Dear Fellow Pilot,
When I last wrote to you about the actions of the Executive Council on the seniority award, I promised to keep you informed on further developments. Before I discuss the ongoing work of the Rice Committee, I need to address another serious issue the threat of union replacement by East pilots.
I want to make it clear to you how much would be lost if, as some have advocated, US Airways pilots change union representation. You may be surprised at how deep and far-reaching the effects of such a change would be for every pilot. I can attest to it personally. Thousands of Continental and FedEx pilots went down that path and returned to ALPA because we learned the hard way how little can be gained, or held, through such a change.
Accusations by East pilots that “ALPA sold me out on my pay, pension, working conditions, and, now, seniority†disregard what ALPA’s professional expertise has been able, or has attempted, to achieve for US Airways pilots. Examples include:
•Secured 35.8 percent aggregate pay increases (40.8 percent for A330 pilots) in 2001/2002 under the “parity plus 1%†provision negotiated in the 1997 contract.
•Assisted the MEC in developing a target defined contribution plan in 2003 that, at the time, provided 27 percent of pay in average contributions and up to 100 percent of pay for some. This was made necessary by your MEC’s agreeing with management’s demand to terminate the pilot DB plan as a prerequisite for the airline to exit bankruptcy.
•Spearheaded exhaustive efforts to enact pension legislation that would have restored funding of the DB plan. While that legislation gained 103 cosponsors, it failed due to tepid support from US Airways management and outright opposition from the administration. We will continue to fight for a new version of the Akaka amendment, to increase your PBGC benefits significantly.
A key issue that some pilots are purposely misstating to further their own agenda is that decertifying ALPA will enable the East pilots to escape the impact of the seniority award. A new union would almost certainly inherit the existing collective bargaining agreements, including the transition agreement and seniority award, and would have to get the company to agree to reject the award. If the company became a reluctant partner in this effort, both the new union and the company would invite immediate and endless litigation by West pilots. The new union would likely spend the first years of its existence, and a major share of its limited resources, defending itself in court, and not pursuing enhancements to the CBA. A loss in court would expose that union and its members to crippling damages awards.
Rather than focus on decertification and its destructive results, we must focus on addressing the needs of the US Airways pilots – East and West – through collective bargaining. The post-bankruptcy bargaining cycle that ALPA is now coordinating is already in full swing and will provide substantial gains in pay, benefits, and work rules for all US Airways pilots when completed – just as it will for other ALPA pilots. More specific information about the contract changes already achieved in your negotiations, and ALPA’s collective bargaining strategy, will be the subject of upcoming reports.
The Rice Committee continues to work with both MECs and negotiating committees and the Joint Negotiating Committee to forge creative solutions to all of the problems we are facing. I am directing the Rice Committee to communicate clearly to you the substantial gains in pay, retirement, work rules, and job security that can be obtained in the near term through negotiations with your management. The focus of the Committee’s work is to forge consensual solutions that provide both career advancement and protection and guarantee real economic gain for all US Airways families – and to do so as soon as possible. No one underestimates the difficulty of finding such solutions in the face of strongly held, divergent views, and no one underestimates the importance of this work to the future of all pilots.
During the week of August 20, members of the Executive Council, members of the Rice Committee, and I will meet with US Airways and America West pilots at several US Airways domiciles. Dates and locations of these visits are listed at the end of this letter. We are planning, and will soon communicate to you, the schedule for visits to America West domiciles (Phoenix and Las Vegas) in early September. We want to hear your concerns, and we want to discuss with you the work that ALPA and all pilots have accomplished together for our profession. We look forward to seeing you soon.
In Unity,
Capt. John Prater, President
Date Domicile Location Time
Mon 8/20 LGA Food Court – US Airways Terminal 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tue 8/21 DCA Cosà (outside security – no union activities inside terminals) 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Wed 8/22 BOS Legal Seafood Café – Terminal B (inside security) 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thu 8/23 CLT Chili’s – Atrium (inside security) 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tue 8/28 PIT TGI Fridays – Concourse A (near crewroom) 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Wed 8/29 PHL TGI Friday’s – B/C Connector 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
When I last wrote to you about the actions of the Executive Council on the seniority award, I promised to keep you informed on further developments. Before I discuss the ongoing work of the Rice Committee, I need to address another serious issue the threat of union replacement by East pilots.
