Captain Tom,
I have a question for you. Would you agree or disagree that when the Union and the Company are in negotiations that ALL sections of the contract are open and that changes can be made to said sections? Or are there sections of the contract that cannot be changed?
An example of what I am referring to would be Section 22 of the ALPA contracts of both the East and the West, the section regarding seniority and how that seniority shall be applied.
Section 22 of the AWA contract states “Seniority of a Pilot shall begin on the Pilot’s Date
of Hire.â€
Section 22 of the US Airways contract states “The Pilots' System Seniority List, as established by the Award of Arbitrator S. Kagel dated October 31, 1988, shall constitute the official Pilots' System Seniority List. (Kagel was the arbitrator in the USAir and Piedmont merger)
As you can see, even though both contracts were APLA sanctioned, they differ greatly in the language and documents referenced for establishing a pilots relative position for the purposes of promotion, demotion, retention in the case of furlough, etc., etc.
If the West’s position were to be taken, it would in essence say that Section 22 (or the equivalent) has already been decided and that it cannot be changed.
IMHO, I believe that all sections are open (including seniority) to negotiations. No where that I know of says that USAPA must reference any particular document concerning seniority, including the Nic award. The Nic award in the new contract will simply not be referenced at all.
Ready, fire, aim!
Joe
