the scabs are now AMFA's own members. (See:WTOLxiii and O.V. Delle-Femine Letter to NWA Members Regarding Strike Settlement Agreement dated December 14, 2005)xiv

On 9/9/06, the AMFA accepted the company's terms for surrender. Their contract is now called "Terms and Conditions of Employment" and is the same one that the AMFA membership rejected in December 2005 with minor changes.With only 2,461 members on strike that were left in good standing to vote, it was accepted. This ended the strike. Now only 950 workers remain at Northwest, 95 percent of whom are scabs that choose to not pay dues.

FINAL SYNOPSIS

A reduced work force due to poorly constructed contract language, replacement workers at the ready, a failure to recognize looming bargaining dangers, poor insight on the support they would receive from the other unions on the property (including the PFAA; AMFA's Flight Attendant sister union under the McCormick Advisory Group), no real strike fund or other organizational resources and expertise, and no overall plan of action to carry out a successful strike led to AMFA's complete and utter failure at Northwest Airlines.

It's disturbing that a union could stand by while everything lines up against it (bankruptcy courts, other work groups on the property, the NMB, the FAA, etc.) and not have the experience to recognize it, the decency to tell its members the whole truth, and the humbleness to know when it's time to talk-even if it meant difficult-to-accept concessions. The mechanics that would have been furloughed would have received their severance pay and unemployment and had an opportunity for recall.

Everyone asked to take concessions could have decided for themselves if it was worth continuing their employment at NWA. The choice would have been theirs and not forced upon them in a blindly led strike. Instead, the AMFA walked their membership right off a cliff.

Why does this sad Northwest Airlines sagamatter to UAL employees? This is the same association that currently represents us at UAL. These are the same National Officers, the same attorneys (Seham, Seham,Meltz & Petersen) and the same financial advisory group (Seneca) that were responsible for the results at Northwest Airlines. There is a similar loss of personnel, with over 3,000 mechanic and related furloughed between 2003 and 2006. There is the same lack of organizational resources, experience and expertise to successfully take on a huge corporation. We at United have been through too much for too long. It is incomprehensible to ever contemplate a round of bargaining, let alone a strike, with AMFA

 

[hp_fa]

Defensive? The ACPC brought it up. AMFA sets the facts straight about the strike.

Yes, defensive.

The best analogy that quickly comes to mind is something that trial lawyers do when they know their client has something that the other side is going to exploit at some point during testimony. It is called "drawing the sting." The lawyer, rather then wait for a Perry Mason moment, brings up the unflattering topic himself, thereby trying to show the jury that while the client may not be a saint, the jury is getting the truth from them and that they can rely on the testimony as being truthful.

So, the question is still why USAPA feels it needs to defend it's own lawyers at this point to the extent that is raised an issue at this point and, one way or another, arranged for the sting to be drawn on not only their website but also these forums.

 

[EastUS]

Yes, defensive.

The best analogy that quickly comes to mind is something that trial lawyers do when they know their client has something that the other side is going to exploit at some point during testimony. It is drawingcalled " the sting." The lawyer, rather then wait for a Perry Mason moment, brings up the unflattering topic himself, thereby trying to show the jury that while the client may not be a saint, the jury is getting the truth from them and that they can rely on the testimony as being truthful.

So, the question is still why USAPA feels it needs to defend it's own lawyers at this point to the extent that is raised an issue at this point and, one way or another, arranged for the sting to be drawn on not only their website but also these forums.

I'm not sure what planet your notions arise on in regards to this issue. Alpa's made a concerted propaganda assault against the legal firm at issue's repute....perhaps you've simply not noticed, nor read much from Alpa's spin machine these past months. This isn't any issue of bringing up anything other than the actual facts of the matter to offer counterpoints to Alpa's campaign of disinformation. Perhaps it's Alpa you should address your concerns to. They're likely to prove a receptive audience for any/all ideas at this time, as they're obviously pretty desperate To assert that USAPA's in any way "drawing the string" amounts to attempting another tried and true trial lawyer technique = "slinging the Bull"......