Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?
08-02-2011, 08:54 PM
Da Hudge
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Poodle Whisperer
Posts: 17,473
08-02-2011, 09:11 PM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Position: 765-A
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08-02-2011, 09:18 PM
The Brown Dot +1
Joined APC: Jun 2009
Position: 777B
Posts: 7,775
When does DAL take delivery of all of the 90s we are getting from china? I saw one there in chinese paint the other day.
08-03-2011, 01:36 AM
Back on TDY
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: 747-400 Captain
Posts: 12,487
It's been difficult to listen to alfaromeo, slowplay, pineapple etc slam the Seham law firm. I'm hoping we can take most of this to the DPA thread now that it is back in the Majors. But I really need to respond to just a portion of the non-stop garbage from our usual suspects.
Lee and Marty Seham run the firm that DPA is using for the card drive. They are an extremely sharp group of attorneys, and we are lucky to have them on our side as opposed to management having them. While it is currently fashionable to slam the Seham firm because they have been such a thorn in ALPA's side, I just thought some might enjoy this note to Marty Seham. It was from three pilots from Continental's old union. One of the signatures is that of John Prater...former president of ALPA.
Carl
Lee and Marty Seham run the firm that DPA is using for the card drive. They are an extremely sharp group of attorneys, and we are lucky to have them on our side as opposed to management having them. While it is currently fashionable to slam the Seham firm because they have been such a thorn in ALPA's side, I just thought some might enjoy this note to Marty Seham. It was from three pilots from Continental's old union. One of the signatures is that of John Prater...former president of ALPA.
Carl
08-03-2011, 01:39 AM
Back on TDY
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: 747-400 Captain
Posts: 12,487
Here's another one from someone who used the Seham firm for a high profile incident.
Carl
Carl
08-03-2011, 01:42 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,462
Lee and Marty Seham run the firm that DPA is using for the card drive. They are an extremely sharp group of attorneys, and we are lucky to have them on our side as opposed to management having them. While it is currently fashionable to slam the Seham firm because they have been such a thorn in ALPA's side, I just thought some might enjoy this note to Marty Seham. It was from three pilots from Continental's old union. One of the signatures is that of John Prater...former president of ALPA.
Carl
Carl
I get it.
08-03-2011, 03:51 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2008
Position: A330
Posts: 216
08-03-2011, 04:13 AM
Back on TDY
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: 747-400 Captain
Posts: 12,487
Typical that you would ignore the accolades bestowed upon the Seham firm by the former ALPA president John Prater. How do you explain such a note Pineapple Guy?
Carl
08-03-2011, 04:39 AM
Line Holder
Joined APC: Mar 2011
Posts: 50
APA is currently doing roadshows that are telling their pilots about current status of negotiations. They are telling their pilots to plan on a TA by fall with rates similar to FedEx.
Guess we will see....
If this pans out for APA... DPA will probably get alot more cards this fall!
Guess we will see....
If this pans out for APA... DPA will probably get alot more cards this fall!
You Should Have the Final Say
I want to use this opportunity to briefly recap what we said we would do if elected—versus what we have done during the past year—and also discuss a very serious situation that has developed.
During the campaign, we committed ourselves to being as transparent as possible about what we planned to do. So how closely have we adhered to the plan we presented?
We said we would develop a more professional, business-like relationship with AMR management—we have.
We said we would seek to establish a better relationship between APA and the American Airlines Flight Department—and we have.
We said we would foster a much closer working relationship with other pilot unions in the United States and around the world—and we have.
We said we would run APA like a business, taking great care in our handling of the membership’s money—and we have. In our first year alone, we saved more than $2 million through careful cost control.
We said we would establish productive relationships with the security analysts, institutional investors and others with a financial interest in AMR—and we have. As a result of this initiative, APA’s credibility on Wall Street has increased significantly and I now regularly receive invitations to provide the pilots’ point of view at various industry forums organized by financial institutions. There are many strategic reasons why these financial community relationships are important to APA’s pilots.
I said I would move my family to Texas (joining Tony and Scott) so I could be available to APA and its members 24/7—and I have.
We said we would hire a professional negotiator—and we did. Thanks to the bridges we built with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), we were able to access the expertise of Mr. Seth Rosen, the country’s most experienced pilot-side Railway Labor Act negotiator who is known and respected around the world. We also contracted with ALPA’s Economic and Financial Analysis group to bolster our quantitative analysis capabilities to support our negotiating goals, a further byproduct of the closer working relationship between our two unions.
When Tony, Scott and I campaigned last year, we identified getting the contract we all deserve as our No. 1 priority. Our assessment was that “we have little chance of negotiating a restorative contract without a professional business relationship with AA management.” Despite what some naysayers assert, we have made significant progress during the past few months because of our willingness to engage management and effectively express the concerns of AA’s pilots. Thanks primarily to the lines of communications we established with management, your National Officers have been included in discussions about major corporate decisions such as aircraft purchases and other future plans.
