FDX: Professional Negotiating Firm?? Poll
 

While it's great we supposedly have a good FDX "Pilot" negotiating team led by FE, should we have a professional negotiating firm as our face to face team with the company??

This one is a no brainer. Fred is a nice guy and all, but come on.

I sure wish this was an official union poll and not fun little make believe one.

Why a union poll wouldn't change the MEC's mind anyway. They would just do what they thought was right.

I say start "pounding" on your reps to do their "fiduciary" duty and research this option. Then tell us WHY or WHY NOT!! I don't want to hear the ALPA "party" line that our business is too complicated for anyone else to understand (give me a break) or that "well, we have ALPA's lawyers sitting behind us". I want a professional firm developing our strategies on how to reach our "pillars", under the eye of our union negotiating team, and to be the lead guys at the table facing the companies team.

Considering the holes in this contract, the LOA, etc., I can't see why we should not have professional negotiators (spelled "Lawyers"). There is just no way a group of pilots, no matter how well intentioned, are going to out negotiate a group of lawyers who do it for a living! Why our MEC can't get this through it's thick skulls makes a member say, "Hmmm, There must be something else motivating our MEC." Could it be power? Could it be greed? It's got to be more than just plain old incompetence. At least I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in that regard.

We should not just hire a professional negotiator, we should hire a proven negotiator that has worked for an airline negotiating against pilots.

We have 4700 pilots, with an average yearly salary of say $150,000 per year, paying 1.95% dues.

150,000 x 4700 x .0195 = $13,747,500 per year x 3 yrs (2008, 2009, 2010) = $41,242,500 of dues between now and 2011. I think we could afford to offer a negotiator 5 or 6 million. We could probably hire DM for less.:eek:

A novel and PERFECT idea!!:D Maybe you should be on the MEC!!:eek:

Ahhhh....So, that's how UAL and DAL got their pre 9-11 contracts. They just hired a "professional" negotiator?

Wow, that's brilliant!! Wonder why nobody else ever thought of that?

I'm not against hiring an outside negotiator. But, I know that is not our problem. We are! Or, at least we have been the problem in every negotiation on this property. I would say except the FDA LOA...But it passed by 68%.

We don't need another negotiator. We need an educator and a motivated crewforce.
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I hate to disagree with you but we had 95+% voluntary membership during the last negotiations as well as the crewforce behind the team (my NC speaks for me!). We were as unified as I've ever seen here at FDX. I'll agree that we still had "independent operators" but I think they were the same bunch as always. I don't think it's different at any other operator. However, we were sold unbelievably short by our last NC and the effects are now being seen in the "raping" of our lines because of no effort on their part in fixing our workrules. Any monetary gains we supposedly made have been neutralized and then some by the optimizer. The company is probably laughing all the way to the bank. We told our NC what we wanted (pillars) and they couldn't deliver. I agree with a ealier poster....don't send novices against the companies lawyers/team.

You pick UAL and DAL who probably negotiated their pre 9-11 contracts what 10 years or so ago. Ask the guys at Continental, or UAL, DAL, USAir what they think of ALPA's "help" or negotiating ability and I know you'll get a different tune today. A guy at DAL told me five days ago that if it wasn't an agency shop he'd NEVER give another dime to ALPA. When I went for my last physical I got into a discussion with a guy from Continental. He said ALPA couldn't negotiate a descent contract if it was handed to them. He was disgusted.

In the end, if the MEC doesn't FULLY investigate this option they are not doing their job!!!!!!!:mad:

The problem is that we don't have $13.7 million per year to work with. That goes to ALPA national, who then decides how much goes back to the FDX MEC for our (their) purposes. Guess what... the FDX MEC budget for 2007 was some $4.2 million. So no, we don't have $5 or $6 million laying about to pay a professional negotiator. :mad: