TA2
07-02-2022, 04:30 PM
#21
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2018
Position: A320 FO
Posts: 255
TA2
What's the best way to message our counter? Where/when do we ask the union for polling as they relate to TA2 changes and that are relevant to today's line flying and benefits? They were clearly out of touch with our side. While I want to help management streamline and remedy shortcomings, there appears to be a severe shortcoming in what we'd expect in return. We need unified messaging of what is acceptable.
07-02-2022, 04:38 PM
#22
Banned
Joined APC: May 2022
Posts: 411
The Tumi TA: Time to Unpack the Mess
Have you ever seen a United pilot toting a Tumi bag? I haven’t. Apparently, the Negotiating Committee thought we would love them. How could the Master Chairman and the Negotiating Committee get it so wrong? How could they be so out of touch? The answer is relatively simple, they have all been focused on the wrong goal. A substance of a shiny new contract to the line pilot is different than the substance of a shiny new contract to a future ALPA National presidential candidate.
Many pilots don’t realize that the Negotiating Committee works directly for the Master Chairman, so while our displeasure is often directed toward that committee, they are merely an extension of the MEC Chairman. They do what he or she directs them to do because the Master Chairman is the MEC when the MEC is not in session. The current MEC Chairman and his immediate predecessor are directly responsible for this mess, trading away contractual provisions that guarantee safety and quality of life, as well as tangible benefits, in exchange for pieces of silver.
In this particular situation, the majority of the LEC representatives have been focused on getting our former Master Chairman elected to ALPA National president next Fall. They have been so focused on this singular campaign that they have neglected their most basic and essential responsibilities at the MEC, that of watchdogging the MEC officers and committees.
The company’s gift to our most important union representative, our Master Chairman and UAL BOD member, worth millions of dollars, should have raised eyebrows. Reading the fine print, a diligent pilot discovered the “gift” in a large, SEC filing. The Master Chairman and his sycophants denied knowledge of the gift. Some even argued he should keep it. To this day, the MEC has put out no information indicating whether the former chairman still has this massive benefit. A gift of this nature undermines the trust the pilots place in their elected union officials. It creates many concerns, and on the heels of it we have this TA.
Considering the history of the last six years, this was inevitable. Many saw it coming. Many ignored it, and many worked to silence voices who were trying to warn us. The various forums were and still are coopted by operatives who banned unionists from speaking their minds. Freedom of speech on the union shop floor is highly protected, and our highest union officials should make protecting that freedom one of their highest priorities, even when that speech doesn’t benefit them.
Some LEC council officers have threatened other council officers in order to protect the MEC machine. We have seen committee members who raised questions or who vigorously defended our contract voted out of their positions.
We saw fake Facebook profiles act to support the MEC, attacking those who questioned the Master Chairman or the machine. Our entire MEC was aware of these reprehensible actions. The matter was brought to ALPA National. A call for an investigation was brushed aside. How ironic it is that just last night the MEC Professional Standards Chairman said,
“Urban Dictionary defines ‘Catfishing’ as: the phenomenon of internet predators that fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people . . . I had never heard of a situation such as this before.”
Yes, he has.
This is the arrogance of our leadership and of the machine. It claims integrity, superiority, and righteousness, but it has none. Judge them by their actions—not their words.
What about those on the MEC who were trying to do the right thing? First, there aren’t many. That’s because when responsible members of the MEC demanded accountability, they were “voted off the island.” You’re with us or you’re against us was the order of the day. Responsible MECs of the past demanded accountability from the officers and Negotiating Committees and encouraged dissent in order to get the best product available.
How do I know? I’ve worked directly for or with every MEC Chairman since 1985 (the current and former Chairmen when they were in different positions). In almost thirty-eight years as a UAL ALPA member, I have never witnessed this level of sycophancy, patronage, and “by any means necessary,” to achieve a single goal of the ALPA national presidency. It is the same group think mentality that caused two Space Shuttle disasters. It is devoid of CRM and responsible leadership. It is stunning and dangerous, and in organizations like NASA it led to complete house cleaning of upper-level managers.
There are members of the Negotiating Committee/Contract Interpretation Committee who haven’t flown a regular or full line schedule in over twenty years. It’s no mystery that they’re out of touch. It would be naďve to believe they understand your day-to-day experiences and struggles under the current contract.
Union work is supposed to be volunteer work. How many “volunteers” have been shielded in the ivory tower of the MEC Office by full time flight loss pay? How many total hours do they have since they were hired? To be effective at representing pilots, you have to be in touch with them. You have to be a pilot, and I don’t mean holding a type rating and a medical. Sadly, our MEC has turned into a ravenous machine tooled strictly to ensure every action it takes is focused on the goal of getting positions at ALPA National.
Now we see what that has gotten us. Failure.
