Originally Posted by
acl65pilot
If ALPA National negotiated our contracts, and we at the MEC level did not, you would have a point. Administrative and support staff are just that.
If the President did not sign a contract or two, and imposed their will, you would have a point, but they have not, not even the CH11 contracts.
MEC's negotiate their contracts and their futures, and what ATN did by sending that second SLI to their pilots is proof positive that MEC's do not have to nor are they required to listen to the advice from national. They blinked at a game of Texas Hold'em and the best advice would have been to take it to arbitration, but their MEC decided to not test Kelly, and they sent it to MEMRAT. The pilots decided their fate.
That's only half the story. This is the other half:
3. Prior to commencement of any bargaining for any ALPA pilot group within a mainline/express system, the applicable Negotiating Committee will meet with the Negotiating Committees of other ALPA pilot groups in the mainline/express system to review opening scope proposals and how they advance ALPA's scope goals and guidelines. The committees will work with each other to develop a consensus on proposals; if, however, they are unable to do so, subsection 3a below will apply:
a. Following consultation as specified above, and prior to submission of the scope proposal to the airline, the applicable negotiating committee will report to the Scope Subcommittee that ALPA pilot groups have consulted with one another and have or have not reached consensus that the planned scope proposal meets ALPA's scope goals and guidelines; if the latter, Negotiating Committees of other ALPA pilot groups within the system can submit statements of agreement or disagreement to the Scope Subcommittee, which can recommend changes following consultations with the Negotiating Committees involved.
b. The applicable Negotiating Committees and ALPA pilot groups within the mainline/express system will develop in conjuction with the opening proposal agreed reporting benchmarks with respect to developments in on-going scope negotiations which will require that the Negotiating Committee provide updates on the status of scope negotiations to the Scope Subcommittee. In the absesnce of consensual agreements concerning benchmarks, the Scope Subcommittee will determine reporting benchmarks.
4. During the period that final approval of a collective bargaining agreement is subject to Presidential review under the Constitution and By-Laws, MEC designated representatives of all ALPA pilot groups within the mainline/express system may submit comments prior to the Presidential signature concerning conformity of negotiated scope provisions with recommendations of the Scope Subcommittee and Association policy.
Carl