Pablo,

There's no way to white-wash a selfish decision. Your a good sh*t, most of us (myself included), both like and respect you. I think the 777 "team" is lucky to get you.

I was surprised to see your name on the final award list ... we need guys like you helping to make our lives easier (thanks for volunteering for a union job) instead of helping the company show an arbitrator that guys will bid the airplane no matter what the pay scale is?


Mark

 

So if DW had bid the 777 and used the same reasoning as Pablo, then he’d be okay too? It looks like capt klepto bid it. If he used the same reasoning, would he be okay too? Or is it because we all like Pablo and he’s a good pilot that he’s being given a pass? Does all the talk about how guys who bid the 777 undermine the negotiating committee only apply to everyone except the one guy we like? Look--we’re all good guys and we all love flying, and we all have personal agendas, but I agree that one of our union leaders should be setting the example to both our fellow pilots and to the company.

The company is exercising its right under 26k of the contract. Okay, I haven’t been privy to all the discussions and negotiations so I don’t know for sure, but it looks like, while they're exercising their rights under paragraph 26K, they’re also slow-rolling us on the 777 pay rates…as far as I can tell, and that seems to be the prevailing thought on this forum. If they fill the initial 777 bid, then they have no reason to negotiate for anything better than what they’ve offered so far, and maybe not even that since we haven’t taken them up on their offer yet. I’d expect the average line pilot to jump all over a bid like this but I also expect more from a union leader. To quote Threedecker and Fdxflyr, who said so nicely, “As a union officer, bidding an airplane without a negotiated pay rate and negotiated work rules I find to be a poor example to set for our pilot group.” He “should be showing leadership by leading the effort, not working against us.”

 

Man that would have been a great letter if had been penned to Kirk Williams and the commitment had been to the crew force/union.

 

Uhhh...For those you that are too lazy to look up 26.K.:

26.K. New Aircraft In Service


1. If the Company wishes to place into operation any aircraft above the MTOGW limits outlined in Section 1, other than the aircraft for which rates of pay are established in Section 3 of this Agreement, the following shall apply:


a. The Company or the Association may, by written request, initiate conferences to negotiate agreements governing whether that equipment shall be considered a wide-body, narrow-body, or some new category of aircraft for the purposes of pay. Conferences shall commence no later than 30 days following receipt of the written request for those conferences.


b. If no agreement has been reached within 30 days following commencement of conferences, a non-disciplinary panel of the System Board shall be convened as provided in Section 21 for the purpose of establishing whether that equipment shall be considered a wide-body, narrow-body, or some new category of aircraft for the purposes of pay, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 21.A.4. (Jurisdiction of System Board).


c. The decision of the System Board shall be incorporated into this Agreement by reference. If the Company has placed the aircraft in service at a designated rate of pay before the System Board issues its decision, then the rates of pay determined by the System Board shall be applied retroactively.


d. The provisions of Section 31 of this Agreement shall not prevent the operation of Section 26.K.


2. If the Company introduces B737 and/or B757 aircraft, those aircraft will be considered narrow body aircraft.


3. A-380 pay rates are as provided in Section 3.

Seems odd that they included the 757, specifically...Yet, didn't have the foresight to tell us about the 777.

 

Sorry "Pablo"; but I thought a lot of you until you bid the 777. You fell further in my eyes when you offered this lame justification. We all have personal/ethical/honorable/justifiable excuses or rationale for decisions we make....if we twist logic hard enough.
I expected more from you personally based on my impression of you. I expected even more of you as a Union official. It obviously doesn't matter to you what your fellow pilots think of you but I, for one, have no respect for you. If this wasn't you personally, a lot of the guys who already posted congratulating you for your honesty and candor would have been brutalizing somebody else.
And the 777 instructor openings weren't open to ALL Fedex pilots as you espouse. Only experienced Captains. Kind of easy to forget about us right seaters when you make a self-centered decision, isn't it?
But then again........you will be one of the Union guys imploring your fellow pilots to some day support an ALPA decision that they personally don't agree with. Good luck selling that.

 

Pablo,

I'm not sure that's the "problematic" aspect of your choice. What appears problematic even troubling is the perceived conflict of interest in your choice to apply for an LCA position, bid the a/c, and accept the position in light of the ongoing trouble we've had negotiating a fair and equitable book rate on the 777. During which time you chose to run for and be elected as our Block Rep whose duties include support of the Union's position during contract negotiations. Seems to undermine our collective position, would you agree.

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but during these difficult times leadership is often easy to espouse but difficult to practice.

Thanks for your post and good luck.

 

Geez, must be tough being so perfect. I hope I never screw up and have you on my jury. You are doing exactly what "they" are hoping for, going at each others throats. I am not condoning it but I don't think it is as sinister as you are making it out to be.

 

Where does he says he screwed up??? He is defending his actions.

 

Apples and oranges - for the nth time....

We had a mechanism in place to go to arbitration and fly the planes before getting a rate. UAL didn't.

If by some magic we got 100% unity on this they would have just junior-manned it.

 

BoyCaptain...no need to respond to those that read these boards.....you have too much integrity. And of course........he's a Captain like you.....you guys got yours.