Originally Posted by
DAL 88 Driver
I'm going to probably surprise you a little, shiznit, and basically agree with you on this point. I did send in a card... not because I'm prepared to absolutely vote DPA in at this moment, but because all the card does is allow a vote to be taken. I too would want to know that everything is "fully functional" before pulling the trigger on the changeover. But I want a heck of a lot more than "fully functional"! I want an association that is clearly advocating restoration. What I absolutely do NOT want is an association that makes every excuse in the book why that supposedly cannot happen... an association that continually tries to manage our expectations downward. All I'm looking for is someone to fight for us, not concede defeat and try to make the best of it. If DPA will do that, I'll vote for them. I want them to be fully functional (and they will have to address that), but that is only one part of the big picture here... and not the most important part IMO either.
Functionality is much more than having reps who care about a negotiating a great contract.
I think that contractual restoration is important, but by "fully functional" I mean to say that we will need capable, knowledgeable people to man the Safety committee, to review the monthly PBS runs, to man the PBS help desk, to have guys like C.T. in the office to resolve PWA questions, call the company and help provide resolution before problems become a "fly now, greive later" scenario. We will need R&I staff to help guys getting ready to punch out have all the info they need. Who will represent the next busted pilot? What happens to the pilot representative to the ASAP committee? There are numerous things that keep the union running every single day that have to be duplicated and implemented, and its a much, much larger task that will require hundreds if not thousands of man hours to organize.
(I still think our new/current stable of LEC Reps want restoration just as badly as a "new bargaining agent's" slate of elected reps do.)