[background=transparent]September 22, 2007
Dear Fellow Pilots;
Here is the resolution passed by the US Airways MEC yesterday:
WHEREAS The Negotiating Committee is directed by a standing AAA MEC resolution
that requires pay parity before resumption of JNC negotiations,
Therefore Be It Resolved that the AAA JNC will not attend the convening of the full
JNC in Washington, DC, on Sept. 24th and 25th, nor participate in the JNC
negotiations with the Company scheduled for Sept. 25th and 26th.
There is an on-going struggle occurring between the MEC and ALPA, as well as the
company on achieving pay parity. The Executive Council’s recent actions on parity say
that the only way to get parity is through the Joint Negotiating process. We see this as a
misguided process, which puts the parity interests of the pilots of US Airways
subordinate to many others.
The problem is this. The EC has said that because the Transition Agreement requires
negotiations, your parity lies in the JNC process. The MEC, by unanimous resolution,
has said that parity must come before the JNC process. Why? Because without parity
first, it becomes part of a much larger joint agreement with the unfairness of the Nicolau
award in the mix. We have continued to bargain in good faith, but don’t compel us, in
those discussions, to trade for seniority for parity.
If all of our legal efforts fail, regardless of who the Union is, then whether the list is
integrated or whether it remains separate, will be the result of agreement between the
pilot groups and the company. Since we do not have parity now, some are hoping that
getting parity for us as part of the JNC process will make us forget about the Nicolau
Award. The leadership of the AWA pilots has expressed this view and has pushed hard
to have the parity discussions occur only in the JNC process and not sooner. Doug
Parker is on record saying that he has not given us parity in order to leverage
“agreement” on the seniority list and thereby give him a unified carrier. And now the
Executive Council says that parity can only come through the JNC process. While we are
not surprised by the self interest of the first two (AWA wants the list, and Parker wants a
single agreement to shop the airline around for future merger candidates), we do not
understand or agree with the scenario set up by this latest Executive Council decision. It
is an attempt, in our view, to force expedient compromise to benefit “all” pilots including
those at AWA. A noble goal, some say. A unifying goal, some assert. But we see it as
just the opposite -- the cost of such a strategy is that we US Airways pilots start
negotiating from where we are now vs. where we should have been almost two years ago,
when LCC came into existence – PAID EQUALLY.
The MEC, by its action, is asking the Executive Council and ALPA these questions:
Should not your fight be to obliterate the B-Scale on this property? Is that not the
hallmark of unionism and brotherhood on this property and elsewhere? What is the basis
for the move to get into JNC negotiations? To get improvements for “everyone” on the
property? But that means that payment on a bill long since overdue is further delayed.
That is not brotherhood or unionism. It is expediency to splitting the baby. It is trying to
make everybody happy rather than fighting the good fight, a fight that would serve to
unify this group as nothing else can. Equal pay for equal work. No B-Scale. First
Things First. This is where the resources of ALPA should be spent. This is why we are
so frustrated at the JNC strategy set down by the Executive Council. It sends the wrong
signal to AWA, to the company and to our own members -- that perhaps seniority is for
sale, “for parity and parity plus”. And it is not, never has been, and never will be. That’s
not hard line, or a threat, it’s just the reality of what the pilots of US Airways have been
saying all along.
The Executive Council has also said that the Nicolau award will be passed. The MEC is
on record there too. Remember, regardless of it being passed it CANNOT BE
IMPLEMENTED until there is a ratified single agreement. And there will be no
agreement with the Nicholau award intact. We would need protections of longevity for
our once furloughed pilots, fences to capture the attrition we brought to the list, and
protections in the event of any new merger or transactions. The America West pilots and
their MEC will have to understand our resolve on those issues. That will dictate the
timeline – not an arbitrary deadline. And the MEC says if you want to get on the
beginning of that road it starts with parity.
We sincerely hope that the President of this union will join that fight. In his most recent
letter, he says he will try to get parity, but only as a part of the JNC process. He must
know that we cannot do that. Our pilots have told us repeatedly what they must have –
Parity and Protections—in that order. We hope this is not a “Missiles of October” line in
the sand. We trust that he will find the way to put the unified goal of NO B-SCALE as
the first and foremost tenet of this union’s strategy to succeed. It was the rallying cry of
this Association 18 years ago. We hope that history has not been forgotten. We hope
that he will urge pressure on all parties to fix parity first, and not just put pressure on the
US Airways pilots to join JNC talks without parity, as his recent letter suggests. There is
still time to do that.
With or without that help, your MEC will continue that fight. Yesterday, the MEC started
that process with our Grievance Committee for filing a TRO over the Company’s single
operating certificate. We will continue that process using every resource available. We
also continue to fight the Nicolau award in Superior Court through our law firm Baptiste
and Wilder.
But, first things first, if you want Equal Pay for Equal Work then come and join us on the
picket line this Thursday in DCA. This event is NOT about a joint contract. It is about
your paycheck, not AWA or anybody else. Send the message to the Company and to
your Association that we have priorities and that bills long overdue must be paid.
Fraternally,
Bob Sauer
Chairman
Don Baier
Vice Chairman
Steve Boveri
Sec/Treasurer "[/background]