Fdx Ta In A Week????
 

i heard huge progress was made and should see a TA in about a week or 2...from a good source..anyone hear anything similar...?

True or not, good source or bad, it's exactly the kind of rumor the Company would like. The temptation is to "let up" knowing that a TA is just around the corner.



Don't waver. DO NOT BLINK.



When it's here, it's here, and not a nanosecond sooner.




Your actions as an individual MATTER!





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Keep your eye on the ball
 

I gotta agree, these kind of rumors do not benefit us and can only create disappointment when they are unfulfilled. Likewise the rumors of expected percent of raise. Focus on keeping the pressure on, doing your bit, and supporting the cause. ;)

ok....i heard a rumor that both sides left the table and 30 days cooling off is coming up....

Yes. From an ACP. But I agree with Tony. 100%, 100% of the time.

Personally, I like the idea as the holidays roll around maybe this won't get settled and we can get some additional "family" time. Nothing like directed activities to sort out the chaff. A few union directed actions would easily let us know who are for the pilots and who are for management. We could stop bickering about who might or might not do this or that. That would solve much of the hen pecking that goes back and forth.:D

Has ANY rumor about ANYTHING at this company ever come to pass at the rumored time? Especially those "from a good source"?

Take a deep breath. Sit back. Relax.

When it's in my hand, with a ballot attached...

-'Frater

Excellent Advice............May I add, enjoy your time off?;)

When I parked in the Democrat lot a short while ago, I noticed a couple of the Massah's hired hands walking up and down the rows of cars writing down License Tag numbers - - I assume they were looking for expired registrations and flat tires and such. That's exactly the type of behavior I would expect on the eve of a Company Proffer of a ratifiable TA.

<rolleyes> :rolleyes:



Stand by for Jack's "Clean up the Democrat Lot" email in 5, 4, 3,....





FOCUS... focus...






.

Yeah, don't fall for rumors like these that may get a few knuckleheads to justify picking up extra trips, flying draft, etc. by saying : "Well, guys on the crewbus said they know a ACP and we're close, real close man.....I didn't think it was a big deal to cancel vacation "

Doubtful... read the MEC Vice-Chair's message from yesterday:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recent publicity about the state of our contract negotiations has led many to believe that a resolution is at hand. In fact, at least one very senior member of corporate management has indicated to a third party that the deal will be done soon. That opinion has some life on our crew buses as well.


Yes, we are halfway through a two-week schedule of negotiations. Yes, the National Mediation Board (NMB) mediator has indicated that both parties SHOULD be able to reach an agreement sooner rather than later.


But, here are two thoughts on the subject from the perspective of an elected representative and a cynic (born from experience, not genetics):


The NMB won’t be stroking the check, FedEx will. All optimism aside, unless and until that metaphorical "check" is manifest in writing in the form of better work rules, retirement, pay, etc., then nothing can be assumed. Credit should be given to the NMB representatives who are trying to facilitate these negotiations, but with all due respect, the ultimate decision on what FedEx management will be willing to offer will come from way up the FedEx corporate ladder and nowhere else.
In that light, it is the rank-and-file FedEx pilot who continues to be the most critical element in this whole process, for that same corporate management will continue to assess you until we sign this contract. Up until the time that you have a TA in your hands to vote on, that will remain true. Any distractions or abeyance of your manifest convictions and focus now could result in an undesired consequence later.

Progress has been made at the table, and that is a good thing. But that progress has not come easy nor will it, even in the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute of these negotiations. Metaphorically … eyes focused straight ahead and one hand on the scabbard.




Thanks for your time.

As the very old FedEx saying goes, "Until its painted purple and parked on the ramp......"!

I remember an email from SCP J.L. from last year saying we would have a deal before summer.......2006. I believe he also said we would have a European Domicile (CDG, ZUR, CGN )bid out in the fall of 2005.

During Contract neg 1998........I remember MGT saying something about 100 737's coming any day now. ( of course it was tentative to FPA agreeing to certain things)
Oh yeah and CDG was coming any day now as a domicile back then too!..............( Again tentative on FPA agreeing on things)

Keep your eye on the Ball!!

Couldn't agree more. If you've read the most recent ALPA news brief you saw that Gemini ratified their TA at....drumroll please.......51%. So Gemini mgtmnt wins the cupie doll for hitting the 50%+1 on the figurative head. We need to stick together so as to do even better.

Now is not the time to let up!!
Stick together, hang tight...
ONE MORE DAY OF RETRO PAY!!!
Los:cool:

Obviously, you haven't had to search the entire lot, looking for a parking spot while passing old wrecks with several flat tires, and guys double and triple parked due to lack of spots. If Jack wants to clean up the lot, I'm with him on this one. Just because he's the SCP doesn't always make him wrong. Of course, an expanded lot would be good, too.

What they ought to do is build a large multi-level lot where the o/b, late callout, 1 hr lots are located. Pay for it with the crew buses that will no longer be needed.

BTW - my car ended up on J.L.'s to be towed webpage last year - someone stole my '05 sticker! Cost me a day off and $7+ to get another sticker!

