AOL update
05-12-2013, 11:32 AM
#881
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,240
Leonidas May 11 update
Numerous pleadings have been filed in the final days leading to the May 14th preliminary injunction hearing. Of the more notable is the Motion to Consolidate the Preliminary Injunction Hearing with a trial on the Merits (Doc 60). As outlined in that motion, the former America West Pilots (West Pilots) argued that there is no issue of material fact and that the trial on the merits should be consolidated with the preliminary injunction hearing. If the Court were to grant this motion, then Judge Silver’s decision on the preliminary injunction would be a final judgment. There are many supporting documents that reinforce our Motion including a detailed Separate Statement of Facts (Doc. 14) supported by an extensive appendix of evidence (Docs 14-1, 14-2, 14-3) along with more recently filed exhibits and their supporting declarations (Docs. 61, 61-1, 62, 62-1, 62-2, 62-3). On May 9, 2013 Defendant US Airways filed a response to our Motion to Consolidate agreeing that consolidation is appropriate but taking issue with our characterization of the MOU as an agreement between US Airways and USPA to abandon the Nicolau Award. (Doc 64).
On May 7, 2013, AMR Corporation and American Airlines, Inc. (AA) filed an Application to Intervene (Doc 56). AMR and American ask the Court to allow them intervention for limited purposes and to protect “significant interests.” AMR and American told the Court that if the Court were inclined to grant the injunctive relief requested by the West Pilots, the language proposed by the West Pilots in Doc 53-1, “would, in American’s view, be adequate to protect its interests.” (Doc 57). AMR and American also agreed with the West Pilots and US Airways that this matter is ripe for decision, specifically stating that the MOU “constitutes a collective bargaining agreement among the four parties.” (Doc. 57). There are several documents in support of their motion (Docs. 56-1, 57, 57-1, 57-2). We filed a Notice of Non-Opposition to the AMR/AA Motion (Doc 59) as did US Airways (Doc 63).
The West Pilots filed a Motion to Join Allied Pilots Association (APA) on May 8, 2013 to our case (Doc 58). With the strong likelihood that APA will be the successor union, and if we succeed in Judge Silver’s Court, joinder of APA will aid in preventing future litigation as to whether they are bound by an injunction issued here. On May 10, 2013, attorneys from James & Hoffman were granted pro hac admission to appear in front of Judge Silver on this matter.
To round out a very busy week of pleadings, on May 9, 2013 USAPA filed their Reply Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Dismiss (Doc 65). USAPA still insists that our claims are wholly without merit and Court should, as a matter of law, dismiss all our claims in their entirety. USAPA is under the belief that we bring no new facts, and that the Addington II case (the US Airways’ DJ Case) gave USAPA the green light to “majority will” over any seniority scheme they wish. The West Pilots completely disagree.
And finally, on May 10, 2013 the parties filed a Joint Status Report for Addington III containing a proposed schedule for the hearing (Doc 76). Despite two attempts to agree on a hearing agenda, agreement was not possible and the status report contains an agenda agreed to by the West Pilots and Airways’ and a separate agenda proposed by USAPA. The ultimate decision regarding the agenda will be ordered by Judge Silver. Filed with the Joint Status Report were a number of filings including exhibit lists of the three parties. Plaintiffs Exhibit List can be found in Doc 82 and USAPA’s at Doc 80. US Airways indicated it would not be filing any exhibits in connection with the May 14, 2013 hearing (Doc 81). The parties’ agreed that there would be no live witnesses at the hearing. Again, as indicated in the Motion to Consolidate, it is the position of the West Pilots that there are no issues of fact that need to be resolved by the Court, thus, there is no need to present live witnesses.
As a note, the various Addington cases have recently been renamed in the effort to use consistent nomenclature. The custom is to label a series of cases in a consistent manner (I, II, III, etc) even if the order of the parties changes from action to action. The original West Pilot Duty of Fair Representation Complaint, filed in September 2008, will be reference as Addington I, the US Airways Declaratory Judgment Complaint, filed in July 2010, will be referenced as Addington II, and the current West Pilot Declaratory Judgment Complaint, filed in March 2013, will be referenced as Addington III. The custom is also to use the less common name even if it is not the first name in the caption of the decision. Hence, ALPA v. O'Neill (the caption for the SCOTUS decision) is known as O'Neill. Simple enough.
The May 14, 2013, 10 a.m. preliminary injunction hearing is open to the public and is located at the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona, Courtroom 601. As a friendly reminder if you plan on attending it is suggested to wear, at a minimum, business casual attire. Also, please show respect to the Court by turning off all electronic devices, and our attorneys have specifically requested that we refrain from ANY vocalisations during the proceedings. The Courtroom will not be open until 9:30 a.m. and as you likely remember, the atrium can get quite warm; however, space is limited so please plan accordingly.
