Sniper66

Andy no dues for H
Is the reason
Wake up and send him back flying and earn his $$$
Let's hope he does not stall a CRJ BTW

squawkoff

What ever you guys do don't go above and beyond!

How many emails has the union sent out in the past clarifying a section of the contract? I recall quite a few. But now we have a threat from a person of management and your responses? "Know your contract!"

This letter by JA sent out has opened a whole new area. If you guys just want to sit there and say "read the contract" which it sounds like your going to do then by all means do it. Let your conscience be your guide.

I just lost a $hit load of respect for you. You know who I am.

squawkoff

I was editing my last post and ran out of time looking through the contract. I may have gotten a little carried away with my unedited post.

You mean this one?

Junior Available



Your contract states that the Company may request your assistance for uncovered flying by telling you that you are “Junior Assigned” or the most junior pilot available. The term available implies that you must first determine whether you are available to help the Company with uncovered flying. Please know that the term available extends beyond the length of the trip and your original schedule.
If you are available, the flying will be assigned a JRA code for pay purposes and you will be paid at a 200 percent premium. If you are not available, you are under no obligation to accept the assignment even if the Company states the trip has already posted to your schedule.
Reserve pilots: You are allowed to determine whether you are available to accept a trip that extends into your days off.
For full text of contract sections and further discussion of “junior available” please click here.

I went through the current contract page by page and the only place I could find anything about JA is once on page 3-5 under premium pay, page 12-2 about self check in, page GS-14 in a letter to crew trackers and it uses the term "junior assign" when it should be "junior available. Where in the contract does it say that you don't have to accept it? I'd like to know so I can quote them page and paragraph when they try to strong arm me. Where does it say the proper way to notify you? I really want to know. You say know your contract and I'm trying.

And where in the contract does it talk about the company sabataging your future plans if you're not in good standing?

MagPBS

You keep linking me with the MEC like I have any say or control over what is or isn't sent out. Yes, I work FOR the union , but I not on the MEC.

I have no say in what does or does not go into the hotline (outside of scheduling pieces). So blaming me for what is or isn't said is like blaming your Flight Attendant for a bumpy ride.

If you have issue with your union leaders, I suggest you actually talk to them. I know most of them (and this is not limited to Mesa as I talk with union people from other airlines) avoid the forums like the plague. I on the otherhand saw incorrect information and outed myself to fix it. I have stepped outside of scheduling on occasion to share what I've learned from working within a union for the better part of a decade. But I have done this all on my own.

And while you read the letter as a threat, I can tell you that it wouldn't stand up in any kind of court as such. It's an implication that you choose to read into it.

Did Erik mean to insult Spirit, Atlas and Allegiant?
Did Spirit, Atlas & Allegiant read into his statement as insults?
Look how well that played out.

Disagree with me all you want. I will be the first to say that not everyone can agree on everything all the time. But to say I'm not doing enough for this pilot group (which you do by complaining about the MEC and using the words "you" repeatedly) is outright wrong and insulting.

squawkoff

You are correct about staying off the message boards but it's like a real bad car wreck. You really, really don't want to look but you have to.

1. I'm not blaming you for the MECs response or lack there of. You responded with "know your contract" and I'm asking you (I assume you are very familiar with the contract) where in the contract it says you don't have to accept a JA? Just a page number would do. I'm asking where in the contract says the proper way to notify a pilot of a JA? I'm still asking that. As far as communication from the union you have far more pull in what is communicated than I do. I assume you have spoken to AH at some point in your tenure here at Mesa? I never have. First time I saw him was at the picketing event at DFW and I had to ask who he was.

2. I assume the chain of command is LEC85 and then the MEC. When I click on LEC85 on the MAG ALPA PAGE I see you are the treasurer. Your screen name is MAGPBS. I assume you have a position of leadership/authority. When I get a letter from LEC85 it has your name at the bottom. You are on these boards willing to communicate. I guess I was wrong. My apologies.

