Originally Posted by
sailingfun
Carl, When DPA first started they wisely recognized what goes into a section six negotiation and set up a time line. In their words they had to have the required number of cards in by 31 Dec 10 in order to have the vote and be on the property by summer 11. What happened to make them decide they had made such a huge error in their time line and now almost 1 year after their own deadline don't see a problem?
I don't know this for a fact, but I hope the reason the DPA guys are continuing is because of people like me urging them NOT to suspend activities under any circumstances. My opinion is that the DPA's existence is the only reason DALPA hasn't already caved in scope via LOA
prior to Section 6.
Originally Posted by
sailingfun
Second question. Do you see DPA being able to establish a working relationship and the political ties that will be required to get past the NMB in this contract in the amount of time remaining?
ALPA has no political relationships, with one exception: Politicians take ALPA's (our) money and allow ALPA a seat at the table. That's the relationship. That's it. The sooner everyone gets past the ALPA advertising slogans, the sooner you'll be able to understand what's going on around you.
Originally Posted by
sailingfun
What will they do different from American to avoid the 5 year debacle that has been their contract negotiations.
I'm surprised you still say things like this. Do you not pay attention to very recent history? The problem at American is not the APA as a union. The problem at American is the widely varied opinion of the pilots. Some of them are "constructive engagement" types. Others are not and want to get complete restoration plus cost of living back all in the first year. ALPA thought they could come in and show APA how it's done. But what happened? The first time ALPA was publicly insulted for being secretive and having ulterior motives, ALPA very publicly withdrew their services and walked away from the pilots of American.
The question you should be asking yourself is: What will ALPA do differently this time now that they've apparently rejoined APA? Because so far, ALPA has only served to delay APA's contract hopes for the entire time ALPA has been there.
Carl