Should USAPA or Any Union Provide Clear and Concise Communications or Message Fragments That May Be Misleading?
For nearly the past 30 years of US Airways employment the challenge I have with our union representation, whether it’s ALPA or USAPA, is union leaders who make decisions based on emotion versus logic and union leaders who mislead the pilots, provide misinformation, twist an argument, not provide all of the facts, and use sentence or thought fragments. I believe the lack of transparency and misrepresentation by the Roll Call 4 (RC4), RC4/5, or Union Extremist Leaders (UEL) has been the single biggest reason we needlessly get hurt time-and-time again. Furthermore, in my opinion, USAPA’s July 7, 2013 Update is misleading because the union uses fragmented information and leaves out important points.
USAPA said on July 7, 2013: “In the Declaratory Judgment case, Judge Silver ruled last October that USAPA is not bound to follow the Nicolau Award and “is free to pursue any seniority position it wishes during the collective bargaining negotiations.”
USA320Pilot asks: Meanwhile, Judge Silver confirmed that LOA 96, the Transition Agreement, requires USAPA and US Airways to implement the Nicolau Award. Why has USAPA not informed us of Judge Silver’s comments?
Judge Silver said: "The primary focus of the parties’ summary judgment filings is whether the Transition Agreement is “binding” on USAPA. According to USAPA, it is “not ‘contractually’ bound by any of ALPA’s agreements,” including the Transition Agreement. (Doc. 160 at 10). But the West Pilots, as well as US Airways, cite a variety of authority supporting the position that the “decertification of ALPA and the certification of USAPA did not change the binding nature of the Transition Agreement.” (Doc. 164 at 7). The West Pilots and US Airways are correct."
Judge Silver said: “Regardless of the binding nature of the Transition Agreement, USAPA’s duty in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement remains the same: to act in conformity with it’s duty of fair representation.”
Judge Silver said: “If USAPA attempts to change the final and binding Nicolau Award) Of course, in negotiating for a particular seniority regime, USAPA must not breach its duty of fair representation. Accordingly, if USAPA wishes to abandon the Nicolau Award and accept the consequences of this course of action, it is free to do so. By discarding the result of a valid arbitration and negotiating for a different seniority regime, USAPA is running the risk that it will be sued by the disadvantaged pilots when the new collective bargaining agreement is finalized. An impartial arbitrator’s decision regarding an appropriate method of seniority integration is powerful evidence of a fair result. Discarding the Nicolau Award places USAPA on dangerous ground."
USA320Pilot asks: Should USAPA or any union that has a Legitimate Union Purpose or LUP provide all of the key points in their updates or make the pilots search for important information? Is it misleading for a union to use information fragments that paint the wrong picture or should a union be communicate accurately? Have misleading union communications harmed the pilots during USAPA’s 6 years of formulation and representation?
USA320Pilot
