Nope it was RD. He offered to buy her a Coke in EWR during a hub turn and she said she didn't want his scab money (good for her) then it got ugly. RD says someone overheard it and made a deal of it.

RD is a fun guy and regretted it, he blamed it on divorce and money troubles. whatever

That pledge pin means a lot when you look at the history here.

One of the ironies I see here is that a lot of former military guys are resistant to the union when they first get here. ( I was one of those...) Then a few months/years go and you realize that even though management isn't necessarily "out to get you", you do not have someone in your camp without them. Then you start to become a bit more supportive...

The other guys who resist the "pledge pin" are some of the old guys who were here "in the day" when the company was still being built. I can understand the reluctance of some of those guys who helped build this company identify with an organization that occasionally goes against the wishes of the company. However--we aren't a cadre of 250 pilots that have coffee regularly with Fred Smith--we are a group of almost 5000 that work for some faceless shareholders and a handful of flight managers.

That doesn't make the company "evil". On the contrary, I think we work for a darn good company. Our chief pilots aren't genetically altered bad guys, many are good guys trying to do a good job but balancing a lot of conflicting priorities. However, if you ever do have to answer a question about why you made a decision airborne or on the ground that could be second guessed, odds are you will appreciate some solid legal advice and/or peer support from all those guys with the pledge pins and lanyards you seem to scoff.

For years its been an either/or kind of choice. You could be "union guy" or a "company man". The last few years have seen a bit of maturity on both sides that indicate wanting to take care of the company's bottom line and doing a good job and taking care of the crew force are not mutually exclusvie goals. Good labor relations are not a zero sum game. Have someone like Len in management, or John Lux (former pro stans chair) doing interviews, sends the signal that both sides recognize this reality. So...yes...sometimes grown men wearing lanyards or pledge pins is important.

I'm proud to wear the pilot uniform. I am also proud of the pin and lanyard. I think they both compliment each other...

"Nope it was RD. He offered to buy her a Coke in EWR during a hub turn and she said she didn't want his scab money (good for her) then it got ugly. RD says someone overheard it and made a deal of it."

Pretty close but the way I heard it from the S/O involved was that she and RD had been razzing each other good naturedly all trip. RD was teasing her about his flying for 200% and she was just giving it back to him. There was an FCIF out about not using the word "scab" so the Capt (none other than now back seater CB) turned her into management and said he felt "intimidated" by her. She was fired and escorted off the property by security onto Democrat in the middle of the night without a Company ID which meant no Jumpseat home either. On Monday the union got a hearing and she got her job back but lost her LCA position. She never held RD responsible from what I remember but CB is another story....

Are you saying that the company fired her on the spot for using the word scab?

She was fired when she got back to MEM if memory serves and yes it was on the spot in a meeting with her ACP and SCP. That's just the way FredEx rolled back then. They fired 5 or 6 Captains around the same time for taxiing too slow and they all got their jobs back as well.

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Copy all, Albie. Said in jest and not meant to derail. I'll get back in line and march.

Now back to the scheduled programming.

Yes, but it turned out that some of the 'good natured ribbing' that she had received wasn't so good natured...that whole glass-house thing.

Can you give a bigger hint? I won't tell nobody....

I'm learning a LOT of history I hadn't heard before... This whole RD/CB story is news to me. I gather it is for Huck too...

As I said--the longer I'm here, the longer I appreciate a solid union.