FedEx - Reserve VTO conversions?
 

With the company offering vacation buy back in many seats for May and June, has anyone had their reserve line IN-voluntarily converted into a VTO?

There are so many crappy lines, and I don't trust the company to write a decent VTO line, I wonder if they've upped the ante and are giving the reserve line holders the shaft with "pre-PBS" by involuntarily canceling their R-line and giving them a VTO line completely out of seniority. Happened to me last Fall.

Anyone?

I'm in the bottom 10% of the 757 MEM Capt & not happened to me over the last year since I've been on reserve

Happened to me this past December. RA to VTO involuntarily. I'm a bottom feeding Bus F/O.

It's simple to prevent involuntary conversion of a reserve line by following CBA procedures. Just volunteer for a conversion and request days off you know they won't honor. And, if they can't honor your days off request, they can't convert you per CBA!

For example, in December, request a voluntary conversion, then request peak week off, 23-26 Dec off, and 30 Dec - 2 Jan off. If they can't honor every single bit of your off day request, they can't convert you.

I know it's counterintuitive to REQUEST a conversion, but if you do, you can prevent it!

So what days off would you request for June?

1 through 30?

And if they decided to honor it you would get one heck of a paycheck.:eek:

Don't believe this is correct. They must honor the days off awarded to you per your awarded Reserve Line. That's it. You don't get to choose what days off you want if you weren't awarded them.

Then Mea Culpa. There was a discussion on this last Christmas and I was parroting info from that thread. Since I'm not doing the process myself, I should look it up before posting.

In that vein, anyone ever done it and can shed light?

I thought Raptor was incorrect as well after remembering what was posted in the discussion last year. However, looking at the contract, it seems to support his post.

From 25.D.4.c -
If a pilot submits a line construction worksheet that identifies certain days off to be protected, his reserve line shall not be voluntarily converted unless those days off are protected.

Now, that's not to say that hasn't been interpreted by the company to only correlate to R-line days off. I've never experienced it in practice. The contract paragraph above seems clear and straightforward, but when has that ever stopped them?

Don't know about the days off deal, but I do know three 767 MEM Captains got involuntarily converted this month, as I'm one of them. I and another guy have spent a lot of effort try to get back a day off we had on our original reserve lines, and had plans for. I'll have to try the voluntary request/ days off deal this month.

We always honor the intent of the contract -- said no manager, ever.

I think the difference is between voluntary conversion and involuntary. On voluntary I think they have to honor your days off request but I don't think they do for involuntary.

That was sort of understood. The segment of the contract I posted specifically references only voluntary conversions.

Does anyone know if you can even submit a line construction worksheet if you get involuntarily converted? It's not very clear.

Here is how the involuntary conversion happened to me....

I was awarded an A reserve line for December. All was good until I got a crew notification less than an hour before secondary lines were released. The crew notification said something like "Due to staffing needs, you have been converted to a VTO line for December 2015." I quickly tried to submit a VTO worksheet and it wouldn't even let me open the link.

Wow. That's a serious hose job. Good information for anyone with an R-line and days off they want to actually have off to keep in their hip pocket.

I can't see why anyone wouldn't volunteer for a conversion if they are counting on their days off as scheduled.

Yep. A painful lesson, when you plan events based on your reserve line. Then, on the last Tuesday of the month, "surprise, you have a whole new schedule for next month!":(

And you wonder why Management is dragging their feet in Contract Negotiations?

A new Contact might have fixes for bad deals like this?


:eek:

And that was my takeaway from the discussion last December.

If you get a reserve line and you want to ensure days off as awarded, submit a voluntary conversion with the exact same days off as you were already awarded. Then they can't involuntarily convert you because to involuntarily convert you, they have to honor your days off!

It's essentially a loophole that (for once) benefits the crew force.

If I were a IND 767 pilot with a reserve line and wanted the days off I bid and was awarded, I would volunteer for conversion and specify the same days off that I had. Seems like a no brainer to me, but I'm sure there will be some contract interpretation the company will use which we will then have to grieve.

I'd be interested how that works out for this coming bid month.