Originally Posted by
AdiosMikeFox
An outspoken pilot who was a huge critic of the union who then became a CA rep in the union. He rattled a lot of cages, outed huge expenses by previous union officials (thereby pis sing them off, very hard feelings exist to the his day) and talked a hard line regarding daily operations suggesting many things that the company wanted to view as a "work action", like contract interpretations the company disagreed with.
He spoke his mind and had very little give as far as negotiations went and has been accused of sabotaging negotiations or doing end-runs around the union to get things done. He has been a PITA to the company by publicly and repeatedly calling them on their BS.
He's made a lot of enemies among management, former and current union members because he stepped on a lot of toes, wouldn't bend to their will and pretty much let them know it. He's also suffered due to appearing to change from a huge critic (which he still was) to pushing company propaganda about 2.5/6, which is unfortunate because we ALL know it's possible if certain conditions are met, conditions which he readily acknowledged. It earned him being called a turncoat.
All that said, he was a great CA rep IMO. Always responded quickly to questions and immediately placed himself between the pilot and the company. His uncompromising style has bent the company in our favor more often than not and his outing of a lot of information that tends to get skirted or softened by corporate/union speak has kept the pilot group well informed. He actively listened to and solicited opinions and positions from the pilots in his LEC, held boatloads of teleconferences to solicit and dispense information. Way better than almost any previous rep in my tenure. He's worked hard behind the scenes getting things fixed by management by threatening to publicly criticize them.
He was placed on "probation" for allegedly abusing union/sick time off. He was busted for an alleged repeat offense. His high visibility and antagonism of the company ensured they were going be on his case instantly for anything that could be perceived as an infraction.
The short version: Outspoken CA rep ticks management and other pilots off by not staying in line, however the rep does a lot of good by shaking things up as well. Pis ses the company off repeatedly so they make sure to bust him and fire him.
Wow,man. **********.
It's obvious you bought into his whole martyr persona hook, line, and sinker. I'm not going to change your views, but just keep in mind this:
He was a good rep on a personal pilot level. Meaning if you needed to do a carpet dance in the CPO he was a good guy to have there with you. Other than that, Cujo was a walking disaster from one end to the other.
He returned calls? That's his freakin' job as a rep!!!!!! All reps as far as I know return calls/texts. They certainly do in DFW.
Cujo did major damage to this pilot group by pushing his personal views and convincing enough people to buy into his BS. His mantra for most of 2013/2014 was that everyone on property was going to get hired off the street at mainline in 3 years or less, therefore we should scuttle the ship. The sheep bought into it and Cujo felt really proud of himself.
It wasn't until late 2014 that he realized what a mistake he had made and did an about face on his views. But good luck getting him to admit he was ever wrong. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too (pardon the pun). He continued to argue that he was right in March of 2014 with the NO vote and right in December 2014 with the YES vote....even though the December offer was worse than the March one.
It's one or the other....you can't have it both ways. But that is exactly what he wanted. Then there are his issues within the Union. He continually over stepped his boundaries by attempting to negotiate directly with management. It backfired on him in the Summer of 2014, he quickly retreated into the shadows and swept it under the rug.
Sam Pool who was always his ally back in the NY rep days quickly turned on him. For the past year Cujo was isolated within the Union and the only people who gave him the time of day was his fan club on Eagle Lounge. He did more damage to this pilot group than 30 people could have done if they tried.
Oh, and all of that is not even getting into his attendance abuse. Punching out on PAID Union leave just to get out of having to work is bad form to say the least. Especially when you then use that time to take a vacation to Disney. He would regularly abuse the sick call/union leave system, thereby leaving the actual work to be done by some poor pilot who had to cover for him.
That is just he beginning of it. There is plenty more and the company didn't single him out. In fact they gave him one opportunity after another. The problem is he thought he was invincible and could get away with anything.