There is nothing inherently wrong with having a national president from our MEC, a United pilot, but it is not worth, to the average line pilot, what many make it out to be. It provides some level of clout, maybe the tip of a scale on a rare issue, but very little in terms of real value for anyone other than those elected and their friends who follow them to Washington. Who on our MEC would be handed positions at National if we took the presidency? Look to those who have most vehemently argued for this TA as well as defended the MEC over the last few years.
We start to rebuild by being honest with ourselves. We clean house and start at the top. Just like NASA would do. The house-cleaning must include those who enabled this mess from the beginning, and it must include the MEC Officers who have had a hand in all this mess, as well as the Negotiating Committee. Pay special attention to those who attempt to turn these views around on the author or attack those who defend my words. Those are the enablers and sycophants that caused us to be where we are today.
There will be LEC representatives and committee volunteers with excuses. They may offer mea culpas. These may be sincere, and they might deserve your forgiveness, but they do not deserve your continued trust as representatives. They have failed in their custodial responsibilities. They will continue to go along and get along when the Negotiating Committee and Master Chairman bring you the next just-good-enough TA that they think they can get passed with fifty-percent plus one. They didn’t have the guts to speak the truth when it was needed, so we should thank them and ask them to move on.
Then there are those who have defended and will continue to defend the TA. We’ve seen letters from such representatives in LECs. They should be shown the way back to the line without delay. They believe you don’t deserve anything better than this TA.
Our new Master Chairman is no different from our former Master Chairman. In fact, he’s his hand-picked successor, put in place to further the ALPA National political aspiration. If you don’t believe this, read Chairman Insler’s words from his farewell letter (emphasis mine):
“Captain Mike Hamilton, who served as my trusted Executive Administrator for the last four years . . . will continue building on the foundation that we have laid.”
Our MEC Chairman was handpicked by the former. I can’t recall a case of such blatant, orchestrated successorship in MEC history.
In his initial letter to the pilots, our new Master Chairman wrote:
“Our top priority remains reaching an industry leading contract that protects scope, improves work rules—especially for reserves, and improves pay and benefits across the entire seniority list.”
Why in the world would all of these people be so eager to see us pass this TA? In the simplest terms, having a contract—any contract—on his resume in two months at the ALPA National elections would help our former chairman win the presidency. He gets a million dollar a year job with a pension, his friends are rewarded with positions, and you get the Tumi TA as a contract.
If you believe you deserve better in a contract than just being a stepping stone for those with political aspirations, here’s what you can do:
1) Never forget that this is YOUR union.
2) Barrage your representatives with phone calls and emails and make them understand that they need to recall the negotiating committee immediately.
3) If they argue and resist, demand again that they recall the negotiating committee.
4) If they continue to resist, begin immediate recalls of these officers.
5) Finally, demand that the Negotiating Committee be recalled.
6) Then it is time to look at the MEC officers.
Take your union back.
Have you ever seen a United pilot toting a Tumi bag? I haven’t. Apparently, the Negotiating Committee thought we would love them. How could the Master Chairman and the Negotiating Committee get it so wrong? How could they be so out of touch? The answer is relatively simple, they have all been focused on the wrong goal. A substance of a shiny new contract to the line pilot is different than the substance of a shiny new contract to a future ALPA National presidential candidate.
Many pilots don’t realize that the Negotiating Committee works directly for the Master Chairman, so while our displeasure is often directed toward that committee, they are merely an extension of the MEC Chairman. They do what he or she directs them to do because the Master Chairman is the MEC when the MEC is not in session. The current MEC Chairman and his immediate predecessor are directly responsible for this mess, trading away contractual provisions that guarantee safety and quality of life, as well as tangible benefits, in exchange for pieces of silver.
In this particular situation, the majority of the LEC representatives have been focused on getting our former Master Chairman elected to ALPA National president next Fall. They have been so focused on this singular campaign that they have neglected their most basic and essential responsibilities at the MEC, that of watchdogging the MEC officers and committees.
The company’s gift to our most important union representative, our Master Chairman and UAL BOD member, worth millions of dollars, should have raised eyebrows. Reading the fine print, a diligent pilot discovered the “gift” in a large, SEC filing. The Master Chairman and his sycophants denied knowledge of the gift. Some even argued he should keep it. To this day, the MEC has put out no information indicating whether the former chairman still has this massive benefit. A gift of this nature undermines the trust the pilots place in their elected union officials. It creates many concerns, and on the heels of it we have this TA.
Considering the history of the last six years, this was inevitable. Many saw it coming. Many ignored it, and many worked to silence voices who were trying to warn us. The various forums were and still are coopted by operatives who banned unionists from speaking their minds. Freedom of speech on the union shop floor is highly protected, and our highest union officials should make protecting that freedom one of their highest priorities, even when that speech doesn’t benefit them.