3. You may not have read the letter as a threat but I and many others did. But I will add that if an accusation was made in court that Mesa sabatoged a persons ability to move to another company do you think this letter would have any bearing on the case? I do. We'll have to agree to disagree.

4. Just spoke to an individual from Mesa who was just hired by Spirit in the last week so I don't think we're black balled.

5. I never said or even implied you don't do enough. Maybe you are just as guilty of reading something into my responses as you stated I was with the letter from JA. I was irritated by your flippant (it seemed flippant to me) response of "know your contract" and "how much handholding" comment. Also the hotline of March 17th didn't give any references to the section of the union contract it was referring to.

The problem is I'm getting frustrated with what is going on or isn't going on here at Mesa. Between the letter from the MEC that says we need to look at other areas of compensation etc. and the countdown to the counter offer which was extremely disappointing, to this letter from JS to the 5 or 6 year contract negotiations, I'm not optimistic that we are making any progress to make this a pleasant place to work. I'm not seeing any light at all down the tunnel.

I'm still asking where in the contract it gives guidance on JA. I really, really want to know. Since I'm a P2P volunteer I would like to advise others of what their rights are under the contract. If it's in the contract I can't find it.

WisJudge

Really? You know this how?
Do you think implied or veiled threats are viewed in isolation and not in the totality of circumstances?


MagPBS: "but if one wants to be a professional and treated like a professional and paid like a professional. ONE HAS TO BE PROFESSIONAL.”

An unprofessional act was enough of a rarity within the pilot group that in 14 months I was never witness to one. And so rare that I heard of only a couple of issues. But I'll play this line just for fun:

Scenario:
Every pilot and FA at Mesa acts with 100% professionalism in perpetuity, goes the extra mile for Mesa 24/7/365, sacrifices every second of their free time for Mesa's benefit. Zero absentees. Zero personal days. Zero FMLA. Every second of open time covered voluntarily.

Mesa would:
A) reward those efforts with greater pay
B) find some way to keep pay as low as possible and try to milk the flight crews for more

Please!

squawkoff

Worse than that. It would become status quo.

MagPBS

And for most line pilots that what they see. I unfortunately see the emails that schedule disciplinary meetings, so I get to see the bad stuff a lot more often. And that's also what the company is looking at. They don't see all the good stuff 90% of us do, they see the stupid stuff a small portion of us do.

In no particular order and without details but lately we've had pilots get called in for:
-Inappropriate comments made in public in front of passengers.
-Inappropriate social media posts in public.
-Inappropriate appearance in public.
-And just plain not showing up to work.

Unfortunately as is the case with most things in life, it's the small minority that makes the vast majority look bad.


I'm not advocating that everyone pickup open time (FOR THE RECORD: I'm not advocating anyone NOT pickup open time either). I'm responding to my take on the companies email based on the stuff I said above.

I realize I was commenting based on knowledge I have that most don't. So I apologize for that, cuz yea it makes my statements come off way differently then I meant.

I'm advocating for common sense and a little bit of pride in the JOB (that being of professional pilot). Regardless of company drama, the JOB requires a certain level of respect from everyone.

MagPBS

The Sec/Tres position is required by National, but at our level it's largely a title only. We're not part of the MEC and don't do much on the LEC level. And obviously based on the Erik email issue, aren't included in the discussions of anything sent out.

My job is basically to approve cell phone bills and pay for the LEC meetings when they happen. I've done more on an LEC level this last month then I have in the 3 years I've been an "elected" officer.

Most of my union knowledge and experience comes from holding many different jobs over the years here and the amount of time I use to spend in PHX doing schedules. You learn a lot just sitting in the MEC offices.

squawkoff

MAGPBS, I'm asking your opinion since you have the inside track in disciplinary action.

When a customer engages me in a conversation, I ask them how much do they think I get paid. The normal response is $70k/yr and up. Would it be inappropriate to show them a picture of my 2016 W2? I'm not lying or misrepresenting the truth. It is fact of how much I don't get paid. I made a little over $24k and that is with no dropped trip and missing 1 turn because of sick.

I emailed LR our contract administrator for the guidance of where the contract gets into detail about JA.