ERJ135

Council 121 Newsblast
Written June 21, 2013

Monday and Tuesday of last week your full MEC finally met to receive and discuss the offer from USAir management given to the MEC Officers the previous Wednesday.
This proposal came as a result of discussions between our leadership and the new management team over last year’s fleet plan (that was never provided as promised).
The proposal was missing the three items we expressed a need for – the ability to attract new hires, the ability to retain those that are here and a specific fleet plan with guaranteed hulls as negotiated for over the last 3 years through the “plan to win”, divestiture TA and bankruptcy.
As a result of the shortfall, the voting members of the MEC provided specific guidance to the officers and negotiations committee that the offer from USAir was an insult and unacceptable.
We explained to our Negotiations Committee and Officers that we were willing to discuss a reasonable offer, however, the B scale that the company wanted was unacceptable under any circumstances.
The voting members of the MEC gave the MEC Chairman and Vice Chairman a very specific set of guidelines for discussion with the company – again, any reasonable discussion and offer would be considered but the MEC very specifically guided that there would be absolutely NO B-scale or “Growth Scale” as USAir Management wanted. This was supported 100% by the MEC.
We were told that a meeting with USAir would be possible later in the week and the MEC tasked one of our members to accompany the leadership to ensure that our guidance was presented.
Thursday morning the voting members of the MEC received a newly created proposal (as drafted by our Negotiators and MEC Officers) and it was generally in line with our guidance.
Thursday afternoon a teleconference was called for the purposes of recapping for the voting members of the MEC the discussion from the table with USAir.
The MEC was told that management regarded the B scale as a necessary part of any deal – an issue the MEC had already resolved unanimously as unacceptable, a non-starter.
The MEC initially held firm, but after a barrage of push from our leadership, as well as absolute silence from ALPA representatives on the call, the MEC split in favor of opening discussion to the entire deal to “look and see” what the deal would look like.
I truly believe that the goal of the day by USAir management was only to see if we would entertain something as abhorrent as the B scale.
Rest assured it will be in every contract they negotiate from this point on regardless of whether we approve a deal created out of this process.
I cannot begin to express my most sincere apology for the absolute failure of this board to recognize the lessons learned over the last 30 years trying to bury Pandora’s Box. When AA opened the box in the 80’s they took the entire industry down with them including every new hire on the property – a group that now far outnumbers the non B scale group setting up one of the greatest divisive issues in aviation history.
Unfortunately, we have once again dared to crack the seal to “peek inside” and find out what the “the deal looks like” providing management the keen understanding that we as well as every other MEC are willing to take this industry not into not the toilet it was under Crandall’s B scale but into the cesspool the old toilet drains into. This industry has served as the airline “Z Scale” for years, now we offer that same future to our new hires.
Our management and USAir’s management have very handily showed us what we are worth and what value we bring to the corporation.
I am truly sorry I have failed you all.
I am truly sorry we the MEC have failed you all.

Fraternally
PXXXl VXXXXe and SXXm PXXXl