Some LEC council officers have threatened other council officers in order to protect the MEC machine. We have seen committee members who raised questions or who vigorously defended our contract voted out of their positions.
We saw fake Facebook profiles act to support the MEC, attacking those who questioned the Master Chairman or the machine. Our entire MEC was aware of these reprehensible actions. The matter was brought to ALPA National. A call for an investigation was brushed aside. How ironic it is that just last night the MEC Professional Standards Chairman said,
“Urban Dictionary defines ‘Catfishing’ as: the phenomenon of internet predators that fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people . . . I had never heard of a situation such as this before.”
Yes, he has.
This is the arrogance of our leadership and of the machine. It claims integrity, superiority, and righteousness, but it has none. Judge them by their actions—not their words.
What about those on the MEC who were trying to do the right thing? First, there aren’t many. That’s because when responsible members of the MEC demanded accountability, they were “voted off the island.” You’re with us or you’re against us was the order of the day. Responsible MECs of the past demanded accountability from the officers and Negotiating Committees and encouraged dissent in order to get the best product available.
How do I know? I’ve worked directly for or with every MEC Chairman since 1985 (the current and former Chairmen when they were in different positions). In almost thirty-eight years as a UAL ALPA member, I have never witnessed this level of sycophancy, patronage, and “by any means necessary,” to achieve a single goal of the ALPA national presidency. It is the same group think mentality that caused two Space Shuttle disasters. It is devoid of CRM and responsible leadership. It is stunning and dangerous, and in organizations like NASA it led to complete house cleaning of upper-level managers.
There are members of the Negotiating Committee/Contract Interpretation Committee who haven’t flown a regular or full line schedule in over twenty years. It’s no mystery that they’re out of touch. It would be naďve to believe they understand your day-to-day experiences and struggles under the current contract.
Union work is supposed to be volunteer work. How many “volunteers” have been shielded in the ivory tower of the MEC Office by full time flight loss pay? How many total hours do they have since they were hired? To be effective at representing pilots, you have to be in touch with them. You have to be a pilot, and I don’t mean holding a type rating and a medical. Sadly, our MEC has turned into a ravenous machine tooled strictly to ensure every action it takes is focused on the goal of getting positions at ALPA National.
Now we see what that has gotten us. Failure.
There is nothing inherently wrong with having a national president from our MEC, a United pilot, but it is not worth, to the average line pilot, what many make it out to be. It provides some level of clout, maybe the tip of a scale on a rare issue, but very little in terms of real value for anyone other than those elected and their friends who follow them to Washington. Who on our MEC would be handed positions at National if we took the presidency? Look to those who have most vehemently argued for this TA as well as defended the MEC over the last few years.
We start to rebuild by being honest with ourselves. We clean house and start at the top. Just like NASA would do. The house-cleaning must include those who enabled this mess from the beginning, and it must include the MEC Officers who have had a hand in all this mess, as well as the Negotiating Committee. Pay special attention to those who attempt to turn these views around on the author or attack those who defend my words. Those are the enablers and sycophants that caused us to be where we are today.
There will be LEC representatives and committee volunteers with excuses. They may offer mea culpas. These may be sincere, and they might deserve your forgiveness, but they do not deserve your continued trust as representatives. They have failed in their custodial responsibilities. They will continue to go along and get along when the Negotiating Committee and Master Chairman bring you the next just-good-enough TA that they think they can get passed with fifty-percent plus one. They didn’t have the guts to speak the truth when it was needed, so we should thank them and ask them to move on.
Then there are those who have defended and will continue to defend the TA. We’ve seen letters from such representatives in LECs. They should be shown the way back to the line without delay. They believe you don’t deserve anything better than this TA.
Our new Master Chairman is no different from our former Master Chairman. In fact, he’s his hand-picked successor, put in place to further the ALPA National political aspiration. If you don’t believe this, read Chairman Insler’s words from his farewell letter (emphasis mine):
“Captain Mike Hamilton, who served as my trusted Executive Administrator for the last four years . . . will continue building on the foundation that we have laid.”
Our MEC Chairman was handpicked by the former. I can’t recall a case of such blatant, orchestrated successorship in MEC history.
In his initial letter to the pilots, our new Master Chairman wrote:
“Our top priority remains reaching an industry leading contract that protects scope, improves work rules—especially for reserves, and improves pay and benefits across the entire seniority list.”
Why in the world would all of these people be so eager to see us pass this TA? In the simplest terms, having a contract—any contract—on his resume in two months at the ALPA National elections would help our former chairman win the presidency. He gets a million dollar a year job with a pension, his friends are rewarded with positions, and you get the Tumi TA as a contract.
If you believe you deserve better in a contract than just being a stepping stone for those with political aspirations, here’s what you can do:
1) Never forget that this is YOUR union.
