Originally Posted by Laughing_Jakal (Post 215178)

I will heartily disagree with your assessment.

Let me ask you Falconjet. Did you speak in favor of the movement to issue recall ballots? I only heard 4 people do that. One threw a fit and left in disgust after the first vote result was announced. Reasonable responses came from the LEC members in response to some sweeping generalizations he made. He actually came off as a fringe guy when he admitted some of his correspondence had been somewhat confrontational and sophmoric (my interp).

Another guy made some remarks about feeling isolated from the MEC and that he didn't want to be frustrated any more. His block rep acknowledged his points, accepted some criticism for himself, then said "please.....if you have concerns, get in touch with me." -- the speaker looked up and genuinely said "I don't know who you are".....the answer was, of course, "I am your block rep"--made me cringe.......

Not good for the home team. FB, the guy that made the motion did a professional job and graciously acknowledged defeat of the motion. He encouraged all to get involved. DW then spoke and told FB that he respected FB's right to use the system and FB should not be vilified for it. (There were some from the peanut gallery that used their time to speak against the recall motion to level personal opinions of FB's motivations...personally I thought it was uncalled for at the time)

He also said he (DW) remembered what it was like to take a stand in overwhelming opposition knowing you were doing the right thing (obviously refering to the early organizing days here)...was very gratious toward FB.

The LEC went out of their way to make sure the process went as it should with the possible exception of the ballot box that no one had the key for.
SM in a keen act of pro-active leadership not seen recently (Just kidding), smashed the box open to prevent a delay in the vote.

I will also say that I believe every LEC member present had three proxies and were able to vote them accordingly. I believe they got the word out to have some come out and vote against it. That is their right.

The funny thing is that they the (LEC) did more to help FB exercise his right to call for a recall ballot than most of the people Pi$$ing and Moaning on this site. 9 votes for recall ballots, some were proxies. FB came with three and voted one I believe because two weren't filled out properly. Where were you?

Did you speak on behalf of the recall ballots? Did you vote for recall? Did you stay till the end? Were you one of a couple of guys who voted for recall and sat there silently while FB took a beating graciously? Funny thing is that for the last two recall motions, instead of 9 "for" it was only 7 "for". Of course, one threw a fit, took his ball and went home......so that explains one vote, but obviously between motion one and three, someone changed their position on recall........Are we going to hold them to the same standard of credulity we did for the MEC members that appeared to change their position with the appearance of the LOA side letter?

Maybe now they just wanted to be on the winning side. Or maybe they were afraid of being identified.....who knows.

9 Votes and proxies for recall, one guy took his ball and went home. Only 4 guys spoke for recall.........Pathetic when you think about how many people complained on here.

I tell my son as a young man, when subjects come up that require intestinal fortitude, you need to ask yourself, "If not me, then who?".....FB asked himself that and put his money where his mouth was today. Not many others calling for the recall answered that question that way. They said "If not me then, ......FB".

Like them or not, those MEC members have stepped up and volunteered.......that takes intestinal fortitude. Instead of working (admittedly with flawed logic sometimes) on our behalf, they could have been out playing golf or doing whatever the absent recall crowd thought was more important today.

Though I have some displeasure with recent events, and feel I identified with those that "want new blood", I am firmly convinced now that the MEC (flaws and all) are more firmly committed to the careers of pilots at FedEx than most FedEx pilots are. DW, WR, DM, CB have patiently listened, pationately disagreed, indulged, etc. while I spoke my mind. Not once have they tried to disengage, and usually they were the ones to continue to engage, not dismiss. They have acknowledged the merit of some of my ideas and have been responsive. I have been impressed with their respect despite the diametric opposition I have held to their views.

In that regard, the MEC treated their opposition with more respect than the absent recall crowd treated FB who was attempting to represent them. FB was let down by the guys who spout bravado and don't act. Shame on those guys!

I think the MEC got the message though, though initially, there appeared to be some condescending remarks regarding dissent, they did not continue. I think we ought to move on.

If there are any more blocks interested in doing a recall. Know this, you better have your $hit together, cause your Block reps will. Also, make sure your brave APC posters really will show up instead of attending the opening of their garage door or getting their plants neutered. It looks bad for the cause when there are more guys on the MEC giving effort to the proper administration of a recall effort than there are guys that show up to generate a recall ballot.

Good Job FB......you put your money where your mouth was even though you knew it would fail. You had a set of big brass ones....

If I have you wrong Falconjet, if you were someone speaking on FB's motion in favor and I didn't remember you, then I apologize. Please realize this diatribe is directed to the guys that couldn't put their money where their mouth was, just plain failed to show, or are just so plain emotional about the issue, then nothing will satisfy them.......

Before you castigate me as a stooge, know this...I am a 32 percenter

I said it before, this place (APC) is now no better than the other place. Little credibility here. I'm going to the alpa boards. Don't bother responding here. If you want to talk to me, do it at a union meeting....I'll be the guy that took the time to show up.

Originally Posted by Albief15 (Post 215233)

Yeah, I'm pretty much a pr1ck since I didn't skip out on kid's school orientation, tons of farm work, and jumpseat from out of town on a weekday up to Germantown....for an LEC that isn't even mine.

40-9 or whatever...gimme a break. We can use the internet to vote. We can use it to spread whatever drivel the company or the union wants to espouse. But we cannot use it webcast important meetings, and the only way to make a change is to take time off your schedule, take your 3 proxies (not more than 3 allowed), and wander up to Memphis.

The rules are set up to protect those in power. Any changes will be uphill. But mocking the dudes who expressed their concern is wrong.

The outcome of this meeting was never in doubt. Try holding an open forum in the hub one night during a turn, or open this up to a web-meeting. You can bet your sweet @ss that will never happen with the current "we know what's best for you" routine.

I'll probably get stomped...but if I get to run for rep...here's two good ideas.

1. Use technology to the max extent possible to allow real time input from folks who are not GEOGRAHPICALLY at the Germantown/Kirby/Memphis meetings.

2. Try to take agency shop off the next contract. 3% freeloaders never bothered me as much as indifferent leadership.

Originally Posted by 290kts (Post 215681)

"Easy for him to say since he gets bumped from trips to attend them."

How do you know? This info is not public nor is there any intention to ever make it public.

This has been a source of consternation for some of us for a long time. Get involved and pass a resolution in your LEC to change this (Oh, that's already been tried).
Trip Loss Pay details should be public. In defense of some of these guys - I know personally that some of them use very very little trip removal. Others maybe not so much.....................