Low & Slow

I'd agree with you there!

I think there are different shades of gray depending on the issue within ALPA.

Issues like the age 60 rule are divisive within ALPA, but it's easy to transfer culpability by claiming that ALPA was acting to make the best of bad situation.

These external issues typically involve stakeholders outside of the association. FAA, DOT, DOJ, NMB, and airlines to name a few. These are entities outside the control of ALPA and typically involve negotiations between ALPA and other players.

On the contrary, ALPA IT & Communications is a completely internal operational product. Herndon cannot shift culpability of a substandard comm platform. This is strictly an internal issue that Herndon bares full responsibility to provide and maintain under current Bylaws.

ALPA pays more than one million per year in salary to IT staffers who use free software to produce ALPA.org.

My question to ALPA members is: are you getting your money's worth?

TheDashRocks

I mean no harm at all to the messenger. You clearly have expertise in the area of communication, particularly the internet. I have no such expertise and therefore cannot defend ALPA on this issue.

In my experience, the communication I have received from ALPA is timely and effective. You have described areas and methods where ALPA could improve. I have no reason to doubt you. My only question, is it most effective to criticise ALPA here or offer them your help?

SEA 737

I'm pretty sure I know the author and you can be assured that he has done a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to bring this issue to the attention of those who have the power to actually do something about it. His exhortations have largely fallen on deaf ears. ALPA is a very large and complex political organization and moving it is like turning an oil tanker. ALPA's IT is YEARS behind but with people like Paul Rice and John Prater, who, when I asked him what he was going to do about the IT situation told me, and this is his exact quote "I don't even know how to turn on my computer," You get what you get. There is no lack of funds and no lack of expertise. The people over there are generally top notch and very good at what they do. It is a matter of commitment and desire to move from the 20th century to the 21st century, and that hasn't happened - and won't with the likes of Paul ("Information is bad") Rice in power.

Don't shoot the messenger. If this is the same guy, he has tried and pushed as hard as any member can. I tried from the "inside" and was met with the same resistance. Look to the top. That is where the real logjam is and will continue to be as long as the ALPA BOD is held hostage by this crowd.

737

Low & Slow

Membership resolutions will create change, one guy storming the castle won't do squat. This post is meant to inform (and allow me to vent!), and if other members feel the same way resolutions should follow.

Prater visted my domicile during his "first 100 days" tour and when asked about online communications and the ALPA.org web site, he claimed "..I don't even know how to turn on my computer..." and then went on to pre-scripted talking points. Since then, he's proven he doesn't "get it" in terms of how powerful and affordable new media can be, we're talking about FAR more than email lists.

My point is to call BS on Prater with his Feb. 2009 Air Line Pilot article and highlite his promises so that the membership will hold him accountable. Like most politicians however, his column was full of feel good fuzzy-talk that lacks any hint of a specific action plan with details of what, exactly, will be improved.

My contention is that he doesn't get it.

Low & Slow

That should remove any doubt!

SEA 737

Knew it! Going to have to change my sign on here next month. Headed east.

LeeFXDWG

I'll agree with your statement but remind you that Natl endorses the contracts.

Until there is a paradigm shift at the the Natl Union on minimum payrates for equipment type, work rules, etc, Natl promotes the destruction of the profession when they endorse a substandard contract.

Time for the "union" to act like one and establish minimum compensation and benefit levels requisite to the responsibilities of being an airline pilot. That is what a union does rather than ensuring it's own future beyond all else.

Lee

TheDashRocks

Any organization of human beings will have some flaws, ALPA included. I sometimes get edgey when ALPA is criticised in a public forum because I believe in unionism and in their long term goals. Does having this discussion here increase the chance that ALPA will improve in the way you wish? Does it give more fuel to the knee-jerk, "ALPA sucks" crowd? A question I ask myself, "is valid criticism best aired internally or in front of the general public?" I do not spend much time on the ALPA website, but I believe they have forums. Would that be a better place to discuss your concerns?

Families often fight, and they often choose not to air their dirty laundry. I am not bashing your choice to discuss this here, I am just asking if this is the best place and your best chance to get the result you want? I hope someday soon you have the opportunity to use your expertise to help our union.

Low & Slow

The point of my thread is that ALPA DOES NOT present a usable media outlet or web forum to allow internal dialog that moves the union's democratic process. This would be business as usual, although the ALPA President took the opportunity in the Feb. 2009 issue of Air Line Pilot magazine to claim ALPA IT and communications "will continue leading the way in communicating with its members". I contend that the ALPA President's claim has no basis in reality.

I would love to have this discussion "in house", but if there was adequate usable infrastructure, there would be no need for this thread.

So, I hope this thread will bring awareness to a broader cross-section of the membership that:

a.) ALPA's IT and Communications departments are extrodinarily expensive relative to the value they offer to the membership. The salaried staff and hardware resources ALPA has relative to the communications value provided to the membership at the line level borders on gross negligence.

b.) ALPA's IT infrastructure is not a usable platform for councils to effectively self-publish. This is a huge issue as ALPA is a democratic organization, yet the tools to foster change and communications at the grassroots level does not exist for a wired, online pilot membership. Remember that the print shop is closed, ALPA communications are online delivery, Airline Pilot Magazine, or nothing.

c.) Change comes from the grassroots. If you want change, it's going to take local council resolutions. It's going to take resolutions from council large and small, and it's going to take effort from all ALPA members to create this change.

As for me, I've spent 10 years working this issue from the pilot side and I understand issue better than most. I've also found that banging your head against the wall burns calories, and I've lost a lot of weight. I'm done working this behind the scenes, I'm done volunteering. ALPA employs a highly compensated staff that has the tools, time, and ability to provide the promised IT infrastructure.

The question is this: Will ALPA's membership hold the association accountable to be a good steward of dues dollars and do more with less?

fireman0174

My time there is a while ago, but I'll second that about ALPA's IT staff and certainly also about "information is bad" Paul.