LUAL merger committee member for Master Chair
01-18-2016, 11:05 AM
#21
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2012
Position: CAP A320
Posts: 301
Ben Salley is the biggest scumbag around. He has a track record alright with IAH. He was making back door deals with the Chief Pilot's office in handling issues with Pilots. That's NOT how the ALPA system works and he circumvented those rules! I personally know since I was one of his potential victims and had to fight him thru the ALPA MEC channels. No way should anyone ever vote for him and if he ever does, I will be there at any MEC meeting and bring up examples of what he's done to ensure no one votes for him.
01-18-2016, 11:43 AM
#23
Banned
Joined APC: Mar 2015
Posts: 846
Wait.... So now you're saying that the TA is a Hart program?? The letter McKeen to Jay asking for the TA was on October 2nd. So Hart, who at the time was merely lead council, predicted Oscar's heart attack on October 15th (which you say was faked), and floated this TA to show his worth to the BOD because he KNEW that he would be up for interim CEO consideration in two weeks.
Or wait.... it's Jeff's plan? Mr. Generosity was going to offer up industry leading pay to the pilot group a year EARLY?
Hold on, NOW I see. It was HEPPNER's plan to talk the company into offering an early deal so he could bamboozle the pilots into voting in a substandard agreement just to cement his legacy before walking out the door.
The only one it COULDN'T be is Oscar's plan (despite Jay Heppner directly contradicting you). Because he has no interest in improving employee relations. I'm not exactly sure where the mechanics TA, the LCAL profit sharing, or the agreement to stop outsourcing jobs of the IAM that they had actually agreed to came from. Hart? Heppner? Jeff?
Got it. That makes total sense.
Or wait.... it's Jeff's plan? Mr. Generosity was going to offer up industry leading pay to the pilot group a year EARLY?
Hold on, NOW I see. It was HEPPNER's plan to talk the company into offering an early deal so he could bamboozle the pilots into voting in a substandard agreement just to cement his legacy before walking out the door.
The only one it COULDN'T be is Oscar's plan (despite Jay Heppner directly contradicting you). Because he has no interest in improving employee relations. I'm not exactly sure where the mechanics TA, the LCAL profit sharing, or the agreement to stop outsourcing jobs of the IAM that they had actually agreed to came from. Hart? Heppner? Jeff?
Got it. That makes total sense.
Ok then you tell me the reason for the pie in the sky we were delivered. Who's kindness was it and what was the real motive. You, probe,sled and a few have been counting the money without regard to motive and consequences. What part of the sky did it come from and WHO was the benevolent one?
01-18-2016, 01:28 PM
#24
Ben Salley
Joined APC: Feb 2006
Position: Left
Posts: 924
Ben Salley is the biggest scumbag around. He has a track record alright with IAH. He was making back door deals with the Chief Pilot's office in handling issues with Pilots. That's NOT how the ALPA system works and he circumvented those rules! I personally know since I was one of his potential victims and had to fight him thru the ALPA MEC channels. No way should anyone ever vote for him and if he ever does, I will be there at any MEC meeting and bring up examples of what he's done to ensure no one votes for him.
For the record, I am not interested in any Union position. It's been a long and interesting 5 years, and I'm taking a break. It was a huge pleasure to serve 99.9% of the IAH Pilots during the past 5 years.
Frats,
Ben
01-18-2016, 02:03 PM
#25
Banned
Joined APC: Mar 2015
Posts: 846
You've been spreading this lie ever since you high-tailed it out of IAH. You've never brought it up at a council meeting or in person. I had the video of you suppressed, and you left without harm. You have an agenda that is not dependent upon truth. Shame on you.
For the record, I am not interested in any Union position. It's been a long and interesting 5 years, and I'm taking a break. It was a huge pleasure to serve 99.9% of the IAH Pilots during the past 5 years.
Frats,
Ben
For the record, I am not interested in any Union position. It's been a long and interesting 5 years, and I'm taking a break. It was a huge pleasure to serve 99.9% of the IAH Pilots during the past 5 years.
Frats,
Ben
01-18-2016, 02:31 PM
#26
Ben Salley
Joined APC: Feb 2006
Position: Left
Posts: 924
Besides that, my answer would probably take around 3 pages to fully clarify. The policy manual is pretty clear on how Reps are to voice "pro/con" sentiment. I'd prefer to adhere to that policy until voting closes. I'd be happy to give you my take post voting.
Be informed, call your Reps and make the best decision that you can.
Frats,
Ben
01-18-2016, 03:28 PM
#27
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,785
Why do we always lose, and the company always wins?
I read Steve Gillen's announcement of his candidacy for MEC Master Chairman, and while I appreciate his transparency in announcing his candidacy publicly, I was troubled by his letter and couldn't quite put my finger on why. After all, when you read his resume you see a guy with a strong history of volunteerism, but he seemed remarkably vague in discussing what he has actually accomplished for the pilots, and exactly when. After doing some research that vagueness makes a lot more sense.
