"Flight Management has recently undertaken an aggressive program to identify pilots who choose to call in sick. From what I can tell, this program is not driven by an individual’s past behavior, but rather by the timing of the sick call. The particular parameters placing a given pilot in management’s cross hairs are known only to those in Flight Management. Once you call in sick, you will soon find out if you have hit one of these secret trip wires. You may have gone years without touching your sick bank, but you are immediately a suspect by virtue of the timing of your sickness.

Management assures us that this is not a disciplinary action; it is, after all, just an advisory letter. In the eyes of management, that may well be true, but to a pilot who has spent years cultivating a professional and personal reputation of excellence, this action is insulting and demoralizing. Since these advisory letters are not driven by a pilot’s past record, one is left to wonder just what the program’s goal is. Since we are entering peak and draft calls are on the rise, possibly it is management’s attempt to intimidate pilots into not calling in sick. Whether or not this is their intention, it is certainly the effect. I want you to understand that management’s latest transgression against the CBA is not idly being accepted. The Grievance Chairman is reviewing the filing of a grievance which contests the action. We will provide you with an update as soon as it is filed. In the meantime, if you need advice, please contact the Grievance Chairman at [email protected].

Because it is so personal, we tend to think that this is solely about sick leave. It is not. Management’s action is a small reflection of its larger distain for our CBA. In the past two years, they have attacked the “right to representation,” the “just cause” discipline standard, the jury duty protection provision, and a number of other rights guaranteed by the CBA. Systematically, they have harassed our servicemen and reservists. Finally, they issued advisory letters in unprecedented numbers—papering the crew force into submission.

When it comes to negotiations, Captain Stratton has written about two teams. The same must apply when it comes to management’s administrative assault on the CBA. So, I strongly encourage you to fully comprehend that your manager and your manager’s supervisors are not on your team. They see your CBA as an obstacle or an impediment—a daily hassle around which to scheme when they need a different outcome. Is that how you see our CBA? I see our CBA as an essential body of rights which has been earned over the past two decades by countless volunteers. I’m not giving it up for anyone or anything and I know which team supports that view.

Fly safe,
JC"