TA2
07-05-2022, 03:45 AM
#82
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2010
Position: EWR 777 Captain
Posts: 1,715
Someone posted a "don't negotiate in public" on the other forum as well. Sadly and quite embarrassingly I misconstrued the writers intent, but I responded in a fashion not unlike that seen here.
Long ago I remember being told the same on the old Compuserve based forum and not once but many times and loudly. Had several others chimed in in support of your old mantra you wouldn't have thought twice, but in my opinion it is in fact a minor form of bullying online. Happily it appears the pendulum is shifting on this issue. For the record here is my post from the other forum and the somewhat surprising response:
Long ago I remember being told the same on the old Compuserve based forum and not once but many times and loudly. Had several others chimed in in support of your old mantra you wouldn't have thought twice, but in my opinion it is in fact a minor form of bullying online. Happily it appears the pendulum is shifting on this issue. For the record here is my post from the other forum and the somewhat surprising response:
Come on guys, NO NEGOTIATING IN PUBLIC!. The Union leadership already know what we want and demand in a new contract.
They know better than we do as they have been talking directly to the company finance experts and know what's the best we can get in todays environment.
They know better than we do as they have been talking directly to the company finance experts and know what's the best we can get in todays environment.
Since my earliest days on the Compuserve forum I have heard that warning from other pilots. Well, here's the rub. For my part I assume the thought goes negotiating in public weakens the hand of the NC because inevitably some folks will post items considered weaker than what is being negotiated. This most recent TA seems to lend credence to the opposite idea. Perhaps if more people had laid out their expectations online one or more members of the MEC might have caught wind of the fact the the NC was so far out of touch with reality or expectations of the line pilot. I'm not ready to declare the idea of not negotiating in public dead, but I do see a case now against this old mantra.
Joe,
I agree with what you wrote. I wasn't serious with what I wrote as indicated with smily face at the end of my post.
I agree with what you wrote. I wasn't serious with what I wrote as indicated with smily face at the end of my post.
Dang!
I hate when I misconstrue sarcasm online. It really doesn't show well
Thanks for the clarification!
I hate when I misconstrue sarcasm online. It really doesn't show well
Thanks for the clarification!
07-07-2022, 09:32 AM
#83
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 naïve 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 naïve 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.
07-11-2022, 07:11 AM
#84
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 naïve 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 naïve 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.
07-12-2022, 02:54 AM
#85
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2015
Position: B777 CA
Posts: 753
Although I agree with most of what you said let's not forget that the NC has been putting this dog shot pile together for 4 years. Lets just look at retirement for example. One of the last things they had to close out and what did we get? NOTHING , NADA. ZERO that tells me they are either lazy , inept , our of touch or all three . Lets get real, ALPA has turned into nothing more than a self serving boys club.
This NC doesn’t know what to do with old fashioned leveraged bargaining was even though it’s staring directly at them. If this POS TA goes down in flames on Friday we need massive recalls on every level of our MEC!
07-12-2022, 03:00 AM
#86
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2015
Position: B777 CA
Posts: 753
Although I agree with most of what you said let's not forget that the NC has been putting this dog shot pile together for 4 years. Lets just look at retirement for example. One of the last things they had to close out and what did we get? NOTHING , NADA. ZERO that tells me they are either lazy , inept , our of touch or all three . Lets get real, ALPA has turned into nothing more than a self serving boys club.
This NC doesn’t know what to do with old fashioned leveraged bargaining, even though it’s staring directly at them. 2nd quarter profits come in a week and Kirby doesn’t get his United Next if this TA fails. If this POS TA goes down in flames on Friday we need massive recalls on every level of our MEC and committee & subject matter expert levels.
07-12-2022, 05:41 AM
#87
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2013
Posts: 501
I thought the same when they mentioned they used PDRs as an alternative to polling. While there is some value in using PDR data to identify future improvements it is a far cry from actual polling.
07-12-2022, 07:03 AM
#90
Banned
Joined APC: May 2022
Posts: 411
Line pilot bare some responsibility
Reality check time,
Over the last 3 plus years anytime I brought up contract negotiations I got
1) Mostly just a blank stare ( not even realizing we were in negotiations)
2) We can't and won't see a contract for years
3) The company is losing money ( covid) so how can we get a contract.
4) I'm happy with the contract we have.
So my point is this. The total and complete apathy of the United pilot group has never in my time at the company been so off the charts. We really have nobody to blame but ourselves for this TA. I was literally mocked for even bringing up the topic. On the 15th we will see what we deserve in real time. Will all that fear and loathing during covid set the stage for the next 20yrs or did this POS TA finally snap pilots out of their coma and remind them they are union members ? We shall soon see..
Over the last 3 plus years anytime I brought up contract negotiations I got
1) Mostly just a blank stare ( not even realizing we were in negotiations)
2) We can't and won't see a contract for years
3) The company is losing money ( covid) so how can we get a contract.
4) I'm happy with the contract we have.
So my point is this. The total and complete apathy of the United pilot group has never in my time at the company been so off the charts. We really have nobody to blame but ourselves for this TA. I was literally mocked for even bringing up the topic. On the 15th we will see what we deserve in real time. Will all that fear and loathing during covid set the stage for the next 20yrs or did this POS TA finally snap pilots out of their coma and remind them they are union members ? We shall soon see..
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