You didn't hear it from me, but....
It's been said by those who know that FE was fired because he represented the interests of younger pilots (read, lower 75 percent of the seniority list).

It's also been said that when certain senior (read over-60 or soon-to-be) pilots heard of a possible retirement incentive package on the table, they called their dear old friend FWS crying unfair, and Fred came in and "removed" any retirement talk from the table on behalf of management. Thus FE got basically worked-around and got his credibility compromised by the "elder generation."

There's a reason behind the phrase "shut up and color." All the junior (bottom three-quarters of the seniority list) guys have been blatantly rolled by DW and those wanting to cajole the uber-senior members.

One of the candidates for NC on the ALPA email list has been on DW's agenda since before FE was fired. Won't mention the name until he is voted in, but my sources suggest this one has been planned for quite some time, and the result will be a NC who caters to the top 25%., i.e.., no talking about 'A' fund, no increase in 'B' fund, etc.

It's also been said that the only reason there are no furloughs is the bean-counters can't find a way to make it save any money. The MEC (read DW) has expressed desire to explore that option before risking reduction of pay for senior members.

I hate anonymity, and I hate smoke & mirrors and cloak & dagger mystery talk. I don't like that I have to hear this kind of sch!tt "on the crew bus" from people who could make a difference but choose not to. I don't like having to read about (or post) this crap on a forum like this. But I no longer trust the MEC, and I have very little faith in my block reps. If you think I'm full of cr@p, PM me and I'll give you names, dates, times.

I still have the email my rep sent me answering the question, "was FE fired?" I'm going to save it until the truth comes out. My guess is it'll be a while before that happens...