I want to make it clear to you how much would be lost if, as some have advocated, US Airways pilots change union representation. You may be surprised at how deep and far-reaching the effects of such a change would be for every pilot. I can attest to it personally. Thousands of Continental and FedEx pilots went down that path and returned to ALPA because we learned the hard way how little can be gained, or held, through such a change.
Accusations by East pilots that “ALPA sold me out on my pay, pension, working conditions, and, now, seniority†disregard what ALPA’s professional expertise has been able, or has attempted, to achieve for US Airways pilots. Examples include:
•Secured 35.8 percent aggregate pay increases (40.8 percent for A330 pilots) in 2001/2002 under the “parity plus 1%†provision negotiated in the 1997 contract.
•Assisted the MEC in developing a target defined contribution plan in 2003 that, at the time, provided 27 percent of pay in average contributions and up to 100 percent of pay for some. This was made necessary by your MEC’s agreeing with management’s demand to terminate the pilot DB plan as a prerequisite for the airline to exit bankruptcy.
•Spearheaded exhaustive efforts to enact pension legislation that would have restored funding of the DB plan. While that legislation gained 103 cosponsors, it failed due to tepid support from US Airways management and outright opposition from the administration. We will continue to fight for a new version of the Akaka amendment, to increase your PBGC benefits significantly.
A key issue that some pilots are purposely misstating to further their own agenda is that decertifying ALPA will enable the East pilots to escape the impact of the seniority award. A new union would almost certainly inherit the existing collective bargaining agreements, including the transition agreement and seniority award, and would have to get the company to agree to reject the award. If the company became a reluctant partner in this effort, both the new union and the company would invite immediate and endless litigation by West pilots. The new union would likely spend the first years of its existence, and a major share of its limited resources, defending itself in court, and not pursuing enhancements to the CBA. A loss in court would expose that union and its members to crippling damages awards.
Rather than focus on decertification and its destructive results, we must focus on addressing the needs of the US Airways pilots – East and West – through collective bargaining. The post-bankruptcy bargaining cycle that ALPA is now coordinating is already in full swing and will provide substantial gains in pay, benefits, and work rules for all US Airways pilots when completed – just as it will for other ALPA pilots. More specific information about the contract changes already achieved in your negotiations, and ALPA’s collective bargaining strategy, will be the subject of upcoming reports.
The Rice Committee continues to work with both MECs and negotiating committees and the Joint Negotiating Committee to forge creative solutions to all of the problems we are facing. I am directing the Rice Committee to communicate clearly to you the substantial gains in pay, retirement, work rules, and job security that can be obtained in the near term through negotiations with your management. The focus of the Committee’s work is to forge consensual solutions that provide both career advancement and protection and guarantee real economic gain for all US Airways families – and to do so as soon as possible. No one underestimates the difficulty of finding such solutions in the face of strongly held, divergent views, and no one underestimates the importance of this work to the future of all pilots.
During the week of August 20, members of the Executive Council, members of the Rice Committee, and I will meet with US Airways and America West pilots at several US Airways domiciles. Dates and locations of these visits are listed at the end of this letter. We are planning, and will soon communicate to you, the schedule for visits to America West domiciles (Phoenix and Las Vegas) in early September. We want to hear your concerns, and we want to discuss with you the work that ALPA and all pilots have accomplished together for our profession. We look forward to seeing you soon.
In Unity,
Capt. John Prater, President
Date Domicile Location Time
Mon 8/20 LGA Food Court – US Airways Terminal 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tue 8/21 DCA Cosà (outside security – no union activities inside terminals) 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Wed 8/22 BOS Legal Seafood Café – Terminal B (inside security) 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thu 8/23 CLT Chili’s – Atrium (inside security) 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tue 8/28 PIT TGI Fridays – Concourse A (near crewroom) 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Wed 8/29 PHL TGI Friday’s – B/C Connector 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
