the “system” is operating exactly as Carnegie and Rockefeller designed it to be decades ago….

 

We all know the system is broken. We all know we played by the system. We all know we followed the rules. Time to stop playing with the same playbook which has never served us. We can still follow rules and add a new playbook. Time to pull new ideas from another box.

 

Such as ???


filler

 

I agree it's not the only system that tells us to "Do the right thing and follow the rules" while doing so stands to weaken you position and the groups who are rewarded rarely seem to take this track.

So we followed the rules to the T. Left a sub optimal MEC in his seat far longer then we should have. Now no status meeting and it will be 6 months between our last and next meetings. I am having trouble considering a worse outcome. I stopped counting how long we have been in negotiations but thus far we have yet to get a single thing from the company. Zero Nothing Nada they in fact made a sustained effort to actually pay us less.

This and someone wants to purge 169? The problems are not coming from 169.

Yes we should use this time to have some turn over. It is as simple as this "Do you want this to continue?" Do you want the same few guys to hand the MEC back and fourth as they all wait for their UAL class dates. Do you want no meetings, poor communication ,A complete and total lack of progress, All while LOAing away anything that could be considered leverage before the pilot group even gets to think about it. A leadership that wastes funds on Buses, window shades and parties(family awareness events) while we can't seem to afford to even have regular meetings in even our few large bases. What about how hard they fought for robo calls and the ****ing Captia that solves no problems at all what so ever.
Looking back I am not surprised we didn't get paid out when F9 gave out new hire bonuses. ( they were referred to as bonuses in the first and second memo from BL.) Yes it was in the contract but when your leadership is weak Nothing is leverage, nothing is power and quite frankly you should should just be happy to be here.

I hear what the koolaid drinker says and I don't care. Anybody who has been watching this long enough knows what needs to happen.

The question is "Do you want things to change or not" We are a much bigger company now with many talented people from all over the world. If the people running things now could get things done we wouldn't be having this conversation. Yet here we are No Status meeting, No any meeting for six months , years with no progress.

I keep asking "what are some of the accomplishments from our Union leadership" No one ever answers the topic is quickly changed.

Since on one will bite I'll tell you. During Covid on Christmas/ new years eve the company had a lot of sick calls so the company called in 47 pilots for a section 19. With the help of our Union no one was fired. That's right during a world wide pandemic people who called in sick were not fired. In fact our leadership was so proud of the fact it was commemorated by a special pin with the number 47 on it. I still have mine. Reading this I would think it was a joke ,but it's not.

Also while I am here Stop acting like this is some kind of open election. The LECs are going to chose. Thinking the LECs would chose some one who is not an LEC is like thinking Congress is going to elect a house speaker not from the legislative branch. If you had that kind of juice you wouldn't busy yourself with that job.

The next guy gets a short leash. Progress is made or we move on to the next guy.

 

Lotta leverage in that AQP LOA according to 169. Reminds me of the retired DEN CA rep that used to haul around paper Jepps in protest because he said the company needed an EFB LOA before getting rid of them. Same logic. EFBs were issued, our lives got easier, and we waited another 4-5 years for a CBA, still without an EFB LOA.


The rest I generally agree with, as far as lack of execution goes. Except that I believe lack of unifying behind one another is the biggest reason we are nowhere. And the company trying to force pilots to fly sick should have been made an even bigger deal by the MEC, it should have been on the local news. Why should we not rally against the company pilot pushing?

 

Well, according to 167, the company could actually implement AQP on their own if they wanted to. This is one of the things the different LECs are arguing about. 167 sent a very detailed and comprehensive email a couple of days ago addressing facts vs misinformation in a variety of issues. I tend to believe what was said in that email.

 

This, this, this.

The new MEC, whomever it becomes, needs a campaign to focus on unification. Which, given our current situation, shouldn't be too hard. Of course, you need a common goal (or common enemy). You rally people behind that goal. You keep publicizing it. You state it over and over - perhaps even to get a rally cry or slogan. You OVER emphasize your position and stay passionate about it. I'd like to see a video from the new MEC about once a month - not a newsletter, not an email, a VIDEO in full pep rally fashion. It should restate our goals and our requirement for an industry standard contract. We need some propoganda.

Second, there are SEVERAL public media venues that should be explored wrt our current contract. Billboards, social media, even TV commercials. We should have a picket event EVERY MONTH in one of our base cities. Anytime the company does anything stupid, like Section 19 people for sick calls, any public relations gaffe, etc. we need to send a message about how low we're paid and we're trying to do more with less. We need to appeal to the masses - trust me, there are some that will sympathize (10% of the labor force are union workers and just about EVERYONE thinks they're underpaid).

Third, reach out to the IP (instructor cadre) and ask them how they're doing. Remind them they work harder for less instructor pay. Bombard them with stats, figures, graphs, whatever - if the airline slows or can't train, it stops. This is powerful leverage. I AM NOT SUGGESTING we do anything illegal.

 

Perhaps the question you should ask 167 is "What would be leverage?" Was San Juan Leverage, The FO pay Raises? An MCO training center? New Bases in LGA or LAX? Day turns? Our Parings that move from 10am to red eye? Lack of new pilots?

What can be used as leverage?... Anything. Any small or large inconvenience to the company. That is what 167 doesn't seem to get. By writing off just about everything that would be an inconvenience to the company that leaves us stuck between illegal work actions and doing nothing.

This is Union in fighting. Each LEC can only write memos to their own base(s). What ever they say if well though out will make sense and the other side gets no chance to respond or possibly even see the memo. It's like having a trial with a prosecution attorney and no defense attorney. That needs to change especially now With a coming open MEC slot we need open debate. so all the right people get into place. And if they don't they get bounced with a quickness.

I am in agreement that we need Unity. Which comes from Union participation. Which comes from regular meetings in every base. If the entirety of the pilot group is involved we could make this airline a great place to work. At this point it will require a full court press.

 

According to them what they say is backed by attorneys not pilots feelings.

 

Something like 40% of the pilots are pressing to get out as soon as they can, and about 30% of the airline hates them for it, and a smaller part of that pilot group is going nuclear because some folks have gotten really good at picking up premium (essentially centering their life around it), and maybe one or two have bots. Good luck with that unity. But I agree that it's much needed, especially getting more people to get involved.