When the hearing is complete, there is no timetable for a ruling from the Court.
Finally, we would once again like to remind everyone of the Meet and Greet with the West attorneys scheduled for Friday, May 17, 2013 at 9 a.m. The location is the Oasis Room of the Coast Phoenix Sky Harbor Hotel, 4300 East Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85034.
We are hopefully on the eve of adjudication, and as you can see in this update alone, a tremendous amount of work is involved to bring our action in this Court. Addington III is possible because of the former America West pilots dedication and support in seeking justice to an issue that was resolved in an arbitration years ago.
Sincerely,
Leonidas, LLC
Click here to Contribute
http://www.cactuspilot.com
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On May 7, 2013, AMR Corporation and American Airlines, Inc. (AA) filed an Application to Intervene (Doc 56). AMR and American ask the Court to allow them intervention for limited purposes and to protect “significant interests.” AMR and American told the Court that if the Court were inclined to grant the injunctive relief requested by the West Pilots, the language proposed by the West Pilots in Doc 53-1, “would, in American’s view, be adequate to protect its interests.” (Doc 57). AMR and American also agreed with the West Pilots and US Airways that this matter is ripe for decision, specifically stating that the MOU “constitutes a collective bargaining agreement among the four parties.” (Doc. 57). There are several documents in support of their motion (Docs. 56-1, 57, 57-1, 57-2). We filed a Notice of Non-Opposition to the AMR/AA Motion (Doc 59) as did US Airways (Doc 63).
The West Pilots filed a Motion to Join Allied Pilots Association (APA) on May 8, 2013 to our case (Doc 58). With the strong likelihood that APA will be the successor union, and if we succeed in Judge Silver’s Court, joinder of APA will aid in preventing future litigation as to whether they are bound by an injunction issued here. On May 10, 2013, attorneys from James & Hoffman were granted pro hac admission to appear in front of Judge Silver on this matter.
To round out a very busy week of pleadings, on May 9, 2013 USAPA filed their Reply Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Dismiss (Doc 65). USAPA still insists that our claims are wholly without merit and Court should, as a matter of law, dismiss all our claims in their entirety. USAPA is under the belief that we bring no new facts, and that the Addington II case (the US Airways’ DJ Case) gave USAPA the green light to “majority will” over any seniority scheme they wish. The West Pilots completely disagree.
And finally, on May 10, 2013 the parties filed a Joint Status Report for Addington III containing a proposed schedule for the hearing (Doc 76). Despite two attempts to agree on a hearing agenda, agreement was not possible and the status report contains an agenda agreed to by the West Pilots and Airways’ and a separate agenda proposed by USAPA. The ultimate decision regarding the agenda will be ordered by Judge Silver. Filed with the Joint Status Report were a number of filings including exhibit lists of the three parties. Plaintiffs Exhibit List can be found in Doc 82 and USAPA’s at Doc 80. US Airways indicated it would not be filing any exhibits in connection with the May 14, 2013 hearing (Doc 81). The parties’ agreed that there would be no live witnesses at the hearing. Again, as indicated in the Motion to Consolidate, it is the position of the West Pilots that there are no issues of fact that need to be resolved by the Court, thus, there is no need to present live witnesses.
As a note, the various Addington cases have recently been renamed in the effort to use consistent nomenclature. The custom is to label a series of cases in a consistent manner (I, II, III, etc) even if the order of the parties changes from action to action. The original West Pilot Duty of Fair Representation Complaint, filed in September 2008, will be reference as Addington I, the US Airways Declaratory Judgment Complaint, filed in July 2010, will be referenced as Addington II, and the current West Pilot Declaratory Judgment Complaint, filed in March 2013, will be referenced as Addington III. The custom is also to use the less common name even if it is not the first name in the caption of the decision. Hence, ALPA v. O'Neill (the caption for the SCOTUS decision) is known as O'Neill. Simple enough.
The May 14, 2013, 10 a.m. preliminary injunction hearing is open to the public and is located at the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona, Courtroom 601. As a friendly reminder if you plan on attending it is suggested to wear, at a minimum, business casual attire. Also, please show respect to the Court by turning off all electronic devices, and our attorneys have specifically requested that we refrain from ANY vocalisations during the proceedings. The Courtroom will not be open until 9:30 a.m. and as you likely remember, the atrium can get quite warm; however, space is limited so please plan accordingly.