Here are the parts of Captain Gillen's resume he seems to have omitted:
1997 - Steve Gillen was the Secretary/Treasurer in DCA Council 11. At that time the S/T had a vote on the MEC. During his tenure he voted IN FAVOR of giving the 50 seat RJ to the company - WITH NOTHING IN RETURN. He didn't just vote for it, he joined then-Master Chairman Mike Glawe as one of its biggest proponents.
October 2001 - Paul Whiteford was elected as Master Chairman, leaving many of us shaking our heads. Our concern was that Whiteford would never have the backbone to stand up to the company. One MEC member that supported Whiteford, when asked about his vote, said "Don't worry about it, we'll give him a spine if he needs one".
Early 2003 - Steve Gillen took office as DCA C11 Captain Rep. He soon became one of Paul Whiteford's strongest supporters.
Summer 2003 - Paul Whiteford signed a side letter with the company allowing them to include the EMB 170 in our scope clause. He did this without letting the MEC vote on it, much less the pilots. In the bankruptcy contract we had given the company $1.3 billion dollars a year in concessions, including scope. But even with those concessions UAL's feeder carriers were limited by gross weight to only the CRJ700. Whiteford, with Captain Gillen's acquiescence, gave away major scope - WITH NOTHING IN RETURN. We all expected the MEC to recall a Master Chairman that acted unilaterally and behind the MEC's back. Not that MEC, in fact...
October 2003 - Steve Gillen votes for Paul Whiteford to serve a second term as MEC Master Chairman. By then Steve Gillen's vote was in the minority. The majority had learned their lesson.
2015 - Steve Gillen applies to be an Assistant Chief Pilot, but doesn't get the job. When he's asked at the recent C11 meeting about why he had applied, he said "Leadership of pilots, it's the same thing as ALPA work".
Recently I made a less than flattering post about Captain Gillen on our forum. He responded by sending me a private message that accused me of making an "ad hominem" attack. An ad hominem attack is when you attack someone personally, rather than attacking their record.
Captain Gillen is right, this shouldn't be about personalities, it should be about the candidates' records. Captain Gillen has a well established record. He has voted away the bedrock of our CBA, our scope clause. He has played a major role in propping up, and voting for, leaders that have given away more of our scope clause. And he's on the record about being terribly confused about the difference between being a trade union leader and being a management pilot.
So back to my first question, why do the pilots always lose, and the company always wins? Because the company plays the long game, not the short game. The company knows we have a long history of taking our eye off the ball. They know given the "silly" nature of our union's political process it's just a matter of time before our MEC forgets how important it is that we elect the right type of union leader.
One of the success stories of our current CBA is "scope choke". The company is approaching hard limits on the amount and type of feeder flying they can use. They know it and the pilots know it. In fact, when the idea of the recent TA was first floated, the pilots reacted automatically; we assumed the company was coming after scope. The pilots' strong reaction, and our communication to our reps, encouraged the MEC to take any scope relief off the table. The company just shrugged; they know it's only a matter of time before we take our eye off the ball again and elect leadership that will give them what they want.
How about, just this once, we make them wait awhile?
X Fernandez
Please call, text or email your reps. They need to know we don't want to go down this path again.
UAL Pilots > MEC Member Directory
01-18-2016, 04:31 PM
#28
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2006
Position: 737 CA
Posts: 2,750
It would all be speculation, but I would suspect they feel $1.3bil was a decent price to pay for mou22 relief and streamlining the FRMS process. Also, Oscar has doubled-down on reliability for the Summer flying and is gambling on "labor peace", whatever that means.
Besides that, my answer would probably take around 3 pages to fully clarify. The policy manual is pretty clear on how Reps are to voice "pro/con" sentiment. I'd prefer to adhere to that policy until voting closes. I'd be happy to give you my take post voting.
Be informed, call your Reps and make the best decision that you can.
Frats,
Ben
Besides that, my answer would probably take around 3 pages to fully clarify. The policy manual is pretty clear on how Reps are to voice "pro/con" sentiment. I'd prefer to adhere to that policy until voting closes. I'd be happy to give you my take post voting.
Be informed, call your Reps and make the best decision that you can.
Frats,
Ben
Foreshadowing a 76-24 membership vote?? We shall see...
01-18-2016, 04:31 PM
#29
Banned
Joined APC: Jun 2008
Position: A320 Cap
Posts: 2,282
Honestly, I don't think he is, but it's kind of hard to tell with him. He's made more than one outrageous claim and then defended it to the hilt. If indeed his entire shtick is TIC, he REALLY needs to get a hobby or head to the nearest strip club STAT
01-18-2016, 06:15 PM
#30
Line Holder
Joined APC: Oct 2015
Position: A320 CA
Posts: 34
A cabal including John Prater, Jay Heppner, Chris Lynch, Mark Adams and other ALPA lifers are running Steve Gillen for Master Chairman. Are LCAL pilots aware that Gillen was a member of the LUAL Merger Committee? Would having a merger guy as Master Chairman be the right move in unifying the United pilot group and our union? The election is eight days from now.
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