Gene Sowell was the President of Local 747 for years, and he was the legal counsel for the Local. High points of his career include the Horizon pilots contract, and the RAH contract scope language. Low points include everything else he ever did or promised to do. Earlier this year, Teamsters International locked out Gene Sowell, and high level union officers. The Local was placed under emergency trusteeship, and Gene Sowell was ousted. He is currently involved in a number of legal disputes that highlight his crooked tenure as head of the Local, including his financial improprieties. Ever wonder why the RAH EXCO doesn't get to go to as many meetings regarding integration or contract negotiations as you would expect? Sowell left RAH with a $160,000 debt in the assessment fund, which is where flight loss pay for the union members on union business comes from.

As for the EXCO, they have been staunch supporters of GS for all the years I have known them. In the absence of GS, they have only kept quiet, and have not lashed out at him or his actions. The EXCO was elected, and they do face reelection next year. The problem in electing our EXCO over the years has been in the eligibility rules for participating. You all know that the vast majority of the RAH pilot group has been around for less than five years. Back at the last election, well over half the group was not eligible based on years of service alone.
Then, you have to look at the lifestyle of the remaining eligible pilots. Generally the senior pilots of a company make up the union leadership. At the major airlines and certain regionals like Eagle and Comair, you have a decent supply of senior pilots who are settled and comfortable in their personal lives. At younger companies like RAH, the senior pilots are often just having kids and getting their families started, and cannot fully devote themselves to union business. So, those pilots don't run for office.
During the previous elections, there were no union offices in a RAH base. Since then, offices have been opened in Indianapolis, a decent sized base for all three RAH certificates. The time required to even travel to union meetings was a big setback for those considering a run for office, and often was a deal breaker. Hopefully the IND offices encourage a few more to run.
There have been a number of good leaders who were either on the EXCO or wanted to be over the years, but their defiance to the then-current way of doing things was met with threats and intimidation.

The point is, yes our EXCO is elected, but in the past our "choice" was to pick four candidates from a pool of five or six. The job is unattractive, most everyone did not want to be associated with Gene Sowell, and any hint of change was beaten down by those in office (but not really, there is no proof...we would never lead a campaign like that...). Our past elections have basically been reduced to picking the lesser of the listed evils. One particular Sowell-supporter who continues to run is constantly not reelected, but that generally leaves us with the same four or five names to choose from, of which four get the job.
When next year comes around, a lot more pilots will be eligible to run for the EXCO, and I certainly hope that some of the new additions to our list (Midwest, Frontier pilots) will be eligible and willing to run. The short of it is, if the same bunch of knuckleheads gets reelected next year, the push to oust Teamsters will go ahead. Our leadership is on thin ice, and we as the pilot group are sick of their secrecy and empty threats to management. We know that your union is as strong as the pilots. The pilots we have now are strong, and many more of them are finally able to take the reigns. I have been asked by a few people to step up, and I am seriously looking into it. Am I the best man for the job? Who knows. But I am certainly better than what's in office now.