zoooropa

The RAH pilots deserve much more than what the IBT has provided for them.

Your IBT leaders decided to halt Contract negotiations for over two years during the SLI arbitration. Meanwhile, multiple other regionals began to file for Bankruptcy as profit margins shrunk and 50 seat flying became less and less viable. Every day of self imposed delay slowly eroded your negotiating leverage.

Your IBT leaders decided to only open Four Articles of your CBA. Only one of those articles has been "TA'd". That is one Article TA'd since 2007.

Your were led to believe that you would be potentially going on strike in the winter of 2011.

You were led to believe that Jetblue rates were a possibility for the 190 flying.

Your IBT leaders turned down an FO raise.

You were led to believe that you would be released last year, remember when Craig said he wouldn't ask to be released if he didn't already know the answer.

Now, for the first time since this debacle began, your expectations are being set for the first time...Horizon pay rates minus any rigs, no cancellation pay and no cancellation pay. Keep in mind, your Union proceeded to counter their own Horizon counter two days after they presented it to the Company. It was that counter that motivated the Mediator to put an end to the madness.

I have bad news for you gents. Remember that FO pay raise that the Company offered way back when? Guess how much that pay raise costs the Co every year? Go read your NC update again and you will see the $6 MM already budgeted. That leaves $6 MM on the table.

The Co provided what could be called their Last Best (they didn't say that but you are very close). The Union countered twice, and the Mediator shut it down.

Now the finger pointing has begun...

The NC update started with one short sentence..."Mediation has Failed". The very next sentence was essentially "but it is not OUR fault!"

One of the IBT's loudest supporters on this board has just thrown your E Board and NC under the bus...

Keep in mind, this is the same ATCsaiddowhat that wrote the following about the IBT back in May 2012....

"IBT negotiates the contract that the pilots want. They conduct surveys and develop a quantatative analysis of the wants, and then negotiate for the pilots, with the pilots at the table beside them, making the final decisions. They are also realistic enough to tell a pilot group when a particular demand is completely unrealistic, based on the airlines balance sheet. "

This is yet another perfect example of the "IBT way". Facts and integrity do not enter the equation. During a representation election the IBT will claim that they have the best everything, the best negotiators, the best analyst, the BEST. Unfortunately, when they FAIL (and they FAIL often) the IBT will not take responsibility.

You read it here, "the IBT isn't negotiating, the RAH pilots NC is negotiating".

It is pathetic. No other word captures their failure.

There is a two year stay on representation elections after the NMB certifies a bargaining unit. That stay ends on June 28 2013. That gives your membership about five months to get your ducks in a row and elect a real Union. At the very least you should study the Recall details found in your Constitution and By-Laws....

You only need 25% to begin the recall process.

Wiscopilot

As much as I enjoy being talked down to by Airbus drivers I get the sense that a work action by the RAH bottom feeders might throw a wrench into the separation plans. That would be tragic and we should accept our place in the hierarchy of the industry (just below the bacteria which feeds on pond scum) in order to maintain said Frontier pilots in the lifestyle in which they have grown accustomed.

3662forlife

Email alert from IBT National for "Week in Review":

Mediator Puts Hold on RAH Negotiations

After proposals put forward failed to produce an agreement between pilots and management, the NMB has advised the Local 357 and RAH management that further negotiations will not be scheduled at this time. The mediator has advised both parties that she will contact them in early summer 2013 to determine if both parties are ready to move forward and schedule future mediation dates.

Notified of the action by the mediator, Airline Division Director David Bourne said, “I look forward to hearing from the Local 357 Executive Council once they have met with their negotiators and decided their course of action. Once they have briefed me as to their decisions, I will be in contact with the NMB to discuss their decision and address possible courses of action.”

nbecca

You guys seem to be entering a period of self loathing. No one has said anything about "bottom feeders" except RAH pilots.

We're not worried about separation, it no longer has anything to do with RAH.

As hard as it is to believe, we care about how the RAH pilots are being treated by IBT National, their EBoard, their NC and their Management.

That's why <20 loser F9 pilots have joined 357. 99% saw what was coming from IBT and 357.

You deserve better, yet you've been manipulated by each of these groups into a completely untenable position.

IBT blows, the EBoard blows, the NC blows, your relationship with Management blows and yet you guys got talked into each of them.

I'm not judging, I'm still getting talked into exceptionally bad decisions.

You need to shift your paradigm, reassess who are your friends and who are your enemies. More of the F9 pilots are on your side than you know, we're not your enemy.

Good luck.

FAULTPUSH

I'd like to compare ANY contract that IBT has produced against the Frontier CBA.

FAULTPUSH

The true shame of it is that the RAH pilots had figured that out out a few years back, and then IBT was able bamboozle them during the representation vote. Meanwhile, many of us sat over here at F9 feeling bad for the way you guys were being played.

Once again, the shame of it is that it needn't have been that way, but the IBT are masters of whipping up ire, whether it's agains the company or against other unions.

MasterOfPuppets

The IBT has lost my respect and I have thrown away all of my teamsters things no more lanyard, no more badge tag, no more pin.

If I didn't have to give up my voting rights I would be donating my dues to a charity.

With that being said I don't think FAPA was the way to go either.......

Hetman

MasterOfPuppets

HAHAHA well I'm not looking to get fired yet

nbecca

Even though I am a die hard FAPA fan, I have to agree with you. FAPA had no experience with the RAH'ers plight, no experience with FFD or CPA operations, no experience with the RAH pilot's relationship with their Management or the CHQ CBA.

That's not to say that the IBT had any experience with a "Branded" or "Mainline" operations, nor did RAH Management.

If elected, no matter what FAPA might have done, there would have been huge questions regarding a conflict of interest (as there is now with CM, the EBoard and the NC), the trust just wasn't there.

It was a lose/lose situation as far as representation. The perception was that the IBT was primarily going to look out for the RAH pilots (at least that was the assumption), ALPA would have been the MEA's boys, FAPA would have looked after Frontier pilots and UTU would have just been happy if anyone paid dues. The UTU may have been the best choice, since we couldn't come up with a solution that allowed for a working relationship that included some degree of autonomy for each group.

I DO, however, believe that there could have been an arrangement made between the groups that represented all pilot's interests and there did not have to be the animosity and demands from the IBT. Of course FAPA was not blameless in that situation either.

The behavior of the group and individuals of the 747 SLI team, the Trusteeship, The Slate (to a much lessor degree) and the 357 EBoard could have been handled in a much better fashion.

As mentioned, there was no reason for the demands that FAPA surrender their money, their Flight Pay Loss, the manufactured requirement to be a "Member in Good Standing" to participate on Committees, the demand to disband the FAPA Merger Committee, the decision to fund the MEA pilot's Grievance/Arbitration or the litigation over LOA 67.

The Trustee said, "We don't want your money, we just have to approve every expenditure and sign the checks. We don't want you FPL, we just have to approve who gets it and for what reason." The FAPA CBA has 1,200 hours a year of FPL covered by the Company. Because of the restrictions placed on the use of FPL, over 2,400 hours of free time has been squandered.

In the end, there very well could have been no winning answer.

On a side note, how long do you think CM will stay with RAH after he gets current as a Captain? Do you think he'll finish out his term, by his choice or by the membership's choice? What about the NC Chairman?