TonyC

That's a different topic, but related in a way you may not realize. (And I agree with you. The Jury Duty Settlement Agreement, for example, does not clear up any gray area in the CBA, because it was not gray. The Company just decided to start ignoring it. The Settlement Agreement instead changed the rules in favor of The Company, rewarding them for their intentional violations.)

When I was an MEC Rep, I was astounded when the MEC was briefed AFTER THE FACT about Settlement Agreements which had been reached by a certain committee and signed by the MEC Chairman. I found it especially troubling when these Settlement Agreements effectively changed the negotiated work rules memorialized in our CBA. I was not the only MEC member who believed the MEC should have a say in approving or rejecting such agreements.

Since then, I introduced Resolutions at the Local Council level which were approved by Local Council membership vote which would have required committees to include MEC approval on the Settlement Agreement process. (A similar Resolution would have also placed notification and update requirements on the Negotiating Committee to keep the MEC informed about the progress of negotiations in order to prevent surprises like the one which became our "Bridge Contract.") Both Resolutions were rejected at the MEC level.

The similarity between this and the current committee chairman resignation is the fundamental question of which body is responsible for strategic direction, and which is responsible for furthering objectives in that direction? Does the MEC work for the committees, or the other way around?






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TonyC

There were a lot of decisions made without our collective knowledge because it's STUPID to negotiate in public.

The MYTH that is being circulated is that ONE person, ONE Block Rep, acting against everyone else, was able to prevent the rest of the MEC, and thereby the committees, from exploring options which would have put different groups of pilots on different retirement plans.

It wasn't ONE Block Rep, as the myth and as the recent committee chairman resignation letter would like you to believe. That proposition is simply absurd. The MAJORITY of the MEC voted to reject the consideration of dividing the pilot group with different retirement schemes.






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HIFLYR

Pure Bull go down to Kirby and ask questions and look at the issues.

AnyMouse

Well, Kirby can spin the issues but these are the facts: The National R&I Chairman just resigned as our R&I Chairman due to opposition & obstruction by DR. Read KB's letter for his assessment of motivations. Secondly, the Chairman of the Presidents Committee on Cargo at National was on the agenda at the recent MEC meeting to be the next MEC Security Chairman, but pulled his nomination in the face of yet another threatened filibuster attack by DR. This gent, RH, incurred DR's wrath by being the SIG Chairman and supportive of the TA during the last negotiation fight. So, which of these two gents do you assert does not exist? Which one did DR actually support?

TonyC

Speaking of spin, your "facts" don't support your claims.

You claimed,

1) "DR ... now wants the whole R&I Committee gone"

You present no facts to support that claim.

and ...

2) "we now have TWO National ALPA Committee Chairmen that DR opposes for any committee in our own MEC."

Binder resigned of his own volition. You have no proof that DR opposes him for any MEC committee.

As for Rich, if DR doesn't want him to be the next Security Committee Chairman, might it be because he has zero Security Committee experience, and there are individuals who are more qualified? What evidence do you have that DR opposes him being on ANY committee? Given his experience, he might be a good fit on, say, the Scheduling Committee.


Again, so much for your so-called facts.



Threatened filibuster.

You're hilarious.

If DR had half the power and influence y'all attribute to him, the last TA would have never been sent to the membership for ratification. Do you even realize how ridiculous that "fact" sounds?!?!?

I have always thought (hoped) members were intelligent and informed, but my faith in that premise is waning.


Like HIFLYR said ...






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HIFLYR

Ok i'll let the cat out of the bag why don't you ask them about ?.?.?.? !! The crewforce would probably like to know!

155mm

I'm certainly down to my last handful of brain cells but as far as staying informed, in the past we had some good infomercials from Communications but as of late, not much of a pulse. In addition, when I talk to a P2P, they are in the dark almost as much as I am. The attitude is basically, here's some Kool-aid, enjoy! To be honest, I'm alarmed!

NoHaz

+1

"Nothing to see here...move along...keep flying and we'll let you know .."

FDX1

I hope that none of our Committee Chair's are irreplaceable. If they aren't developing talent on their team to take over, shame on them. That seems like a basic quality of any good leader and a core ingredient in any successful organization.

Seems like a decision was made by the majority of the MEC to disallow a person to sit on the R&I Cmt - for whatever reason. They really don't need to share that, and honestly I don't care. That's their job, they raised there hand, ran for the position and were duly elected. Now they get that responsibility. We can sit on the sideline and cast stones because we see what looks like a stupid thing. But who was acting inappropriately? Perhaps, picking up your ball and going home was, at the end of the day, what he wanted to do and this was the tipping point? I'm not sure if that decision was in the best interest of all of us (pilots) who are most effected.

Ultimately it seems unprofessional to me to leak out your resignation letter, which is clear because the first one posted didn't even have his signature on it. So that wasn't the one that was given to the MEC chairman, obviously the signed one was. That signed resignation letter was later posted on Jetflyer as an update!! So who is manipulating whom here? Not sure I want a guy that considers burning down the house on his way out to be at the helm anyway.

The bottom line is, business for the Union must go on and we can't have the departure or resignation of one committee chair lead to failure of the entire committee. The MEC made a decision and the R&I chair was unwilling to live with that decision. Time to move on. Lets not act like he's irreplaceable, he's not. In fact they already announced that a previous R&I chairman stepped in to act as interim while they find a permanent chairman. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his years of service to the pilots, but he's moving on, and we need to have that position filled with an equally talented person. Don't forget, we have substantial, full-time staff that provide the core services to our pilots.

Lets not act like this is the first chairperson to ever leave their union job. Take a breath and lets at least act like grown-ups rather than the talent on celebrity reality shows.

We fly jets for a living for Christ sake!

155mm

That's precisely what worries me about negotiating a new retirement benefit.