Denny Crane

In Bellevue on the eastside of Lake Washington in the Seattle area.

Denny

chuck416

Hi Tsquare,
I (think I) agree with you. I'm cynically optimistic with our current union. But I swear, If the reps come to us, the membership, with anything less than an opener of approximately a 50% raise, PLUS improvements in scope, I'm sending in my card to DPA, and getting vocal WRT supporting same. If the negotiating strategy is 15-25% payraise, that is merely a continuance of a bankruptcy contract. Our union had better get this right, the first time. By all accounts, anybody on this property >15 years (12 year payscale), captain or Jr wide-body copilot, has given the company approximately 300K in wages over the last 6 years. Enough of bankruptcy wages & contracts.

ExAF

4 of those? Are you talking little white fluff balls or REAL dogs? When it comes to theft deterence, there is a difference you know.

slowplay

How did scope get introduced into a question about electing a negotiating committee? Seems like some are looking to sow drama where there is none.

Your questions were already answered on the DALPA forum, and I believe you've logged on since it was posted. No and No.

Line pilots should always provide input to their elected reps. That's how the system works....12,000 + inputs into a collective decision made by the elected representatives. Then the pilot group gets to vote.

Denny Crane

Thanks Ferd. I'm kind of thinking it might have been one or two teenage girls with a crowbar. Both the cop and I were wondering why the didn't just break the glass in the door (it's got an almost full length glass panel in it). It had to take them awhile to get in judging by the damage to the door. Then it seems like they made a beeline for my wifes stuff and bypassed much more lucrative booty! Some of her dresser drawers were open along with a drawer on her nightstand and makeup table. The only things we can find missing I have mentioned before. Heck, this netbook I'm typing from was sitting on the kitchen counter!!!

It seems to me this breakin was VERY unorganized which leads me to believe it was a couple of kids. I'm just shocked at the stuff they didn't take that was laying around. They are going to be very disappointed with the value if they try to fence anything!!

One of these days I'll get over to NRT when you are there!

Denny

Check Essential

You know why scope is always at issue. People don't trust ALPA on the issue.
Simple as that.

Yeah, but I logged on and read your answers on that forum AFTER posting the same question on this one.
Anyway, thanks for the straight answer.

forgot to bid

Denny, I am sorry that happened.

forgot to bid

alfaromeo

My answer is that this is just more mudslinging. We do not have some hardline faction vs. a more flexible group. Anyone that thinks or acts like there are factions or sub groups on the MEC is wrong headed and needs to change their thinking. There are just ideas and ideas differ.

TSquare wants longevity based pay and I don't. Do we have to get into personal attacks where he is socialist and I am fascist or he is hard line and I am flexible? Can it just be that we have different ideas, we debate the merits, the group decides and then we move on as a team.

Think about any team that is effective. What do you think when you see a sports team give interviews after the game when the offense blames the defense and the defense blames the offense and the coach claims the team isn't following his instructions. Do you think, "Wow that is an effective team that is bound for success"? Or do you think, "That is a group getting ready to implode"? What would you think of a Captain you are flying with that starts to blame you for every delay and every bump you encounter in your flights. Great leader or loser passing the buck?

Look at effective organizations and you will never see an effective organization that spends any time at all playing the blame game or spewing out their personal fears and questions in public. Some say this is Nazi like regimentation of opinion but that is hogwash. Effective organizations play out their differences in private and then move forward as a team. No public handwringing, no second guessing, move forward as one. If this MEC can't get that together then we are done for.

This doesn't mean you don't step back and evaluate where you are going and change direction when necessary. The average time between today and election for most of these MEC members is less than 2 years. That means that the pilots have chosen their representatives, they represent the democratic will of the group and they are the legitimate leaders of our union. I expect them to work out their differences as a group, in private as much as possible, and then move on. That is how I feel about this issue at hand. Let the MEC work out their issues and then move on.

If some think that trying to tar and feather people based on rumors and gossip mongering will make us stronger, then they are sadly mistaken. We are facing a group that will always present a unified front and if we continue to play these stupid games where silly human pride wins out over supporting the team, we WILL GET RUN OVER. Like you read about.

You can take a dart and throw it at the seniority list and pick out the first three guys who the dart lands on and make them your negotiating committee. Give them some training and put a strong unified team behind them and they will succeed. Find the best three negotiators in the universe and have them work for a divided, bickering group that trashes each other when their silly human pride gets in the way and they will fail. 100% of the time. Find any negotiator in any business and they will tell you the same thing.

Ball Breaker

Alfa,
Should be keep an open mind about relaxing scope?

Should we absolutely rule out any relaxation in scope and make it public?

Reasonable people can disagree on some items, but relaxing scope any further is just not reasonable period!