Beagle Pilot

I've seen on other message boards and in the crew room that some people are preaching doom and gloom in 2013. I don't believe our fate is sealed nor that we are all going to be "toast" in 2013. OTOH, what I do believe is that we will have a better contract in 2013 if we stand together as opposed to fighting each other for company crumbs.


"Unity is strength". The company is unified by the fact their jobs depend upon following the orders of the company president. They must all comply or they will be replaced. It's that simple. OTOH, our union pilots do not have to comply with our union leadership. We're a bottom-up organization run by volunteers. We elect our leadership. The only obligation for each member is to pay dues. If that is all they do, then our union is weak. If a few, say 4%, of the members volunteer to do the work, then that helps, but the results are not as pleasing to the membership as if more members actually participated in their own union.

BTW, 4-6% is about what we have at the moment and for the past several years. The remaining 94-96% sit back and ***** if not actively work against our own Union. This is their right, but it isn't an optimal solution for negotiating the best contract possible against a unified company. Worse, when we fight each other or actively to deprive each other of rights, we are actually making the company's job easier for them.

I'm not preaching that we'll be screwed in 2013. I'm saying that we won't maximize our gains if we don't have better unity, cooperation and activism on the part of our membership. There's a difference.

The recent opportunistic move by some of our members and leaders to sacrifice 500+ Union pilots for the betterment of the remaining 2300 pilots is detrimental to unity since even those who gain from the move would lose trust in an organization which preys on its own members.

There are many lessons to be learned from our mistakes:

1. Educate our members on what unionism means and how it works. Too many think it's like going to Burger King. That, by virtue of paying their dues, they can "have it their way". A union isn't service even though it does provide some services. We must work as a group while respecting the rights of the individual.

2. Minimize rumors and false ideas by more crew room visits and teleconferences.

3. Union leaders need to treat members like adults and not patronize, or worse, ply them with false hopes about where the industry is going. People don't like being told the truth when it hurts, but adults appreciate it more than being misled with "happy thoughts" which will never happen. Tell'em the truth straight up and don't sugar coat it.

4. Union leaders need to act less like politicians and more like UNION leaders. Union members need to start acting less like customers and more like UNION members.

A few Aesop's fables to illustrate the main points of why it is important we have a strong union for 2013:

The Father and His Sons
A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the bundle into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it. He next opened the bundle, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons' hands, upon which they broke them easily. He then addressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."
The moral of the story: There is strength in unity.


The Lion and Three Bulls
Three Bulls were grazing in a meadow, and were watched by a Lion, who longed to capture and eat them, but who felt he was no match for the three so long as they kept together; whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them.

So he began by false whispers and rumors to cause jealousy and distrust among them. This method worked so well that at last, the Bulls grew cold and unfriendly, and finally avoided each other, and fed each one by himself. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon ate all three.
The moral of the story: The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes.


The Trees and the Axe
A man came into a Wood one day and begged of the Trees the favor of a handle for his Axe. The Trees voted to sacrifice a young ash sapling.

The Man made the sapling into a handle and fixed it into the axe head, and soon set to work cutting down tree after tree. When Trees realized how the Man was using their gift, they cried "we have only ourselves to blame. The little we gave has cost us all: had we not sacrificed the rights of the ash, we might ourselves have stood for ages."
The moral of the story: Those who sacrifice the rights of others deserve to lose their own rights and often do.

atp409

Sacrifice 500 pilots for the remaining 2300, interesting way to put it.

More like "get 500 to follow through with contractually binding agreement"

and

Not allow 500 pilots to change their minds, Eagle rights guys can't "change" their minds, so why should anyone else be able to.

The only sacrifice here is the inability to advance for the remaining 2300.

atp409

How can you expect unity within a workgroup when two thirds of the workgroup has been completely screwed out of advancements in QOL, salary, and "the profession". We were displaced out of Captain seats and suffered furlough to allow AA to flow back. The only reason that was acceptable to us is because flow through pilots signed on the dotted line to flow through. Now all bets are off, selfishness has divided this workgroup.

Mason32

You should at least "try" and get your facts right. Nobody signed anything to become flow-thru. It was the default unless you did elect "Eagle Rights."

They also denied people the ability to become flow-thru if they were over a certain age... yet now, they want to make people well past that age go.

It's a sticky no win situation. Supplement W was very poorly written... and the arbitrations left lots to be desired as well.

Beagle Pilot

Agreed. What began as Letter 3 (Eagle)/Supplement W(AA) in 1997 was not the same letter that expired eleven years later. The twists and turns of a four party agreement never measured up to the expectations it was promised to deliver.

ATP409 is angry about how it turned out and I don't blame him. However, taking out his anger on pilots who are also victims of the results is just plain wrong. In psychology it's called "Displaced Aggression". While his anger and frustration are fully understandable, it doesn't give him the right to screw someone else just because he got screwed. Further, by attempting to displace his aggression on other pilots, he's only making the situation worse by weakening his own union. This also is wrong. It's also immature and unprofessional, IMHO.

atp409

Weakening my union? I'm not the one who backed out of an agreement. Would you try the same if you had a mortgage and lost your job? Would you say "I didn't know what I was getting into" or "I didn't know the economy would do this" Would the bank say "ok keep the house, don't worry about the payments" I'd love to see the economy drastically improve so I can see these "victims" (hilarious, 85-100g a year 15-18 day off victims) plead their case on why they are owed backpay to 2007. It's as simple as this; the deal looked good and they wanted to flow, now the deal looks bad and they no longer want to. I agree it sucks, but 1000 eagle pilots paid for their decision and will get nothing in return, I hope you're not preaching this "victim" and "unity" in your cockpit, as it makes you sound hypocritical.

Jinrai Butai

How can you have unity if all you do is fight each other. Is it true the majority voted to kick out a minority of pilots? What is happening now at Eagle?

Mason32

It is that way, because AMR thrives on creating the conditions in ALL labor groups that cause this type of strife.

The more the labor groups fight with eachother, the less effective they are at fighting AMR.

buddies8

No it went wrong because people who kept upgrading and not electing eagle rights after 9/11. And if I understand you correctly, you were displaces as captain, or am I wrong. There were only 40 flowbacks that came here that were senior to ant non eagle rights with numbers. So that means only 40 could come here because of them the rest came for those dumb ones who did not elect eagle rights after 9/11 who got no number and were junior by default to every furloughed pilot at AA. But it seems you just like to pass the buck because that is the game of the day. So I really feel sorry for your situation, but it was all your making. And I would not bet my last dollar on our union leadership on knowing the legal aspects of what they are spouting to all the junior pilots because they are wrong. Just like you have bare minimum understanding of your own contract. You are what the majority of pilots at AE are, knlowledger based on word of mouth and we boards, you have absolutely no understanding of your own contract. Just pout total B.S..
Oh wait that means you must be in a union position.

Jake Wheeler

Looks this way to me too as seen by the way their mainline pilots look down on and fight with their regional pilots.

If the eagle pilots are fighting each other, they are only hurting themselves.