When the hearing is complete, there is no timetable for a ruling from the Court.
Finally, we would once again like to remind everyone of the Meet and Greet with the West attorneys scheduled for Friday, May 17, 2013 at 9 a.m. The location is the Oasis Room of the Coast Phoenix Sky Harbor Hotel, 4300 East Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85034.
We are hopefully on the eve of adjudication, and as you can see in this update alone, a tremendous amount of work is involved to bring our action in this Court. Addington III is possible because of the former America West pilots dedication and support in seeking justice to an issue that was resolved in an arbitration years ago.
Sincerely,
Leonidas, LLC
Click here to Contribute
http://www.cactuspilot.com
back to top
05-14-2013, 02:41 PM
#884
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2011
Position: A320 Capt
Posts: 5,299
From what I gathered she told both sides that they needed to figure something out and come back in a week or so with a plan. Told the west it did not have to be the Nicolau award. Got that from an east friend that was there, waiting to hear from a west friend that was there,and to read the transcript. Still kind of muddy.
No injunction.
No injunction.
05-14-2013, 02:43 PM
#885
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2010
Position: Doing what you do, for less.
Posts: 1,792
From what I gathered she told both sides that they needed to figure something out and come back in a week or so with a plan. Told the west it did not have to be the Nicolau award. Got that from an east friend that was there, waiting to hear from a west friend that was there,and to read the transcript. Still kind of muddy.
No injunction.
No injunction.
Hahahahaha. Right. And monkeys might fly out of my butt.
05-14-2013, 02:43 PM
#886
Da Hudge
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Poodle Whisperer
Posts: 17,473
From what I gathered she told both sides that they needed to figure something out and come back in a week or so with a plan. Told the west it did not have to be the Nicolau award. Got that from an east friend that was there, waiting to hear from a west friend that was there,and to read the transcript. Still kind of muddy.
No injunction.
No injunction.
05-14-2013, 02:49 PM
#887
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2011
Position: A320 Capt
Posts: 5,299
Maybe the transcript will bring some clarity, but it seems to me like she is throwing out one more try on a settlement and if we can't, she will issue a ruling.
Neither side has moved an inch in 7 years, I can't see them working out a deal in the months before the POR.
Neither side has moved an inch in 7 years, I can't see them working out a deal in the months before the POR.
05-14-2013, 03:41 PM
#889
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2011
Position: A320 Capt
Posts: 5,299
USAPA'S update:
USAPA Update - Addington II Hearing
The hearing in the Federal Courthouse in Phoenix, on the motion before Judge Silver this morning lasted a little more than 2 hours. The hearing was based on a series of written questions (click here to view them) presented to the parties as they walked into the courtroom for the hearing, and not the proposals made by any of the parties. There were questions for both sides about:
when the Plaintiffs DFR would be ripe for decision;
what specifically had happened since the decision that was issued last October; and
whether either side was willing to consider compromising from its position.
In particular, the Court directed the parties to discuss settlement of the seniority dispute.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Silver directed the parties to file:
(1) a status report regarding settlement discussions no later than May 21, 2013,
(2) opening briefs on whether the Court has the authority to order that the West Pilots will be a party at the McCaskill-Bond process, and
(3) responding briefs on that issue on May 24.
USAPA Update - Addington II Hearing
The hearing in the Federal Courthouse in Phoenix, on the motion before Judge Silver this morning lasted a little more than 2 hours. The hearing was based on a series of written questions (click here to view them) presented to the parties as they walked into the courtroom for the hearing, and not the proposals made by any of the parties. There were questions for both sides about:
when the Plaintiffs DFR would be ripe for decision;
what specifically had happened since the decision that was issued last October; and
whether either side was willing to consider compromising from its position.
In particular, the Court directed the parties to discuss settlement of the seniority dispute.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Silver directed the parties to file:
(1) a status report regarding settlement discussions no later than May 21, 2013,
(2) opening briefs on whether the Court has the authority to order that the West Pilots will be a party at the McCaskill-Bond process, and
(3) responding briefs on that issue on May 24.
05-14-2013, 06:18 PM
#890
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,240
It went like crap for the west. For some reason she wants aol and usapa to negotiate a new list in the next seven days and told the company to be involved. Every attorney there looked dumb founded with that order. The company proposed that MB allows for a three way and she wants to know if she has the authority to order that. She kept telling everyone that her ruling in the DJ was that the parties negotiate a new list, her order said no such thing and again the lawyers were dumbfounded. I wouldn't be to happy as usapa got reamed for basically lying to its membership, hence the short factual update you got today.
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