MEC Chairman’s Message
January 26, 2008
This is MEC Chairman Jack Stephan with a Chairman's message to the pilots for Saturday, January 26th.
This past week, your union has been involved in several activities, addressing many issues that are of importance to you.
On Tuesday, the Council 90 officers held an informational meeting in Charlotte. This briefing was well attended, and it gave our pilots the chance to talk to the CLT reps, MEC Officers, ALPA staff and advisors, and several of our MEC committee chairmen. It also gave me the chance to talk to many pilots—both ALPA and USAPA supporters, face to face. It is always good to get our important issues right out on the table. As I have stated many times, I respect the right of pilots to choose their union representation. However, when making a decision that will have such far reaching effects on your pay, benefits, your working conditions, and ALPA’s current efforts to reach consensual modifications to the Nicolau Award that would survive future mergers, it's crucial that you receive and analyze all the information required in making the right decision. Too much is at stake to rely on rumors—you need the facts, and plenty of pilots were on hand Tuesday in CLT to get the facts and talk about your concerns.
Rumors are what lead me now to talk about some very serious misinformation that was recently posted on the US Airways pilots web board alleging that ALPA attorney Jeffrey Small had stated that if USAPA is voted in and the Nicolau Award has not been implemented, that the Nicolau Award will not survive.
This information is legally inaccurate and the subsequent web board posts have been very misleading. ALPA attorney Jeffrey Small not only denies ever making such a statement, he also states very clearly that:
“A change in union representation does not nullify or modify the Nicolau Award, regardless of which union serves as the bargaining representative.”
The most likely result if USAPA or any bargaining agent attempted negotiations with the Company to mitigate some of the effects of the Nicolau Award would be to secure some protective contract language; protective language that would some day be amendable. I’m sure you all share my skepticism over the permanency of any such contractual fixes. That is why the ALPA process is seeking consensual solutions with the AWA pilots that can be made a permanent part of the Award itself.
You can read what ALPA's legal counsel has to say about the renegotiation of seniority lists under the January 13th entry of What's New. It has also been emailed out to all pilots.
Also this week, as reported on the code-a-phone, the US Airways MEC three-man panel, made up of Garland Jones, Don Iorio, and Rocco Spartano, met with their AWA Steering Committee counterparts in Las Vegas and determined that sufficient common ground exists to continue discussions. With both Steering Committees agreeing upon protocols and rules of engagement, they have now agreed to meet in an extended negotiating lock–
down session that will begin next week for substantive discussions in order to address the
issues of importance to both pilot groups.
Relative to the Steering Committee, I would like to address some confusion that may
exist about previous MEC resolutions and how they relate to our current Steering
Committee activities. Our Negotiating Committee members, who are also JNC members,
are offering advice and support to the Steering Committee as is our Merger Committee.
To ensure that our Steering Committee is not restrained in any way during this process,
they enjoy full access to the expertise and technical knowledge of any and all of our
committees, including all of ALPA National’s resources. This process is simply too
important not to provide our Steering Committee with everything they need to arrive at a
solution.
If an agreement is reached by the two Steering Committees that results in a potential
comprehensive counter proposal to management, that proposal would first have to be
accepted by both MECs for JNC negotiations to resume. And consistent with our past
resolutions, that counterproposal would not only have to adequately address our issues
with the Nicolau Award, but parity and retroactive pay as well. If the proposal is found to
be acceptable, our MEC could then, through resolution, re-assign our Negotiating
Committee members back to JNC duties in order to engage in JNC negotiations with
management.
Later next week, AWA MEC Chairman John McIlvenna and I will send all AAA and
AWA pilots a letter that outlines the process both Steering Committees will be engaging
in and explains the communications protocols that both sides have already agreed to.
I'm pleased to say that both the AAA and AWA MECs are supporting this process, as is
ALPA National, both financially and through their considerable technical resources. With
the advent of these talks, we are entering an important stage for both pilot groups, and it's
necessary to give this process every chance to succeed. This may very well be our last
chance to address our seniority and contract concerns in a consensual manner.
Yesterday, MEC Vice Chairman, Kim Snider, met with ALPA’s Merger Policy Review
Committee. Kim spent a considerable amount of time detailing his experience with
mergers as well as explaining how current policy could be improved. The Committee has
also asked for my input and I will be meeting with them next month as well as attending a
meeting called by Captain Prater of the Chairmen of the largest MECs in ALPA to
discuss the current trends and events in industry consolidation.
There is no doubt that things could unfold rather quickly, so continue to look for the
latest information in the MEC code a phones, NewsDirects, Chairman's messages, and
Chairman's letters. We remain in uncharted waters but your MEC through many
meetings, long hours of hard work and debate, has taken great care to chart our course.
We are fully prepared and we ask that you stay informed and dismiss rumors for what
they are during this process.
As always, fly safe and thanks for listening.
