Originally Posted by
Point85ToTheFix
This is my issue with the pro-ALPA types. They complain that our contract "isn't good enough" but it passed with 73% to 27% and when I ask them personally they said they voted yes. So for a strong majority of pilots they thought it was good enough at the time and now are trying to re-trade because they want more?
The other major issue I have is nobody is explaining how ALPA will be any better at *insert pet peeve here*. It is essentially "APA screwed this up therefore ALPA will make life perfect". How?
My concern is there is all this effort and focus being put into the letterhead and at the end of the day nothing will change except my dues will nearly double.
I am open minded to change but you need to show me how things will be better. I agree with your complaints about APA but how does changing the name fix any of them?
Couple of points. To the latter, “nearly double” is misleading. ALPA has effectively had a 1.5% dues rate the last 2+ years due to refunds. And I think we would
all expect a merger to come with a
permanent dues reduction to something meaningfully less than that (a 20% swell in ranks/dues paying members means big efficiency). Once you figure in AA’s higher Sec 6 rate, It is reasonable to expect a merger would result in a pretty small dues difference to you over a contract cycle, if any at all. The devil in is the details there.
To the former point. keep in mind that Covid reset all the Legacy contract to be near-simultaneous negotiating. UA and AA both (thankfully) rejected their first sub-par deals, and DL came in with a *massive* improvement, that both UA and AA then copied, in many cases
to the letter/penny. (UA ALPA’s table proposal, for example, was less than what DL achieved, which caused them to immediately withdraw their proposal). None of that is to rub anyone’s nose in anything. That’s just what happened - DL’s negotiating team individuals deserve the credit. Not as much the rank and file. Each pilot group still controls its own destiny/MEC, and has almost complete autonomy on their own ops. If a group elects weak Reps, weak results will still follow, regardless of the “letterhead”. I’d like to think a singular union would be a benefit for all of us