Quote:
On The Money Hazcan,Originally Posted by HazCan
Actually, and I'm no fan of DW, that would be highly illegal under the RLA. The union cannot endorse any kind of work action, real or perceived. Pilot groups have been fined in the past. We need guys who can read between the lines and quit doing this crap without their mother telling them it's hurting the cause. I know, I know...that and $3600 won will buy you a cup of coffee in Seoul.
I was there last night and I got some pretty strong impressions from it. I actually felt better about several points afterward.
There was a very good explanation of the level of legal support that ALPA provides for negotiations. I was impressed with the explanation of ALPA "national's" negotiator qualifications. But, I am not sure that their capabilities are being properly taken advantage of.
The topic of outside negotiators came up. DW contrasted our current model of negotiating with that of the teamsters. I found this to be a little over the top. He went on and on about how a teamsters professional negotiating team would just show up and negotiate a compltete contract with no input from the MEC.
Someone began to make the suggestion that a combination approach might be effective and that was when DW lost his composure. He declared that he was not running for re-election(Halleluah). Then, he shared why our contract is not all we would like it to be and why it took so long to negotiate. In an overdue(my opinion) expletive filled diatribe DW basically laid out how we got where we are. He said basically that the Subic crews and the Wide body FO's deliverded the contract because they stopped flying extra and selling their vacation. He also said that our negotiating positions have been seriously affected by our DP fliers. There was significant applause in the room.
The topic of Over 60 crewmembers flying together also came up and the MEC members completely discouted the FAA's strong recommendation against it. The gist of the MEC position was that the FAA needs to make a new rule or shut up.
There was also a long debate about the Presidential election and whether ALPA should endorse political candidates.
DW reiterated that he is going to continue to vote on the exec council the way he thinks is right with limited regard to the opinion of the majority.
DW is obviously worn down by the weight of his job. He has lost the bubble. His passion came out in this meeting and I now question his motivations less now than I did before. It was good to finally to hear the official lessons learned from the negotiation of the last contract and better to hear that we will have a new union president. When is his seat up for vote?
Anyone else who was there, please feel free to expound upon their personal impressions of the meeting.