R-E-C-A-L-L

Happened in 1991 when the NWA MEC recalled MEC Chairman Pete Dodge for allegedly negotiating and signing Side Letters (LOAs) without MEC approval. You might have seen Pete in the ALPA TV commercial that ran in the 90's.

Pete was replaced at the next meeting by ... O.C. Miller, now chief mofo for ANC, SEA, LAX,SLC and whatever else is in Western Region.

If my perception of the combined pilot group is accurate, a recall is highly unlikely and unwise. It requires a majority of the voting MEC members to vote in favor of recall, and the issue has to be a real hot button with the pilots. In this case the issue is important, but largely ignore by many pilots and the timing is horrible with all of the merger integration work ahead of us...

Sometimes a failed recall can send a message, but again this is a poor time to undertake such a strategy.

As an alternative, you could always run for LEC rep and enter the dirty world of ALPA politics.

 

[quote=Tomcat;615921]It's a great question Tomcat.

From my friends who were in the room, they tell me they were shocked at the dynamic of DALPA. When Lee walked into the room, the other members of DALPA literally snapped to attention. It was very clear that Lee ran every committee. Nothing happened without his approval. With that in mind, here's the fix:
1. EVERY current DAL LEC member needs to be voted out
2. EVERY former NWA LEC member who didn't stand up to Lee needs to be voted out
3. These chaps need to be replaced with folks who pledge to ensure THEY will run the MEC and NOT the chairman
4. These same chaps need to pledge to vote for a new MEC chairman thus allowing Lee to replace Prater

Even if these new folks weren't totally on board with no further erosion on scope, at least our MEC would be operating as a democratic body - as it is supposed to be. Then the issue would live or die based on the majority viewpoint of our pilot group - not the opinion of one man.

Carl

 

My thoughts exactly. Although, I don't think a recall would work with SCOPE, because many more senior pilots just don't believe it effects them, I do believe it would send a message. Hopefully, it won't come to this.

The other thing is that we really never know anything that happens in our union until after the fact. We have so little input. So maybe the only input we get is a recall.....

 

[QUOTE=Carl Spackler;615937]Carl, thanks for your input. I'm not sitting back on this one. I appreciate any suggestions and will take them for action.

Respectfully,

TC

 

Carl,

Snapping to attention when a superior walks in is the sign of respect to the position, not particular person. It is a military thing, unfortunately totally lost in civilian world.

Lee is running every committee is a real stretch.
And YES no major decisions should happen without the MEC Chairman approval, otherwise it would be a circus, not an organization representing professional pilots.

IMHO Recall will only bring a war and every one will start crying about how badly he did on seniority integration etc. Last thing we need to do is to give in to managements divide and concur efforts.
All we need to do is to communicate our concerns to the MEC and hold them accountable.

 

We have communicated our concerns to them and they ignore them. So we are past communicating our concerns to them and now need to hold them accountable for ignoring those they represent. Hopefully some junior folks will run for some of the FO rep positions coming open in the next year. This way we might get some people who care about scope that are in a position to do something about it. The current administration needs to quit crying over the past and start figuring out what to do in the future before the 757 is the smallest mainline aircraft we have.

 

Ok, I'll bite. Any suggestions on how to do this? If you don't see the crack in the foundation, you're not looking. How has the MEC represented the pilots interest with regard to scope? Do you think we should keep the status quo?

 

We elected Boyd Kelley as the FO rep in LAX. We'll see how he does under the scrutiny of our MEC.

Personally, I don't ever want to hear again that the Regional Jets are good for our pilot group. Mainly, because the Regional Jets are now Transcontinental Jets.

RJ's now TJ's

 

You misunderstand the structure of ALPA. The MEC Chairman is NOT a superior. He/she holds the position entirely at the discretion of the MEC members. The MEC Chairman is not even allowed to vote on any issue. The only job of the MEC Chairman is to execute the majority will of the MEC's voting members.

Again, you misunderstand. The MEC Chairman has no right to APPROVE anything. He/she has NO vote. At best the MEC Chairman can help to calm the passions that happen during debate on big issues, and aid the MEC in deciding a majority opinion. If you think this illustrates a circus, then you are against the very foundation of ALPA's democracy. If you think Lee's dictatorship is the best representation of the professional pilot, then I can't help you.

I respect your opinion, but I disagree. First of all, we can't hope for a recall. Only the MEC members can recall the Chairman. The MEC members are too afraid to even confont him - much less recall him. The entire MEC needs to be voted out during the next election cycle. Then that new MEC can elect a new chairman.

But IF this current MEC somehow found the grapes to recall Lee, this would be a HUGE message to management: "Do not mess with Scope!" This would not be divide and conquer, it would be a stunning and unified message to management.

Carl

 

You know your pilot group better than I do, but for whatever it's worth, that is NOT the opinion of senior NWA pilots. There's not a single one of us that doesn't consider Scope the number one issue. I've said this before: Scope is Section 1 of every ALPA contract for a reason.

I think the junior DAL pilots need to understand this. If you thought you were in the minority before the merger, you now have 5,000 pilots who agree with you completely. I don't know if that will tip the balance, but it couldn't hurt.

Carl