PurpleTurtle

You should have voted against nullifying all previous agreements.

You get everything in the MOU... Nothing more.

PurpleTurtle

One thing is for sure... Some pilots in the West will spend more money than any other group, and will get nothing but disappointment, much like the East guys chasing the lost pension. Nothing.

cactusmike

You seem pretty confident for someone so clueless.

LIOG41

So March 9th is the final date for the final SLI? If no agreement, then it goes to arbitration? Just trying to simplify things for us newbies.

eaglefly

I don't think so. From my understanding, it will take perhaps as long as six months for APA to be declared the sole bargaining representative for pilots of the merged carrier and then the formal process will start. In the past, APA has represented to its pilots that a negotiated solution is better then an arbitrated one, but that was simply their opinion and one from months ago. It would seem arbitration WILL ultimately occur and thus how, exactly when and who will be present to directly participate are unanswered questions. I believe it would be then up to APA to determine who participates directly in the arbitration, but that means they then also have a burden of DFR if they exclude any sub-segment that should be part of the process and could prove harm, if they weren't.

Just my .02..........

cactusmike

Yeah, it's a little confusing, isn't it? I had to consult the Book of MOU.

The timeline is like this. By March 8 the seniority negotiation has to be completed. If no agreement is made, then the arbitrators are selected. Now here's the kicker, the actual arbitration does not start until the JCBA is completed. That completion is dependent on the Single Carrier Determination, which was applied for this month. That should be done in less than three months (it took 72 days with AWA/AAA). APA takes over as our collective bargaining agent at that time.

The JCBA negotiations have to be done within 30 days of single Carrier status. That should not be an issue, most of that is done now anyway. If there is an issue then within 90 days the JCBA goes to arbitration. So a rough estimate would be JCBA done by June 1st, arbitration for the SLI starts after that, list is done within the next 12 months.

LIOG41

Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

cactusmike

Happy to help, it forces me to pay attention myself.

Wiskey Driver

The beauty in all this is that APA will run the show with everyone else outside looking in. I have said this before you can not have a situation where an ATTORNEY TELLS MEMBERS 'NO THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT" Then tell the other MEMBERS the direct opposite. This in an of itself can get you dragged before the attorney grievance commission and YES A WEST PILOT CAN FILE because as a usapa attorney he has a duty to represent the west as well and any west usapa member can claim that he committed malpractice. Dont be shocked if you see this happen, just saying.

WD at AWA

eaglefly

A recent APA blast talked about a six month period to be certified as the bargaining agent, so perhaps NMB has to approve and they are conservatively assuming other minor delay's in the process. Don't have access to that info right now, but it's just what I recall. I also recall an estimate of about 18 months from merger approval which would put it Summer of 2015 before the SLI was completed. I think the other 2 legacy SLI' s took upwards of 2 years, but cannot remember exactly.

Of course, should any sub-segment of pilots file legal action regarding the process or representation therein, I would assume that could potentially delay things further. USAPA already has apparently declared they intend to do that and so what effect, if any by this or other actions isn't known. I would venture to guess Summer 2015 to be the best case scenario.