1) I speak as someone that does have “Intel” and others would consider me “in the know”.

Sorry, but I don't take info from a mysterious guy in a trench coat on a dark alley....this ain't the X-files! Our Union doesn't (or at least shouldn't) work this way. State your name, rank and serial number and identify your source on the MEC...or better yet, have your MEC "source" communicate all pertinent info directly through proper channels as the MEC should.

If Negotiations got "heated" as you say then I say good! That tells me a lot...it tells me that the Company really wants this LOA badly...if they didn't, there would have been no "heat" and no negotiations...they simply would have made their offer and left it at that.


2) "The company currently believes we have an excess of 500 pilots..."

Who cares? Pilot staffing levels are irrelevant to a suitable financial package for a foreign domicile.


3) SIBA will be gone

Who cares? The Company can and always had the right/ability to SIBA or not to SIBA. This is just a veiled threat to induce FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). The technique is found in Chapter 1 of The Management Guide to Crushing Those Pesky Unions.


4) When/IF the LOA is voted done, the company has two optionsa. Open the domicile without the LOA. Due to legal and current contractual issues this is not what we want. (TRUST ME)b. Open the bases without FedEx pilots flying FedEx A/C. This will do massive damage to career expectations across the board. And this is not a rumor it has been researched and is a viable alternative that the company is prepared to go through with.

4a) Care to elaborate? Can the MEC elaborate? I can think, reason, analyze, pay dues....oh, and vote too, so pardon me if I don't just "Trust You." Give me the facts and let me decide.
4b) What a weak attempt at a threat....if it is so viable the Company would have done it already and we would find out about it in the Commercial Appeal...period!


5) As a side note the company’s analysis....

Again, if the Company thought it was both cheaper and at least as efficient to hire foreign pilots to protect the FedEx name or hire directly to the left seat, they'd have done so long ago. I don't think I can express it any better than HazCan already did, so I'll just quote him here..."shhhhhyeahhh, and monkeys might fly out of my butt"


6) Being based in CDG or HKG will not be a windfall of finances or living conditions.

On this point I agree with you...this LOA will certainly not be a windfall. Duh!


7) Be Careful what we wish for, because we might just get it.

Another ominous threat from the man in the cloak....so noted.


FINAL THOUGHT : Be ready for the alternative, this is NOT where we want to make our contractual stand, save it for three years when we re-enter negotiations. TRUST ME.


Yes, why take a stand now for the relatively junior guys that will be stuck with this turd sandwich when we can make our stand in a few years for the senior guys' pay rates on the A380, errr B777? And besides, we all know in 3 years we will really, really, really get everything we ask for....no need to unify on this issue which only affects a small percentage of junior guys (sarcasm light-illuminated)

The REAL Final Thought here is this....If the Company didn't need this badly, they would not have offered an extra dime for an LOA. Do you think some Management weenie cooked up this package because he was a humanitarian? The Company is doing this out of the goodness of their hearts? This is just business...cold, hard business, nothing personal...it's how this kind of stuff works. If there was "heat" in the negotiations, that speaks volumes about the importance the Company places on having "us" fly the freight over there.