Your opinion of your import and influence is far too high.

Carl

 

Two things. First is the model, which is the SWAPA model. They are a far more functional union in many ways. They have a great relationship with management but ONLY because they've stood up to management everytime with the important issues like scope. That has earned them a level of mutual respect from management. You don't earn respect being a lapdog...even though management will be glad to describe you as a "new style of union leader" in the Wall Street Journal if needed to make you feel better about your surrender.

Second, the BIG difference with a non-ALPA union will be the lack of conflict regarding the regionals. We can unabashedly go after returning our flying to us without facing the certain lawsuits from the regionals for failing in the duty to fairly represent. This is a HUGE deal. The fact that DALPA and ALPA cannot print a single word about scope or a single word about spending negotiating capital to get our flying back should tell you everything you need to know. An in-house union would have no such restrictions.

I know this makes me sound like a one note musician, but there is simply NOTHING more important than scope. And because ALPA represents both sides, they've self-muzzled themselves on this most important topic.

Carl

 

We cannot allow a simple freezing of scope FIIGMO. That would be a disaster. Don't forget our current language allows for the RAH scope violation because our own union won't grieve it...because their opinion is that a loophole exists. There are other serious problems as well.

Freezing scope would very likely mean the end of the airline we know now. The airline would still exist, but its pilots would not.

Carl

 

Lucid and direct and I totally agree! No old timers disease that I note.... as of yet!

 

SWAPA is certainly the flavor of the moment, but really I'm not sure why. They were perennially under paid which made their management's model that much more effective...they followed ALPA up the ladder by virtue of the DALPA CK2000 dot, and have been able to stay there due to continued profits (at least until recently)...they may very well indeed prove to be the "be all and end all" of unions, but judging by the way they stepped on the heads of the Airtran pilots to eat their young to keep things rolling...I'm not overly optimistic.

 

Whoa whoa whoa. Do you think the negotiators spent any precious time on a survey that was probably put together in 5 minutes by the uniform committee chairman while on a layover and put on the website by someone from ALPA IT that took them all of 15 minutes to do? Total cost of the survey in terms of new labor was probably $50. Cry me a river. ALPA did exactly what their membership asked. Why are you so shocked and upset by that?

 

Y-Zass.

Carl

 

Exactly. We're only talking about them because of the decimation of our pay through bankruptcy, due in large part to them running naked through the industry with their fuel hedges and low costs. They get credit for holding the line on scope with regard to code share, for the most part, but their business model has never lent itself to outsourced smaller jets feeding their jets. So really not much of a homerun for them there IMO. Their pay rates have been historically low and they pride themselves on never choking the golden goose, but rather ensuring a heathly company. Much different than ALPA pattern bargaining of the past.

 

..............

 

Where is the March Raw buckets? March seniority list? Maybe they are working really hard on the next AE.... But I would really like to know what the buckets are this month! Someone must know.