In the recent past, our corporation was facing an issue with pilots who wouldn't speak up in the cockpit when a flight parameter was exceeded or standards were being compromised. They began using a straightforward admonishment which said “Don't Hint, Don't Hope.” They were reminding us of our professional responsibility to confront situations that bring danger with them. We need to heed that advice regarding this tentative agreement.


The basis of “Don't Hint, Don't Hope” is simple reality. You have to admit what you are actually seeing in the hope of preventing a tragedy. Once the threat is recognized the way to avert the tragedy is communication - respectful, firm communication.


Don't Hint, Don't Hope: We must stop hinting and hoping that our fellow pilots are going to ask our opinions on this tentative agreement and simply begin the conversation with each pilot we come across. We need to do this with pilots we fly with and pilots we just see in Flight Operations. We can't wait for a communication opportunity to arise or else we'll soon find ourselves hoping that the changes in the new contract aren't as bad as they seem.


One of the most telling measures of the value of this TA is the quote from the Motley Fool blog that has a FedEx official confirming that productivity gains will pay for the contract. The FedEx guy just could not help letting out the news until after the TA was ratified. That's the definition of giddy.

Don’t Hint, Don’t Hope: The importance of this slip cannot be overstated. This is third-party confirmation of what our pilots, including those who are voting for this TA, now know. This tentative agreement is bought and paid for with your future sweat and fatigue. To be clear - the price of the “increased” pay rates and other mediocre improvements is to be worked like a mule.


As I said in my previous post, the change in the 8 in 24 language is just one change that is grist for the digital grinder that is the optimizer. The optimizer is going to make full use of these changes. Our pilots experience enough fatigue already. These changes will expand that fatigue regime. Anyone who votes for this TA is trading a shorter lifespan for a few shekels.

Don't Hint, Don't Hope: The opportunity to work harder for more money is not a raise.


Our leaders have told us that we have been threatened by the NMB with very limited options if we vote this down. Since when did the National Mediation Board become the Corporate Enforcement Board? Why are we ceding our equal negotiating position to the interference of a mid-level government bureaucrat? If the NMB is stepping outside of their charter as an impartial mediator, then the job of our union is to take them to task in a court of law.


This threat is simple, straightforward arm-twisting by a government bureaucrat to accept a deal that is at best cost-neutral and forces us to give up our retirement at a time when our company is making vast sums of money. That is governmental interference which benefits FedEx, coming from an institution that is supposed to be impartial in labor disputes. This is in no way impartial. Their threats are specifically assisting our company and injuring our pilots economically.


If you are unwilling as a union leader to take on the government when necessary to ensure that your negotiating rights are respected, then you are unwilling to be a complete leader. You are unwilling to fully protect your pilots’ interests. This is not right.

Don't Hint, Don't Hope: The NMB is choosing who will win and who will lose in this fight. That is not their job because this is mediation, not arbitration. If you are unwilling to take on the NMB when they are inappropriately putting their thumbs on the scales during a negotiation, you are sheepishly consenting to their corporate-friendly actions as if they are appropriate. In doing this you are not defending your profession but simply overseeing its degradation. I will admit there is no guarantee that you would win a fight against the NMB, but you're absolutely guaranteed to lose now and in the future if you don't fight their inappropriate actions. Dave Behnke must be rolling in his grave as his association cowers at the feet of a mid-level bureaucrat.


There are good tactical reasons to vote this tentative agreement down. They all have to do with the interplay between negotiations at UPS and FedEx. As I said in my last post, if we accept this TA then we force UPS pilots to negotiate against our concessions. That's a huge disservice to them and cargo carriers in general.


But it's not just the specific issues in our contract; it's also the expectations the NMB will have of UPS pilots after we cave to the inappropriate NMB pressure. If UPS sees us not bowing to the threats, they are far more likely to see hope in holding firm in their positions as well. That can only result in better leverage for them (and us behind them), even if a contract is delayed by their determination.


One of the things that pressured FedEx into actually negotiating with us in 2006 was the tentative agreement that UPS reached with its pilot group. FedEx was quite worried about the gains that could be made against us by UPS because of the fact that they would have labor peace while we were still negotiating. If we vote this tentative agreement down, we will very likely be in that same position again and have leverage that we do not have now, even if nothing changes with the NMB.


Don't Hint, Don't Hope: We are being forced to vote on a concessionary TA at one of the most inopportune times regarding the interplay between our negotiations and the UPS negotiations. The interplay between UPS negotiations and ours should produce a much better opportunity if we vote this down.


Finally, we can't allow ourselves to buy into the fictional in order to lessen the pain of the real. The fantasy of negotiating a fix to our retirement (or anything else) outside of Section 6 is simply a reality-ignorant delusion meant to salve the wound of a diminished contract. It has no basis in prior behavior from our company, the industry or labor relations in general. Nobody with any kind of negotiating experience should expect FedEx to magically adjust our contract outside of Section 6 negotiations unless it is uniquely to FedEx’s benefit. In this case, FedEx will have absolutely no motivation to change anything considering that they will have already won their primary goal of destroying our retirement if we accept this tentative agreement.

Don't Hint, Don't Hope: When you are using fictional scenarios to lessen the pain of the realities in front of you, you are no longer operating in the realm of the real. It shows the depth of your resignation and it shows that you are too timid to confront the issues head-on. This is exactly like the timidity that “Don't Hint, Don't Hope” is meant to counter in the cockpit. We need to apply this concept to our contract situation, react to it with the appropriate speed and assertiveness, and correct this deviation well below the norm that is degrading our careers in front of our eyes. Not doing so is counter to the way we conduct ourselves in our profession.


Mesa and Air Wisconsin pilots today rejected tentative agreements that were well short of their expectations. They live in the same reality we do with the same NMB. How is it they have such a different view of their plight?



Please, in regard to this contract, stay in contact with reality – even if it is uncomfortable. Don't hint, don't hope. Get active in helping vote this TA down.


Brad Mahoney
MD-11 Captain