2) Barrage your representatives with phone calls and emails and make them understand that they need to recall the negotiating committee immediately.
3) If they argue and resist, demand again that they recall the negotiating committee.
4) If they continue to resist, begin immediate recalls of these officers.
5) Finally, demand that the Negotiating Committee be recalled.
6) Then it is time to look at the MEC officers.
Take your union back.
07-02-2022, 05:19 PM
#23
Line Holder
Joined APC: May 2018
Posts: 62
Use market solutions first in cases like the reserve rules. They think ad pay will solve that problem? They’re probably right, but the number of hours is probably closer to 3 or 4 than 1. It’s still better than paying out a whole trip at 100% for the company and allows pilots to pick up some extra cash on reserve. Trying to backstop this change by then moving the availability to 0600 was greedy and a tell that they didn’t think 1-2 hours of add pay was enough (spoiler alert: it wasn’t). Hogs get slaughtered.
Another thing that bothered me was the 8 weeks of leave for birthing pilots. I’m new here, but I thought that was such a small get. Honestly I was surprised it wasn’t already in there. What percentage of the pilots does this effect? Want to be an industry leader? How about 4 weeks paid for the non-birthing pilot (including adoption) and 8 weeks for a birthing pilot. This seems like the bare minimum for a company that purportedly cares about their people.
Another thing that bothered me was the 8 weeks of leave for birthing pilots. I’m new here, but I thought that was such a small get. Honestly I was surprised it wasn’t already in there. What percentage of the pilots does this effect? Want to be an industry leader? How about 4 weeks paid for the non-birthing pilot (including adoption) and 8 weeks for a birthing pilot. This seems like the bare minimum for a company that purportedly cares about their people.
07-02-2022, 05:33 PM
#24
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,351
Expect turbulence ahead. There will probably be motions to recall various union reps & replace the NC over this. (I for one am of the mind that the way things played out preclude further NC activity w/ the full faith of the pilot group.) How that all plays out is anyone’s guess, but once the dust settles, there will likely be multiple polls by the new representatives (or a chastened NC) before negotiations resume in earnest.
07-02-2022, 05:53 PM
#26
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2009
Posts: 1,860
You call this a lowball offer? What AA management just did was a lowball offer to kick off negotiations. Scottie just sent a big FU package to your door with a “Read It And Weep” TA inside. Yeah you have two big problems Joe, your representation sucks but so does your management.
07-02-2022, 06:08 PM
#27
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2022
Posts: 225
You call this a lowball offer? What AA management just did was a lowball offer to kick off negotiations. Scottie just sent a big FU package to your door with a “Read It And Weep” TA inside. Yeah you have two big problems Joe, your representation sucks but so does your management.
The overtime provision I’m sure was quite expensive to negotiate… But if you asked any pilot if they would trade our scope on the 550 or our PI‘s for that, you would get a resounding NO (as the vote will show)
Or if you asked most reserves if they would rather have a shorter, later showing work block, but be messed with for four days or have a longer work block but more predictability within said block… almost all would choose the former. Not understanding what the early upgrades or the 777 pilots were going through because of the Pratt issues, is the epitome of the issue here: their priorities were completely screwed up. I’m sure the TA was worth a significant amount of money, but the union completely miss managed our priorities.
I honestly don’t know how you fault Kirby for any of this. Except that he put his trust in people that did not deliver him close to palatable TA
07-02-2022, 06:36 PM
#29
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2022
Posts: 225
Money is one thing to negotiate, but bodies are another. This a finite resource that the company cannot negotiate away. If they do, it would have as many negative consequences for us (long term) as for them. Money on the other hand (retirement, LTD, PPU rates, hourly, vacation, sick bank, etc) is essentially infinite from our standpoint.
07-02-2022, 07:02 PM
#30
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2015
Posts: 963
Use market solutions first in cases like the reserve rules. They think ad pay will solve that problem? They’re probably right, but the number of hours is probably closer to 3 or 4 than 1. It’s still better than paying out a whole trip at 100% for the company and allows pilots to pick up some extra cash on reserve. Trying to backstop this change by then moving the availability to 0600 was greedy and a tell that they didn’t think 1-2 hours of add pay was enough (spoiler alert: it wasn’t). Hogs get slaughtered.
The whole TA stinks of this. The add pay is always both an incentive and a penalty, and it's fixed. The company has 100% control! If we're going to allow cost variability in the form of add pay, don't give them control of it! Give them control of the price and give us control of our schedule. Better, give them control of my schedule and I'll set the price lol! That's how you divide up cost variability in an equitable manner. Then answer how much variability do you want and which demographics might benefit and how to spread the opportunities. These parts are where we can give and take with the company. But for the sake of everything holy don't give them control of both add pay and schedule. That's what being exploited looks like.
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