An email from a US Airways pilot to the AWA MEC
(posted with permission from the author)
I think you need to read my post again. I am not asking you to make me whole. I am telling you what it will cost you to buy my seniority number. You are the gentleman that have tied my seniority issue to a financial one. It is you that is telling us that you will not "allow" our new management to bring us up to pay parity unless we accept this abortion of an arbitration. That is called extortion and blackmail. No sir, you are as much to blame as all the others you mentioned. Add yourself to that list because we have.
I made the absurd request in an effort to show you that we will not be bought off so easily. You want my job, you will have to pay for it. By your actions in the last week, you may have permanently poisoned the atmosphere here.
The essence of seniority is date of hire. It is ALPA National's fault that it is not a part of our union seniority policy. They caved into special interest groups and changed an age old policy. However, just because ALPA National does not have the courage to put in place a policy that protects all our careers, does not mean we should roll over and allow our careers to be destroyed. Date of Hire with fences should have been implemented. It is now the US Airways pilots here in the East that has put a backbone back into ALPA National. ALPA understands what this award means and what will happen if they do certify it. That is the message they have sent you, but you are so greedy that you are ignoring that message.
You should be ashamed or yourself for either not knowing the truth about the union you represent or are you just putting out lies to justify this behavior. US Airways MEC voted against changing the Date of Hire merger policy at ALPA National when it was changed in 1991. It was United and Delta along with Northwest that voted to change the rules. If you are going to spread this crap, get it right before you do. I understand from some of your pilots that your MEC credibility is near zero. Now I know why.
No one I know wants to take a job away from an AWA pilot. But it is quite evident that you want to take mine away, so you will have to pay for it. Your message that we will make an additional $15,766.00 per year is a joke. But you set the price. I upped the ante.
As I said, you guys won a small battle with arbitration, but as you will find out, you will loose the war with integration. I will wager a bet that in the end, we will be the winners and you will be the losers. But the biggest winner will be management because we will now block any attempt you will have to get a raise and the flying will naturally come to the side with the lowest costs.
Nothing in my experiance here has galvanized the pilots as this has. Not losing our retirement. Not losing our pay. The one thing I have counted on since the day I was hired was my seniority. That is where we draw a line in the sand. I truly believe that the frustration we have had here for 20 years is about to show it's ugly head with your MEC in it's sights. In this case, I'd rather be on this side of the argument then on yours since I can see where this is headed.
Let's see how the AWA pilots do with a much larger, much more united US Airways pilots group that your MEC has declared war on. Your behavior with regard to parity pay is irreprehensible and it is something this pilot group will neither forgive or forget.
As a gesture to you, I will say, I hope when you are ready to check out, management does not merge your airline with another and you lose any chance you had to check out because the guy senior to you was 10 yrs old when you were hired. Maybe then, you will remember how you tried to screw your fellow pilots here at US Airways.
By the way. It is not a new airline. I work for the same airline I have since we merged in 1989. Same name. Same airplanes. Same domiciles. Same crappy management. Nothing has changed except a group we merged with now wants my job. That is something new.
You did not mention the fairness of the award or the fact that much of it was based on erroneous information (ie: using the wrong uncertified pilot list). I realize you cannot defend the indefensible, so you want ALPA to hold their noses, look the other way and then certify the list. Let them. Between your MEC and ALPA National, this will ensure that we throw this union out and create one that will benefit those of us that have been here the longest since we are the largest block.
I wonder if you guys understand what you have wrought?
No longer in solidarity,
XXXXX