While I share your frustration with the time it has taken, I believe we had finally set a course to accomplishing our No. 1 priority. Unfortunately, our contractual efforts have now been seriously jeopardized by the actions of a few APA domicile representatives. In an inflammatory e-mail message to the BOS Domicile last week, BOS Domicile Chairman Captain Steve Bacon alleges that ALPA has “screwed” APA (and ALPA’s own members) with respect to various legislative and regulatory issues—an allegation that is flat-out wrong. He also impugns the integrity and motivation of Mr. Rosen and ALPA’s Economic and Financial Analysis Group for recouping the cost of providing their professional services to APA. Compounding the insult, LGA Domicile Chairman Captain Pete Oborski endorsed Captain Bacon’s missive by forwarding it to the LGA pilots and Captain Steve Roach directed his members to it as “a good read.”
In response to this unwarranted attack, ALPA has notified me that they are withdrawing their service agreement with APA and withdrawing Mr. Rosen from assisting with negotiations. ALPA has likewise indicated that their Economic and Financial Analysis personnel will no longer participate in our negotiations. ALPA President Captain Lee Moak confirmed termination of the service agreement between APA and ALPA in an Aug. 1, 2011 letter (attached).
So, not only is the APA-ALPA cooperative relationship now seriously damaged, but our ongoing contract negotiations have also been adversely affected. Simultaneously losing Mr. Rosen’s expertise and the quantitative analysis capabilities of ALPA Economic and Financial Analysis represents a major setback.
In addition, Mr. Rosen and ALPA have close ties to the National Mediation Board (NMB), which may interpret this latest development as an indication that the APA leadership is in disarray and unprepared to see negotiations through to their conclusion. The NMB has repeatedly expressed concern that APA’s governing documents severely inhibit the APA President from exercising strong leadership. Additionally, the NMB is well aware of the unwillingness of some domicile representatives to permit our Negotiating Committee from effectively engaging with management’s negotiators. Before I hired Mr. Rosen, the NMB Chairman recommended that we retain someone like him to help get our house in order. The NMB Chairman also stated that if the APA Board of Directors continued to act irrationally—and if our union continued without a singular leader empowered to make decisions—the NMB would “park” APA for an extended period. If the NMB were to take that step, we would likely be unable to get a release to self-help for years to come.
Where does this leave us? Before we took office, it had become evident to our membership and to outside observers that APA was internally dysfunctional and unable to complete the process of negotiating and ratifying a contract. Much of this dysfunction was unfairly attributed to the previous National Officers, when in fact it was structural. Just as we began making meaningful progress at the bargaining table, Messrs. Bacon, Roach and Oborski have dealt APA a serious self-inflicted wound that may prove disastrous to our bargaining efforts. It is no coincidence that these three individuals have been actively seeking for some time to undermine your current National Officers.
We have worked very hard to build bridges to other pilot unions across the globe. Now, due to the actions of a few APA domicile representatives, many of those bridges are on fire. Because of flaws in APA’s governing structure, your National Officers unfortunately cannot prevent this kind of destructive behavior. During the past 15 years, the APA Constitution and Bylaws and Policy Manual have undergone more than 100 different revisions sponsored by various domicile representatives (often inexperienced) as reactions to particular events. Many of these changes were haphazard and poorly thought out, with the National Officers having had no vote in their adoption. This accumulation of faulty policymaking limits the National Officers’ ability to govern and has produced chronic dysfunction, providing fertile ground for conflict and disunity.
Our membership voted decisively in the most recent constitutional referendum to retain the right to directly elect their National Officers. What most of our members don’t realize is there has been a concerted effort by some of the same domicile representatives responsible for the current crisis to undermine our ability to govern at all—in effect, subverting the will of the membership who elected us to represent them. The three of us have had to spend enormous time and energy dealing with unproductive internal conflict, diverting resources that should be devoted to advancing the membership’s interests.
We have concluded that the best prospect for salvaging negotiations is to appeal to you, the membership, for help. It is our intention to pursue every avenue available to us, including a possible membership referendum to amend the APA Constitution and Bylaws, to ensure greater transparency and empower our members with the final say on how our union is governed.
When Tony, Scott and I asked you to entrust us with the responsibility of leading APA, we stressed the importance of “unity of leadership.” The APA leadership must speak with one voice to be effective at the bargaining table, on Capitol Hill and in the other critical venues where we represent your interests. Right now we are not speaking with one voice and the APA Board of Directors is in disarray, which is costing us dearly. We need to act swiftly and decisively to remedy the problem.
If, like us, you are shocked and disgusted at the damage caused by a minority of the APA Board of Directors, we suggest you contact your domicile representatives to inform them of your displeasure. We promise to keep you closely informed as this situation unfolds.
Thank you for your patience and continued support.
In unity,
Captain Dave Bates, APA President
First Officer Anthony Chapman, APA Vice President
First Officer Scott Shankland, APA Secretary-Treasurer
08-03-2011, 05:21 AM
Moderator
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: B757/767
Posts: 13,088
Wow. APA's dysfunction is not good for us. 
I hope they are almost done negotiating.
I hope they are almost done negotiating.
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