Tony, thank you for that summary and how the the FedEx union leadership viewed the issue. I also agree with you and the leadership at that time on many of the points you bring out but I was still opposed to the change. Here is what rubs me the wrong way with what went down:

"Most FedEx pilots did not want the regulated age to change. That was immaterial, and the FedEx MEC had no power to prevent the change." TonyC

The leadership here at FedEx ALPA knew the membership was against the change. They challenged us and tried to convince us, the membership, to change our personal view and go with what ALPA National wanted. Our local leaders fought the good fight but did not convince the membership and now needed to go to ALPA National and vote against the change in ALPA policy. Unfortunately, that is not what happen. They, the FedEx ALPA leaders, instead went to Washington and did not represent what their members wanted, dismissed it as "immaterial" and voted in favor of changing the ALPA national policy regarding age 60.

"I believe it is the job of leaders to tell the truth, even if it's tough to swallow." TonyC

I believe this is where our FedEx ALPA leaders failed us. They started down the right track telling the membership what they believed was the "truth" and that we needed to change our view regarding the regulated age. We were not convinced so now the FedEx leaders needed to go to Washington, tell the "truth" and represent our view "even though it's tough to swallow". The motion to change the policy would have carried whether we, FedEx, voted for or against. But voting against would have made the local membership happy and possibly avoided the one of the huge wedges that has been driven into this group. The opinion of the membership should never be "immaterial" but it seems that most people elected to "represent" the people now days view "the people" as immaterial, be they union or governmental representatives.

The ATM