How about a new lanyard which reads, "my NC DOES NOT speak for me"? I hope in the upcoming shakeout that Cibotti runs for president, although the demographics would ensure he would not win. I can't stand to be represented by this incompetence. Where the heck does Magner get off acting like an elected rep?

For those that do not know, the UPS pilots union represented by the IPA just tubed their potential negotiations. The older pilot were to be given an amazing pension at the expense of FO pay and scheduling rules. The result would be that the old codgers retire and we are stuck with low pay and terrible work rules!! What a greedy bunch of bastards. Thank God for Dean and Cindy, who are Exec Board members who stood up for the common good.

 

What the EB/NC has to do, in my humble opinion, is answer the rumors out there: is FO/SO pay being sold down the river, does Article 13 contain such things as 18 hr deadhead for int'l, did we allow the company to get 2+ legs of int'l duty with a heavy crew in a duty period (TPE-ONT-SDF, or something like that), etc. There are too many questions out there and they all need to come clean. I know the mediator put on a info blackout, but that was before all of this blew up. The membership deserves this. Too much he said, she said.

I also see a division growing between senior members and junior members. Senior members seem to be saying that everyone on the EB needs to fall in line, like ducks, with the pres.(not good), and the junior folks have their own issues (not good). We all won't get what we want, but there is no reason for one group to benefit more than another or at the expense of another. We should be able to get a contract that improves areas for all groups. They may not be perfect, but I think this is possible. With the answers to the above questions, everyone will see where our EB/NC was heading, who is telling the truth, and possibly who is breaking promises. Let's see what happens this week.

Final point: it never should have come down to this happening in front of the mediator. If things were this fractured, the meeting should have been postponed. One thing that was accomplished in DC is that we look like fools. This is a fact.

 

1800, you don't think the guys who started this airline deserve a little more in retirement than the rest of us?

 

I absolutely believe that they deserve a good retirement. I have no problem with them getting a good retirement, as long as another group doesn't get shut out. That's why I'm saying we as a group need to see what has been negotiated so far. Without this info, everyone is just getting upset at each other, and it is all based on second-hand info, rumor, etc.

What I guess I am trying to say is this: example: I've been led to believe that a campaign promise by our pres. was that the slope was to be a top priority (among other items). He has been asked in person if this was still the case, which he has answered "yes." If this has changed for some reason, come out and say it. Things happen in negotiations which we, the members, don't ever see or hear. To correct this situation that we find ourselves in, we need truthful info. That's what I am hoping will happen in the GMM's. I'm not asking for much ( I think), but for me to form my own informed opinion, I need the truth to some of these questions. And I don't think that I'm the only one.

I truly believe that we can get an agreement that will be beneficial to all parties. Some may get a little more than others, and that is ok, as long as no one group is totally left out of the equation. We all can prosper financially. As to the scheduling article, that affects all of us. And if there are things in there that will greatly affect us adversely, no amount of money can make that better. As well as scope. There are a lot of things that we need to see and hear about.

I mean no disrespect to those that have come before me - I thank you for the blood, sweat, and tears to get us here. But the future is just as important, and we must not forget that.

 

Well said, and I agree that everyone should make out. I was being sarcastic about the old guys getting more retirement because they started the airline.

Think of it this way, as someone else pointed out, why the heck does a guy hired in 1988 (18 years of service) deserve a minimum pay package worth closer to 30 years of service? Why?

We got our new A plan in the last contract with a 1% for everyone. Now Magner wants to raise it, but less (I've heard 1.25%) for young aviators and more (2%?) for the old guys. Listen to what Don Lepley has to say on this issue. Oh, and by the way he too has been shut out of the negotiations.

 

Everyone deserves a good retirement. The guys who started the airline are no more deserving than anyone else. If I recall, the guys who started the airline are the luckiest ba$$tards on the planet. Weren’t they flying for some "fly by night" cargo carrier (was it Orion?) when they got absorbed by UPS? Talk about wining the lottery. Why on earth would they deserve a better deal?

 

Retirement needs to be fixed, but if it is the way that some of the rumors are playing out, that is wrong. There has to be an equitable answer out there, but the way things are going with the EB/NC, we won't get there for a long time. Let's hope some answers and info is forthcoming...

 

Why does someone with 18 yrs of service deserve a retirement of someone with 30 yrs of service? That's what they want.

 

You're right. UPS for many years was a place that attracted pilots that didn't have a college degree or lacked other requirements that were needed to get hired at a real airline. They settled for jobs like UPS, Airborne, Kalitta, and now they're magically sitting atop the industry. Winning the lottery indeed.

 

The company and most of the industry is laughing its collective ###es off over this one. The IPA is so weak and misdirected that it isn't even funny.

I bet if there were a strike down the road that 1/2 or more of the pilots would come across the picket lines in 10 days.