Gunter

I am not TH. Just posting for those who missed the e-mail.

Another SIG hater. Apparently Tony doesn't remember the scheduling give backs in the 2006 BC contract. I can assure you I feel it every month. Maybe BC shouldn't have gotten rid of SIG input on the the NC.





Fellow Council 7 Members,

Please vote if you haven’t already. A few folks still have some confusion about whether they have voted or not. If you did not vote via the ALPA website or Ballotpoint, then you did not vote. The ballot that many of you sent in via US mail was just for the nomination not the election. So, if you have not done so, please log on to the members site at ALPA.org and vote.

I have so far not been able to give you much in defined differences between myself and my opponent due to the fact that my opponent has never worked in any Union job in the past; and therefore, I cannot compare policy differences with him. I will try and remedy this right now.

There was an MEC meeting last week and a new Negotiating Committee was selected. Our current interim Block 4 representative voted in favor of installing the new team. I would have voted against it. Let me explain why. First, we already have had past experience determining how many members need to be on a negotiating team. We had 3 members in 1997, 1998, and at the end for the 2006 negotiations. Originally, when we started in 2004, our chairman asked for 4. Some time later, after working with his group and adding one more member he came back to the MEC and reported that 5 members were too unwieldy and requested the committee be reduced to 3. We learned from the experience and it was changed back to 3. Unfortunately, we now lack the experience to remember that lesson learned. I would have insisted on 3.

Second, I would not have agreed to make membership of the committee be solely based on past or current membership in the SIG/PSIT. Maybe one guy could be from that committee to bring in some expertise on line building and pairing construction but definitely not all of them. That is a recipe for disaster. The PSIT works with the company every month to build our lines. How do you like our lines? I don’t like them much. You see, every month they engage in what is essentially interest based bargaining. They sit down with the company (paid partly by the company) and collectively beg to improve our lines. You have witnessed first hand how well that has worked for us. Collective begging will work no better when they try it in negotiations.

There is a reason why members of flight management and the SIG/PSIT team came to the interim block representative meeting and voted together to put in my opponent for Block 4 and Vic Liberti for Block 1. The Management/PSIT team does not want me or Captain Baker to represent you- with good reason. When flight management and a Union committee (SIG/PSIT) team up together to vote for our representatives, a red flag must be raised. I will not agree to interest based bargaining/collective begging. I will not agree to quietly sit back and allow negotiations to commence, run and conclude without you the pilot being directly involved. That is what the SIG/PSIT does every month. That is what our MEC Chairman did to us last round of negotiations. I’m sure he felt it was a lot easier to not have to worry about what our pilots might say or do while our secret negotiations went on. My position on the other hand is that I would welcome your involvement.

So why do we care what our MEC Chairman did in our last contract negotiations in regard to this election? We care because my opponent has been hand picked by him to run against me. So, if you think a change of direction from the secret negotiations and interest based bargaining is in order, then vote for me. I will not be quiet as your representative. I will challenge you to get involved. I will challenge your Negotiating Committee to engage in positional bargaining (not interest based bargaining/collective begging). I will challenge our MEC officers to work the days that we pay them to work and to lead us in building adequate leverage, and I will challenge our committees to put their loyalty to you ahead of their personal friendships with the MEC Chairman.

It is high time that you got the aggressive, direct, and unapologetic efforts to enhance your interests. As your representative, I will promise to put your goals in front of every other consideration as I make my decisions. Then I will report to you what has been done. You won’t have to research our policy manual or dig thru our meeting minutes to discover what has occurred at MEC meetings.

To conclude:

I have over 6 years of Union leadership experience-- my opponent has none.

I will advocate for positional based bargaining-- my opponent just selected 4 members for your negotiating committee schooled in the arts of interest based bargaining.

I have no loyalty to anyone but you. No one recruited me or needs to teach me how to function at an MEC meeting within Roberts Rules or in the face of future management intimidation-- my opponent will have to get OJT from the MEC Chairman who recruited him and see everything through the lenses of the glasses he is given.

I will closely review the trip pay loss that you pay for and see to it that you are getting your money’s worth. The union patronage for political alliances that has become epidemic has to cease immediately. I will use my 4 years experience as your Secretary/Treasurer to accomplish this. I know just where to look-- my opponent would have no clue as to how to dig into the details of something like that.

I will advocate for a return of FedEx pilots to chair and contribute to ALPA National committees. I have worked for ALPA National overseeing the MCF expenses of other MEC’s who were engaged in contract negotiations in order to protect your assets-- my opponent would need “Google Map” just to find the Herndon offices of ALPA.

Please don’t leave our future here at FedEx to chance. If you haven’t voted yet, please do so right away. We need your participation to succeed. In fact it is the only thing that has ever given us success. The time is now.

Sincerely,

Captain Tony Hauserman, Council 7

Busboy

Let me start by stating I'm not a supporter nor adversary of TH. But, I'm beginning to wonder about the SIG, as well.

The SIG disputing pairings in the A300 are virtually nonexistent. And, it's certainly not due to the trips getting better.

I know that the DP process is less than desirable...But, I don't want my team just throwing in the towel. Which it seems they have done.

Now, they're going to be leading the charge in negotiations?

RedeyeAV8r

Agree with you on the schedule degradation. In fact i would bet that this is one thing on APC where we will have universal agreement, well there is always that one individual

Maybe the SIG has thrown in the towel but maybe it is because whenever they do dispute a Pairing, It is snapped up out of Open time in very short order. (ANC folks aside

We need to fix the dispute process and how disputed trips are handled, but good luck with that if disputed pairings always get flown voluntarily.

vagabond

Redeye and Busboy agree on something!?! I'm going to buy a lottery ticket tonight.

MeXC

Amen Redeye. The DP process is mostly toothless. The worst thing that happens to a DP flyer is that he/she is ridiculed, pointed out, called "a good guy", etc here on APC. Solution for the DP flyer to have no blowback? Don't get on APC.

RedeyeAV8r

Can I share your Winnings..

Overnitefr8

It will be interesting to see how the 757 captains will do with a whole month of 3 leg a.m. o&b's disputed for Aug. I'm sure the FO's will hold the line for the most part. But unfortunately I don't have a lot of faith in certain 757 captains.

FLMD11CAPT

I find it wholly laughable that anyone would cast a shadow on any SIG team given the MEM crew force performance on DP'S.......you guys want a better schedule? Then quit picking up DP'S. That goes for every AC in MEM......no exceptions........if you don't have the stones to confront and ask the hard questions of your fellow crew force DP flyers then shut your pie hole on criticizing the SIG.....also .....don't care if this offends your delicate sensibilities....you know who you are....grow up and grow a pair....Yeah, Yeah I can hear it now....."I didn't fly a DP" ...well dude, did you bring the subject up at the bar on L/O when you realized you were drinking w/a DP flyer?....and all the permutations forthwith.......just say'in........P.S. DW and all his cronies were very public and very determined in their opposition to the SIG....the proof is in the pudding guys.....and TH is most definitely a DW croney..........you discuss and decide....

fdx727pilot

Looks like a new (as in activated yesterday) 757 CA got assigned 12 Trip 45s as his custom line. It's gonna suck to be him. I did notice "O" is on the jumpseat for the first two, so maybe he will see how crappy a 3 leg OB can be.

Unknown Rider

I think you have to ask for those on a custom line.