Radials Rule

Speak for yourself.

TiredSoul

He is not.

6ix9ineYearFlow

Does anyone care to break down what the deal is with Atlas and contract negotiations? The things I’ve gathered from reading is that the last contract was signed around 2011, it became amendable around 2016 but then things broke down between the union and Atlas because of the Southern merger (maybe?), there’s been an illegal strike since, and apparently the contract is probably going to arbitration where who knows what’s actually going to become of pay rates. Am I getting the gist of it?

BrazilBusDriver

Contract dates are more or less correct. Unaware of any illegal strike, but pretty much anything that is a departure from the norm can be spun as a "job action" under RLA, including actually writing up all maintenance faults (why you wouldn't anyway is beyond me) or collectively refusing to pick up open time, and I think the company got an injunction against Atlas pilots for something like that *at some point*. I'll let the guys that have been around longer chime in on the history of the place/negotiations, but I understand that a lot of the not so good feelings come from the fact that Atlas holdings more or less used (maybe a happy accident, maybe intentionally) the purchase of Southern to bypass scope/opening section 6 negotiations with the Atlas pilots. There were some lawsuits that centered around that but they've all been decided in favor of Atlas at this point.

At any rate, what happened happened and there is now a 9 month clock for arbitration that started a few months ago (not 100% on the exact date); it was supposed to start with an IBT proposal for an Integrated Seniority List (ISL), but they got a few extra months to produce that and my understanding is that it's now been passed to the company. It's super important for the guys that were at Atlas and Southern before the merger, but kind of irrelevant for anyone that came after 2016, since anyone hired since the Southern purchase will be integrated with Atlas pilots based on date of hire based upon every flavor of the proposal that's ever been passed through the rumor network.

As to the contract, last email said a slight majority of sections are TA'd with the company and I think most all have been passed, some back and forth. Big sticking points are the same as they always are in every negotiation - pay and scheduling, but also SCOPE. And coming from a place that didn't have loctite scope, I'll tell ya that's pretty important and the guys that have been along for this ride are right to be very concerned about it.

My understanding is 2750 (atlas) is kind of driving the bus (vis a vis negotiation, Southern/1224 is kind of along for the ride) since they're a lot bigger, and proposals on all the open sections have been passed to the company. The company claims they want to negotiate but the union wants "too much" in their emails and have implied they'll be bankrupt if they even come close. It's typical stuff, and honestly less acrimonious here than what I saw in the late 2000s at the last job. Whatever is still outstanding when the parties decide they aren't going to get any further (may or may not be on the exact 9 month date) gets decided by an arbitrator. Presumably whatever is currently TA'd will be part of the new, arbitrated contract.

There's speculation that the arbitrator might consider the 10% raise we all got a little less than a year ago "good enough" when it comes to pay, but it's just that, speculation. No one really knows what will come of scheduling, scope, or pay. Or hell, maybe they really think they know, but as far as I can tell they don't have any official word unless our arbitrator is trolling us on internet forums. It's even possible that the company and the union might come to a TA on those sections, but I tend to think management will probably roll the dice with the arbitrator unless they're getting what they consider a great deal, but that is again speculation and based on how I've seen these things go elsewhere.

boeingdvr

variables. Running late- it may be easier to be at the hub.

The main reason we are getting the rooms is for COVID, and partly to mitigate FTG.

nothing last forever.

Radials Rule

He does not speak for everyone....not even close. So yes, “speak for yourself“ applies.

FourFans130

https://theloadstar.com/atlas-air-mo...-pilots-union/

https://atlasair5ypilots.com/working...ions-update-2/

I'm new to union negotiations. I'm assuming this is normal, juvenile behavior from grown men who are "reaching an agreement", yet not actually do that?

Elevation

Yeah. There's an influence campaign being waged by both sides. I suspect some of this is to influence the minds of regulators and arbitrators. I also suspect some of this is to influence the minds of pilots. Missing from any of the releases are actual pictures of what either side is proposing. So we're being asked to form opinions without receiving information necessary to do so. In short, we're being manipulated.

While I wouldn't say this is normal, it's not unheard of either. If you're new to the company I wouldn't waste much time on this stuff until you're off probation. My two cents.

FourFans130

Precisely my plan. Just building SA from the sideline.

TransWorld

Deleted. . . .