Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

I don't form my opinions based on talking to people. I form my opinions based on what I see.

I will say, though, that I've had quite a few folks (who are lurkers here) comment to me about you, ACL. These same folks used to sing your praises a few years ago. Several of them (without me saying anything first) have commented on how you've changed and basically become an ALPA official talking points mouthpiece. They are not impressed. And neither am I.

Originally Posted by Carl Spackler

No ALPA president would NEED to refuse to sign. You just need to threaten to withhold expertise, and funding. Lee has been extremely clear (in writing) that ALPA national will use ALL ITS RESOURCES to ensure future pilot contracts are not "self-serving", but rather reflect what is best for the pilot profession "as a whole." These are Lee's words. From those words and his history, I think it is clear that Lee will define what is best for the profession as a whole.

Carl

Originally Posted by gloopy

Speaking of "meet and confer", have we?

Originally Posted by gloopy

If not, when will we? And what will be said?

Originally Posted by gloopy

Will it be kept super top secret so that other MEC's know what we're planning but our own pilot group will not know?

Originally Posted by gloopy

Or will "meet and confer" and all the other focus group mandates after meet and confer (assuming there is no "agreement") apply additional pressure for us to keep a broken status quo so as to not expose ourselves to liability from a conflict of interest?

Originally Posted by gloopy

We need to follow up constantly on who is meeting and what is conferring and when and why.

Originally Posted by Carl Spackler

The lurkers I fly with say the same thing about acl. My last crew says he's simply out to prove his worth to the MEC after he was viciously attacked in his election run. He learned that an appointed position on the MEC is where the real power lies. Not to mention 90 plus hours on the highest category you can hold and staying on full flight pay loss if you wish to not fly. In order to get one of those appointments, it requires a show of total and unwavering loyalty.

I think they're right.

Carl

Originally Posted by acl65pilot

So do I. Ask yourself why a guy like me who wants change so badly within ALPA is fighting to keep ALPA and did not jump in to the DPA ring?



People can disagree. It is very hard to shoot inside the circle and discuss what we discussed a few years ago. Why? Because you and others are trying to de-certify the union. You many think that my desire for change with ALPA has changed, but it has not. What is different is I disagree with the premise of voting out ALPA. I have long since stated that I want to fix what we have. Many think it is too broke to fix, but the reality is that changing bargaining agents right now concerns me for many reasons. First, without a true plan of action, there is nothing that I can compare to what we have, Second, it is a lot harder than changing a name plate, Third, the timing and the world we live in is just not right for this, Fourth, the notion that a new agent would be cheaper and would be able to better represent us is woefully overestimated. The costs are going to be a lot more than you think.

If DPA or another independent group is a failure, you will not get to come back in to the fold like FDX did. It is a one way street and there will be no going back. For that reason, my position is that we need to be very careful about this. There will be no ability to act on buyers remorse. If you want to discuss what we talked about a little over two years ago, stop the dive to kick ALPA out. My position is the same on those issues as it was two years ago. Fix what needs fixing within ALPA. It is what I have been working on for the last two years. Sorry if I am not touting on here about that work. Increasing leverage, writing resolutions, and presenting case arguments to those that can make the decisions is where my effort has been going. If the pilots that put in their cards for DPA would reengage in the process, you may actually see more success in that regard. Problem is the, check and balance is not there.

Oh and a tidbit that came out of the MEC open session about the FT/DT. The President (White House one not Lee) himself is the reason for the cargo cutout. There is not one thing anyone could have done about that. It is about money and support for November.

Originally Posted by FedElta

Sorry to pile on, but.........what gives you the "divine light" to state that DAL would not be allowed back in ALPA if they left , like FDX was.......I'm pretty sure I didn't see you during that process.

BG

Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

Once again, the discussion is turned to DPA. Isn't there a whole thread dedicated to that topic?

Why does it always come down to that, ACL? I thought we were debating the merits of ALPA's objective (or lack thereof).

It's really interesting how the ALPA aficionados bring up DPA more than the DPA aficionados do? Weird!

Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

Once again, the discussion is turned to DPA. Isn't there a whole thread dedicated to that topic?

Why does it always come down to that, ACL? I thought we were debating the merits of ALPA's objective (or lack thereof).

It's really interesting how the ALPA aficionados bring up DPA more than the DPA aficionados do? Weird!