^^^^^^^^^

This!

 

HKFlyr,

Good post, are you saying that your MEC is not assessing the membership? Four bucks a month is not a lot and this is clearly a case of hostage-taking.

 

It was unethical and immoral for our VP of Flight Operations to publicly discuss the four pilots' personal situations. Rebutting the details in public would be no better. Nobody spoke up for Pilot 4 -- she spoke for herself, and that was her right. Nobody has the right to speak for Pilots 1, 2, and 3, so you're going to have to be satsified with the details you've got.


If you haven't received enough information to know whether you should support the pilots -- all of them -- you really haven't been paying close attention.






For your review, I submit the following exceprt from Council 79's "Snippet" dated 8 June 2012.

Dear Fellow Anchorage Pilots,

Quite obviously, management and ALPA have major differnces of opinion when it comes to the situation of the 4 terminated HKG pilots. The facts, however, will speak for themselves when it comes time for each of these pilots to sit in front of an arbitrator and defend themselves. In the meantime, actions speak louder than words.

Yes, each of these pilots has been offered settlement agreements, the terms of which have seemingly improved as of late. That being said, in spite of the significant risk and obvious pressure of the situation, each of the pilots has steadfastly maintained their innocence, while management has unilateraly applied interpretations not defined within the FDA LOA, has failed to delineate their interpretation of the rules, and has been heavy handed in their subsequent discipline.

This flawed process which management has followed has left clouds of suspicion, fear, and intimidation over all of our pilots, and has put 4 pilots on the street. Management's allegations of theft and fraud are grave accusations. With settlement agreements on the table, just how strongly would you have to believe that you were in the right, that you had complied with the rules, that you had been straightforward about your situation, and that you had not committed theft or fraud, before you would refuse to sign a settlement agreement and you would risk you career by taking your case to an arbitrator? It seems to me that those are some incredibly strong convictions.

We are addressing the housing allowance situation during our interim discussions. The effort the entire ALPA team has expended over the last year + has been extraordinary as we've attempted to prevent and mitigate this deplorable situation created by management while defending the rights of our pilots and the CBA. It's time to step up and believe in ALPA -- our pilots, our negotiating committee, our grievance team, our officers, and our MEC. We are fortunate to work for an outstanding company, but we're even more fortunate to have ALPA resources, experience, and knowledge at our disposal to assist our terminated pilots and to succeed in creating a successful solution for the entire group. There are only two sides at the table; supporting ALPA and our fellow pilots should always be an easy choice.

[emphasis mine]

Does that satisfy your thirst for more knowledge on the matter?




Actually, that is not the crux of the matter. Unless you can find that language in the FDA LOA, or you have an interpretation in writing from The Company which contains that language, you're only taking a stab at what relocation means.






.

 

Been a while since Tony and I have been in alignment........but UR......You are so far off base I am surprised you have not been thrown "out"....... Peace Tony.........Out.

 

It's good to see you on the right side for a change.






.

 

This brought tears to my eyes. You two should get a room!

 

Where is YOUR UNION when you need them ??? I AM DOING THE PAYPAL RIGHT NOW, I CHALLENGE OTHER FEDEX FLYERS to do the same ............ Don't think you could not be caught up in some piece of crap mess like this and the Company be your buddy ........................

 

Sent my bit via the link provided .............. The rest of you get going with this, these folks will need $$$ to sustain their efforts and families .................... Put your $$$ where your mouth is and make a difference for our brothers and sisters

 

I haven't spoken to our union leaders about this but here is my guess as to why they haven't assessed anyone for these fired 4. They stand accused of fraud and deceit and have been terminated for it. (from the second hand info we have on this board it appears unjustified) Every year we have pilots that try and defraud this company and lie about it and are rightly terminated for it. If the union sets up a fund for these 4 then they will have set a precedent that will have to be followed for those that truly do not deserve it. If they didn't do it for every pilot that gets fired for fraud after this they will open themselves up to lawsuits, and likely even from those terminated in the past who were never recipients of these funds. More dues money to fight more lawsuits doesn't make sense. I commend those that have set up this fund and those that contribute to it. I know the natural inclination is to light a torch and start chasing someone when you don't like what you see but in this case a little pre-chase analysis might save you some gas soaked rags and sticks. (Not referring to you Avsec but others on this board that have questioned the union response here)

 

Ummm. So our union should just never take any interest in defending any of our pilots who appear to be unjustly fired because maybe there may be somebody who deserves to get fired later and if we defend the first group then we have to defend the later group and monkeys may fly out of my butt and therefore we should just encourage anyone fired to admit guilt when they're not so we don't have to waste money defending bad guys later. Gotcha.

Not trying to imply this is your opinion, but it seems like a weak argument. Our union's job is to protect all of our dues-paying membership from unjustified termination. This appears to be one of those cases. Every case needs to be evaluated individually and our union efforts applied accordingly.

These 4 pilots, from EVERYTHING I've heard, have a definite reason to be defended and supported in every way possible. Including asking membership for a small donation monthly to support them financially. To hear from MEC leadership "we're doing everything in our power to support them" on one hand, but then "they've chosen their own path" and "can get their jobs back tomorrow if they accept amnesty" seems to me to be a little disingenuous at best.

I'd like to believe our union leadership is absolutely going all out to help these guys. Maybe behind closed doors they are and they don't feel like they can communicate this openly. I'm just saying the communication they've provided, especially the latest video and then the e-mail from JC, doesn't make me feel especially proud or our leadership.