In my witness DW and his talents are the only thing that that have not allowed ultimate chaos like every other leadership group we've had here and on that note DM is a worthy successor, but will have huge shoes to fill.
You're not running for the MEC are you? So DW saved us from ultimate chaos by creating chaos with over 60, retro, and the LOA? Sort of like destroying the village to save it? Thanks for your take on this though, it's an interesting angle.
Well it's been awhile since posting, but felt it was time. The anti DW crowd seems to have gathered steam all owing to the usual lack of communication coming from the Union. Before you all jump on the the bandwagon you aren't asking the right questions of your reps. Ask them if they knew there was trouble with FE prior to "the firing". If they say no, they're lying to you; they knew but didn't have the balls to solve the problem themselves and when DW had to do the dirty work they all let him, because they didn't want to get their hands dirty. Ask them if they were not put on the phone with FE at the Vegas board meeting and DW leaving the room so they could address the problem at hand. If they say no, they're lying to you. The lack of information is actually trying to protect someone's pride or face. The little information coming out is that there was an integrity problem which all of you know can not be allowed in these jobs where trust is paramount. The reason it's not coming out would cause a serious loss of face to a certain individual, so what would you have your leader do, smear somebody through the mud in public or do what needs to be done and take the heat for it. all the while not being backed up by the spineless MEC.
Now to say there is nobody that would rise up to fill this incredibly important position I propose the past NC Vice Chair Gustafson. There isn't a better candidate, he just needed a break after last time to get some wind under his sails. He know's the job, the protocols, the players and would make an incredible NC Chair. For those small number of you (out of the whole crew force) calling for mass executions of DW DM and WRs heads I would say be careful what you wish for. I know each of these individuals and their integrity is as high as I've ever witnessed. Does this mean they haven't done a thing or two I haven't agreed with (age 60) to be exact? No, but remember the MEC went along with it. If you need to be pi$$ed at anybody it's the spineless MEC. Always has been dating back to the cave on the parking lot deal. In my witness DW and his talents are the only thing that that have not allowed ultimate chaos like every other leadership group we've had here and on that note DM is a worthy successor, but will have huge shoes to fill. Now to all you lurkers here I would say always question what these few posters are saying just like you should be questioning your MEC.
I did ask the questions to almost all of the MEC reps and talked to many of the MEC reps. It doesn't seem to have gone down like you infer. It seems that most of the MEC didn't know of any problem with FE as well as FE himself. I have the e-mails I sent specifically asking answers from the MEC AND DW. No one including DW would answer the questions asked. As a matter of fact DW said "I advocated and the MEC agreed to the current course of action.".
As far as a small number of us (out of the whole crew force) calling for mass executions of out MEC officers, maybe you need to spend more time talking to the crew-force. Members are no longer afraid of what they wish for. While you may believe in their integrity, the crew-force doesn't TRUST them and "leaders" that aren't trusted must go. I'll agree that the MEC has acted spineless as well. Hopefully as the make-up of the board changes they will take back control and lead this union.
As you say if the crew force has lost faith in their leadership then they have to go. What strikes me funny though is when LEC meetings have 1,2,3 or 4 members show up to voice their concerns. The real problem with crew force has always been apathy. This is what alows the leadership to run willy nilly.
What, no comments on Gustafson as a viable candidate for NC Chair?
And, no I'm not DM just someone who's been in the trenches with these guys and usually nothing is as it seems on the surface. I agree with all of you on the age 60 handling. It has always been my position that at the least the votes at national should have been split to coincide with our polling numbers. For those of you that think DW has a chance at National Pres then I think you're dreaming; when Pratter got the job was the last chance I think DW had. Prior to that I would agree that he was angling for Pres when Duane vacated the slot. Sometimes things don't work out as planned do they?
What strikes me funny though is when LEC meetings have 1,2,3 or 4 members show up to voice their concerns. The real problem with crew force has always been apathy. This is what alows the leadership to run willy nilly.
You're assuming attendance has been useful in the past or will be in the future. There is this new invention called the internet. Some use it to send something called an "e-mail".
It's an invalid assumption. Try again.
Kinda hard to have an impact at an open meeting when so much business is done behind closed doors for our protection. The non-disclosure limited info coming out is too sanitized.
It's not apathy. Perhaps it's a statement.
Recently observed--
Lack of disclosure creates distrust and hurts unity. The MEC Chair sees the effects of his actions without explanation and sends out an e-mail encouraging us to "choose" Unity. Is that a "Relax, trust me!" plea?
Apparently he has dug deeper into his foxhole just as many are trying to dislodge him from it. He thinks we are destroying unity and we think he is destroying unity. Who do you think is right?
As you say if the crew force has lost faith in their leadership then they have to go. What strikes me funny though is when LEC meetings have 1,2,3 or 4 members show up to voice their concerns. The real problem with crew force has always been apathy. This is what alows the leadership to run willy nilly.
What, no comments on Gustafson as a viable candidate for NC Chair?
LEC meetings have 1-4 members at them for a number of problems:
1. Apathy from the members who live in MEM and could attend but don't.
2. Crewmembers who are off on trips.
3. Crewmembers who don't live in MEM and don't want to spend two of their off days to attend a 4 hour meeting.
I'm not completely sure why we have #1, but maybe it's time to ask these members why. Maybe their fed up with the BS, lost trust, etc. and the union needs to know this so it can be fixed.
#2 & #3 needs to be fixed by moving into the 21st century so we can have two way webcasts, with the quarterly meeting, presentations, hub turns, LEC meetings, MEC meetings, etc. Members could "attend", e-mail or IM questions and get answers without having to PHYSICALLY being there. I don't care if ALPA national or our "lawyers" like it our not. Either lead or get out of the way!!!
I don't care if ALPA national or our "lawyers" like it our not. Either lead or get out of the way!!!
The lawyers are very busy advising and protecting the MEC. I don't know of any communication not approved (initiated?) by them. I don't think we run the union, they do.
You want to change that? Good on you, but good luck as well.
What, no comments on Gustafson as a viable candidate for NC Chair?
All I'll say is he got quite pi$$ed off when guys started questioning parts of the last contract. Maybe he was just "supporting" BC but he was supposed to be a major part of the team. I can't question his ability. I can only look at the CBA, which he help sell to this crew-force, that more and more people are finding out is a POS. He also seemed quite aloof from the crew-force last negotiations and didn't seem to care for inputs from the crew-force (a big difference from FE). I think some tough questions need to be asked of him on why portions of our contract were not worked on (WORKRULES) and how he would fix that this time. Maybe he would be OK but I'm not on the board selecting him. Maybe the MEC needs to come to the crew-force with it's list of candidates and get our opinion. Chance of that happening???
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