Man you are messed up like Chocolate Cheese!

I agree. I have heard the same thing but this is not the time to blink. And it is not the time to send FO's back to the sim. You don't think there's some exposure if you do that? How about all the FO's get the landings and the Capt's go back to the sim?

Because the Capt has the choice to Allow the FO to get a landing..............Not the other way around.

There will be exposure no matter what we do to try to prod negotiations along.

Don't hold your breath. There is still a fight ahead of us. Remember the "red letter"

Considering I'm in training, I've been there more often than most line pilots these past few weeks. I've always found a spot on my first pass.


Now, if you arrive at the lot 8 minutes prior to show time and get frustrated that you can't find a spot within 20 yards of the front gate within 30 seconds of arriving in the lot, then I can understand your frustration. What frustrates me is the morons that park just inside the gate that make it impossible for the crew buses to make the turn without stopping and backing up. Maybe if those cars were ticketed and towed I'd better understand the purpose of the parking lot monitors.


If that happens, and if I ever discover that the lot is actually FULL, I'll agree with you. Until then, it just feels like harrassment.




.

Ok, I see. Now who's going to be the first FO that says "sure, I'll go back to the sim and take a check ride when the Capt has no exposure." Yeah, I can really see that happening. And if you're the Capt who refused the landing and made the guy noncurrent, you don't think you'll have a tap dance to do? I think what we have done so far is working fine.

That's red letters, as in plural.


Just in case you're not familiar...

ALPA FedEx MEC Info Center


1995 Red Letter


1998 Red Letter




With or without us ...





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I missed the first one, but got to enjoy the second!

Always good to reread those and get your blood boiling again.

We will not see a TA until after IPA ratifies their contract. If IPA rejects their TA who knows when. If they drag us to sept. they can get a PEB to get them through peak or the most of it. So the earliest is late sept. IMHO.

When is the IPA vote going to be counted?

Aug 31
 

Aug 31 all ballots due

Extra effort
 

I think peak is going to be pretty damn ugly without much extra effort from the pilot group.

Things are already getting ugly for them. There are enough people refusing draft and volunteer that it is making their life miserable. Peak will really be a mess if they don't make us happy.

We better have a Deal before Peak.....................we cannot afford to let another Peak pass us by SANS a contract.

They won't make it that long. Peak out in Subic starts in Sep/Oct

Roger that. The Subic boys can bring this company to their knees at the barganing table.

I don't know if I'd go that far. I think they only have 5 airplanes, 1 being a spare. I know it's Asia and all, but the MD's do most of the real work. If it still is going on in a month, I hope the Subic boys have to stand in line to snap it off........

I doubt that, sting it a little, maybe. Its going to take a lot more than just Subic and ANC holding tough. I chatted up my crew last night on the hotel van about everyone doing their job 100%. I was a new hire in 99 after the contract so I watched from the sidelines then and got an education. A lot of the new guys still don' know the history here or what's expected of them. Is it their responsibility to know, yeah, but also ours to bring them along. I got several "I didn't know that"(s) from the S/O. Do your part and educate the folks who need educating....most of them want to be team players.

Well for the first time in what, two years? The company sees itself short of 727 S/Os. Enough to offer up some vacation buyback in October.

It will be interesting to see how this goes.

Last time I checked the 727 S/O's are the only ones holding strong by not picking up the disputed pairings out of open time.

There are a few gone, but most are still there (of course I'll be proven wrong as all the S/O *****s will pick up the open time as soon as I post this message!)

Word must be getting out....the pain is spreading to every crew position!

ANC F/O's usually don't pick them up either.

Yep, I missed the ANC guys.

Anyone who holds down the fort (especially now) has the big picture.

From MEC
================================================== =======
Somebody who knows someone who heard it on "good authority" from somebody who knows a participant at the negotiating table has said that there will "definitely" be an announcement about negotiations today at 1300 MEM time on Friday, August 25 (that's today, and that time is past).

When rumors like that start enjoying a sense of credibility, it can evoke a penchant for sarcasm. But on reflection, it's natural isn't it, that with a paucity of specifics about negotiations for consumption, somebody is bound to fill in the blanks.

Here's something that will hopefully assuage some of the anxiety out there:

1. At this point our negotiators are very reticent about disclosing "progress" piecemeal. The disclosure of a section or portion of a section as "settled" essentially takes it off the table as potential leverage (negotiations 101).
2. Right now, negotiations could run through the weekend. Hotel room reservations have been extended a couple of days.
3. Taken by itself, item 2 might generate its own share of optimistic rumors. Be advised, we have been briefed that among the issues of scope, work rules, retirement and health care, among others, there still exist some big gaps although there has been significant progress. But reasons for true optimism could only really be found in the hearts and minds of senior corporate management and any portals into those environs remain closed to us.

If and when a TA emerges that warrants consideration, let it be a pleasant surprise. In the meantime please understand that there are tactical reasons that you are not reading a step-by-step account of the negotiations.

Thanks for your time.