That's the way it is now.

This is a horrible idea. The MEC picks the chairman and sets the direction of the union. The chairman is responsible for executing the agenda. How can you hold a chairman accountable for doing his job if you don't let him choose his team?

The second problem is anarchy. If everyone is elected by the MEC, then who is in charge? If everyone is in charge then no one is in charge. Imagine a company where the department heads are on the same level as the CEO. I have seen this type of organization at work and it is an absolute mess.

That is the way it is now. The administration can only sign a tentative agreement (TA). The MEC has to vote on any agreement. If the agreement meets certain tests, then it goes to the whole pilot group.

If you are talking about grievance settlements then you want the LEC to vote every time a pilot gets shorted $50 on his pay and Contract Admin gets a settlement? On major grievances, the MEC members are fully briefed and can give direction at any time.

First, the subcommittees are made up of LEC reps, so if a decision is made in subcommittee it is made by the reps. Second, any LEC rep can force a vote of the whole from an agenda item. If an item is tabled and doesn't get to the floor, then that means there is virtually no support for that item. So, the MEC could waste their time voting no on these items or it can be tabled in subcommittee. There is no agenda item that has any support of the MEC that is killed in subcommittee.

This is not a democracy, it is a representational democracy. I know that every pilot likes to think they should be in control of the union, because they are in control of their aircraft, but that is an idiotic way to run any organization. You elect reps to make decisions for you. They are extensively briefed on a variety of issues and then they make the decisions. They hire the administration to execute their policy. If the reps aren't happy with his performance, they hire a new chairman.

You can demagogue about power to the people, but if you can find one organizational unit or government where that works, then let me know. You should read the Federalist Papers that were published in 1787 to push for the adoption of the new US Constitution. There is a great series of articles about this very subject. (written by Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay, the first Supreme Court justice) They trace the history of various governments back to ancient Greece.

If the MEC needs to communicate more, then you should tell your reps and have them hold the administration accountable. If your rep doesn't do that, then replace them.

A very well thought out and accurate response concerning how things really happen. Nice Job.

Beer,
write your reps. No offense but apathy and the "it won't do any good" excuse I hear alot is what will kill us.
Think about the age 65 rule. As junior guys were getting screwed but nobody actually did anything about it. Well, except for a big group of guys at SWA that went to DC and lobbied and they got thier way while most Young/junior guys *****ed about it on the Internet!

The elected Reps are responsible for setting the direction. I do NOT want the MEC Ch setting the direction. The pilots elect the Reps - the Reps are the seat of representational democracy. The MEC Ch is not the President, he is more like Speaker of the House.

Bad analogy - does the President appoint the head of every Congressional Cmte? That is not democratic, representational or otherwise.


The current structure is not representational democracy, but more a benign enlightened dictatorship :) (or perhaps a constitutional monarchy) with far too much power centralized in one individual. Given the importance of the work done by the Cmte's, having the MEC Ch determine and have the power to hire/fire Cmte Chairs at his discretion ends up with Cmte's that mirror the will or agenda of the MEC Ch. This has particularly hazardous potential in areas such as negotiations.

I want the direction the MEC takes to be thoroughly vetted, even if the process is occasionally messy. The "unity" can come after the direction is determined by the Reps, not in following the direction set by the MEC Ch.

The MEC Ch serves the Reps, not the other way round.

[If you are talking about grievance settlements then you want the LEC to vote every time a pilot gets shorted $50 on his pay and Contract Admin gets a settlement? On major grievances, the MEC members are fully briefed and can give direction at any time.


Except of course in the case of the latest RJ SCOPE issue when the MEC was briefed and informed that there was a settlement at the same time.

Quote from my rep "we were not consulted and nor is the chairman required to do so prior to a settlement"

We need more checks and balances

I have no problem writing my rep. But I hear guys that write thier rep everyday and nothing happens. Do the reps read thier email? what does the rep do after he reads it? I would bet that it stops with him...he reads and hits delete and thats it... Of course I bet alot and usually lose.

I do agree that one who does nothing...has no reason to complain about decisions.

I just wanted to know how to get the Union to send us an update on something.

Alfa, very well written. Many people (not on this board, but lots of "line guy" complainers) don't understand the basics as you've pointed out. I also wholly agree that we can't send everything to a vote.

The bold above is what I want to see communicated. In Congress, we have the "Congressional Record". It is made public and shows votes at the floor level AND in committee level. I'd like to see the committee level votes to see where items are being tabled and forwarded.

I think there is a matter of more detail and speed in delivering the MEC meeting minutes to the pilots.

I mean really, this MEC (Committee and Chairman) has presided over one of the smoothest and pilot-lucrative mergers in ALPA history. They deserve a lot of credit for that. Where I think we need to start seeing improvements and progress is in the FUTURE challenges. We all just want to be sure that they are "5 minutes ahead of the airplane(i.e. contract battles)", and not just sitting up there doing the USA Today Sudoku while we are developing problems in the #1 Eng.

Prip, Perp, Pirp
 

Anyone know the final numbers of guys taking the PRIP? In the crew lounge yesterday afternoon, it was at 190; but it didn't close 'till midnight last night. Was that the total?

I hear ya man, I do. Every time I write my reps I get a response though, just not always the one I'd like to hear. Write your reps, ask them questions, we elected them and they work for us! If they don't want to answer to thier bosses, us, then they can go back to getting paid 75 hrs flying 4 trips a month!

Judging by your avatar, it could be that your letters are written in crayon and the paper is smeared with cow poop. There are probably many references to "Punt Bama Punt!" sprinkled throughout your communication. You also substitute Nick Saban's name for whomever you are railing against in your missive. Maybe that is why nothing happens when you write. :D:rolleyes:

ROLL DAMN TIDE!!!