They created this mess
 

Assuming this TA fails, or even passes by a close margin, I feel we are in for a major change going forward wrt DALPA. Why? I think they have awoken the sleeping giant.. The pilot electorate.

First, with all the gnashing of teeth taking place and attacks by the pundits of the machine, they should realize they created this mess by presenting a TA that had this many poison pills. Were the reps not in touch with their constituents desires? (to some extent they must have been since there was no formal recommendation). Or, was it just simple arrogance that "we can sell" the electorate no matter what the deal? Either way, there is an ever-growing group desiring leadership change and the reality that abstaining in LEC elections actually has a consequence.

If this TA passes, it is no vindication of the machine or its pundits as it has put the electorate in an awful position. A close yes vote may actually do more harm to the current MEC than failure of the TA. Failure actually gives the reps and admin a chance to have a redeeming moment. If it passes, I think the process of replacing reps will be expedited and the replacements will certainly not fit in the current mold, if anything, the other extreme. This assumes that we aren't in the middle of a representation fight.. Something that I think could be a real possibility if the "leader" of the alternative group were replaced by someone with legitimacy.

Once they are seated, I can see an immediate change by recall or resignation and many of the old guard finding themselves on the street...Guys who have not been full or even part time line pilots in over 10 years. These are the people who have been advising the MC. Maybe the advisors lack of time flying the line contributed to the problem. The fact they seem to condone the attack dogs you see here or on CC, leaves no doubt in my mind that they have no idea how to communicate to the moderate/independents amongst our pilot group. Of course a few of the most vested will be retired soon anyway, so I guess it is of no consequence to them.

Yep, interesting times ahead, Guys I know who have never given a flip about union politics can't wait for the recall or the next election. If it goes the way I think it will go, those responsible will have nobody to blame but themselves.

Yes, their chance at redemption through resignation in lieu of recall.

Great post.Everything about this TA doesn't make sense. DALPA is a joke no one believes in. Every pilot yes or no is upset and betrayed.

The only explaination is a short term share price boost to make our execs more millions as they bail out.

I think the best outcome for ALPA Inc. is for this to get voted down and reworked in a positive way. If the TA passes narrowly and guys have to work under it, the drumbeat to toss the whole organization will grow in intensity.

To Council 44:

Pay: 8/0/3/3 is insufficient.

Profit Sharing: We said don’t touch profit sharing. How much clearer could we be?

Work Rules: Traded away FO OE trips for the few for other things for the many. I get it.

Scope: Why allow more RJ70/76s to reduce RJ50s and buy E190s? RJ 50s are going away anyway and the company can buy E190s anyway. They can also raise the payrates on those E190s to something more reasonable via LOA. The company has already indicated the current E190 rate is undesirable.
EASK convert to block hours = goodbye $30m grievance settlements for future noncompliance

Benefits: No more voluntary verification to protect unverified sick time. That is the real key and you know it. Big fail.


Fear of a rejected TA? Not buying it this time.

Better company offer in the near term? Probably not. When SWA, FDX, and UPS settle their contracts we will be next in line to pattern bargain up. Thats what the NMB will see. This TA is so disappointing I’d rather just keep the one we have for now.

In the meantime, yes, rearrange the deck chairs. Forget using negotiating capital to buy E190s and 737s. Negotiate an industry leading sick bank like everyone else has, or a PTO system like our own FAs have. And negotiate pay raises retroactive to the amendable date. We’ve had retro pay before and it had better be part of an extended negotiation.

I would do a little investigation on the flight attendant PTO system. Report back what you find!

Haha. Well I didn't mean to use their system exactly. When they first converted a number of years back they only got 27.5 hrs a year. I knew it was over 40 something hrs now.

Anyway, a quick check of the IFS work rules shows they get 49 hrs/yr of PPT they call it now. And you can bank unused hours or get paid for them.

Lots more details than that of course, but hey, we will have the "gold standard" of PPT systems right? So how about 80 or 100 hours of bankable PPT time for pilots. Its not that far fetched. You know we used to get seven weeks of vacation, right? Anyway, forget about verification. Why not?

Use up your PPT hours and get unpaid trip drop or go straight to disability. Which is a verification situation of course.

The part your not stating is that is also their sick leave. 49 hours is not much. Their ability to bank is limited.

Did you say it's a mess.....

Of course PPT is your sick time also. That is the point of it.

49 hours a year is way more than I've needed over the last 24 years. If I could bank that I'd have over a thousand hours by now, potentially.

Airline sick banks vary, from 60 to 90 hours a year. Bank limits seem to be around 1000 to 1300 hours. Maybe PPT would be less than that since it is paid time off for anything, not just sick.

Still, our FAs get 49 hrs a year. We can do better than that. It has merit IMO.

As I mentioned they are not allowed to bank it other then a limited amount with a cap.
It sounds like you really don't want to negotiate PPT like the flight attendants. You want a very different program. If we got a hundred hours of PPT and could bank it with no limits or caps I would go for that. You would however have to get the company to go for the program and restructure funding on the disability side.
That type of program has a lot of down side also. Major sick events or accidents can wipe out a 20 year bank.

IMO, any program that has an incentive (allowing a portion of unused sick time to be put into a "bank") has the potential to motivate sick pilots to come to work.

Sometimes we need to be protected from each other....

This is absolutely correct. I worked for a company on furlough that had a policy that you got a bonus each quarter you did not call in sick and then an annual bonus if you went the whole year not calling in sick. Of course now you had guys on their deathbeds crawling into the cockpit so they didn't screw up their bonus.

Well we obviously don't want the sick program changes in the TA, but we will probably have to negotiate something sooner or later. I guess we are just about done with the honor system around here as more and more treat our present system as a use it or lose it. The next obvious direction is going to be a bank/PPT system the way I see it. And yes, it mitigates the abuse but encourages flying sick.

I prefer a PPT system with as much PPT as possible is all I'm saying. But probably saying it prematurely. Its not July 11th yet. ;)