FlyingChipmunk

Nah I will be done by the 6th. Hows MTH gonna be for the overnights you been down there recently.

bullmechum

The process of the initial bargaining agreement is a long one. Unfortunately several years is not uncommon as is the back and forth he said she said, you canceled a meeting so we will cancel the next one. Silly as it is, it is the norm. Where I think the IBT dropped the ball is in the area of getting the message out to the common line pilot. Of course IBT dose not have the advantage of using company e-mail or employee phone list that were provided to CAPA. I'm very interested in the new IBT personnel and I think the smart move for pilots is to see the IBT process through to the end. If we don't like the contract, then dump them.

Coming from the days where starting Captains made less than the guy who wore the Easter bunny costume at the Hyannas Mall, ( no joke $12.80 vs $13.25) I think cap's management is fine, but a collective bargaining agreement may focus them a bit more on paying flight crew what they are worth. Why do Island Air Captain start at $15.00 duty/hr with a $4.00 per leg override. Exact same equipment, much easier mission?
The way I see it, there are two options for the vote: IBT=union, Crappa=no union. I don't believe you can vote "none of the above" and if you did management still gets what they want.

Mocha to all.

BelowMins

Not sure. I'll be down there on vacation in EYW and the MTH flights are looking a lot better on the 12th.

-WTHO

1515greenlight

On the "regionals" thread in case you missed it.


Airlines
Teamsters' Airline Division Says It Removed
Local From Representing Pilots at Cape Air
BOSTON-:-The Airline Division of the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters says it has removed
one of its locals from bargaining with a small
Massachusetts-based carrier because of "unacceptably
substandard representation."

In an unusual move, the international issued a press
release March 27 in which Airline Director David
Bourne said that he is replacing Teamsters Local 747 as
the bargaining agent for pilots employed by Cape Air,
Inc., who are now in mediation. The division will take
over representation directly and decide later on assignment
to another local, he said.

But officials from Local 747 responded with a flurry
of letters contending that the local is not the bargaining
representative of the Cape Air pilots, defending their
conduct, and urging IBT President James P. Hoffa to retract
the press release.

A spokeswoman for Cape Air said that negotiations
for a first contract to cover approximately 120 active pilots
have been continuing for some time. She declined
to comment on the union dispute. Cape Air, based in
Hyannis, Mass., says it is the largest independent regional
airline in the country, serving Cape Cod, New
York state, the mid-Atlantic, the Florida Keys, the Caribbean,
and Micronesia. Cape Air pilots voted for IBT
representation in 2006.

Bourne, the director of the Airline Division, told BNA
April 1 that he removed Local 747 in response to complaints
from Cape Air pilots that they were "not getting
the representation they needed." An election to replace
IBT with the independent Cape Air Pilots Association is
scheduled for later this month, Bourne said, and pilots
at other carriers are seeking to leave the union because
of poor service from Local 747.

Pilots at Great Lakes Aviation are now voting on
whether to replace Local 747, and decertification drives
at "three or four" other carriers are under way, Bourne
said. Local 747 represents about 5,000 pilots at 12 airlines,
according to the local. According to the National
Mediation Board Web site, ballots cast by pilots at Great
Lakes on representation by IBT or the United Transportation
Union will be counted April 8.


Local 747 President and General Counsel E.E. Sowell
called the press release "a fabricated attempt to undermine
the local." In a March 29 letter to Hoffa, he said
that the local "does not now, nor have we ever, represented
the pilots of Cape Air, Inc."

Sowell explained that the former Airline Division Director
Don Treichler had agreed to continue as chief
bargainer after his replacement by Bourne last year and
that Local 747 had agreed to fund the negotiations until
a 'first contract was settled, at which time the pilots
would become part of Local 747.

Local 747 had refused to accept the Cape Air pilots
because it could not afford to adhere to a policy of not
collecting dues until a first contract was reached, Sowell said.
A spokeswoman for the local, Ashley B. Marsh, said
April 1 that pilots at Cape Air were dissatisfied because
the IBT Airline Division "dropped the ball" in negotiations.
"They were never under our umbrella," she said.

The decertification petition at Great Lakes stems
from a takeover of an airline where pilots were represented
by the UTU, which is seeking bargaining rights
at the successor carrier, Marsh said. Local 747 is not
aware of dissatisfaction at any other airline, and "we
have been receiving letters of support" from pilots since
the dispute became public, she said.

Several other Local 747 officials also wrote to the international,
questioning why the airline division would
publicly attack a local and arguing that an airing of the
dispute would strengthen union opponents.
But Bourne said "it doesn't help anybody" to keep
the controversy secret and that it was important to let
pilots and airlines know that the international is working
to address complaints.

By RICK VALLIERE
4-2-09 COPYRIGHT © 2009 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. DLR ISSN 041S-2693

BelowMins

In response to the CAPA e-mail where one of my posts here on APF is quoted: Don't shoot the messenger. This is what IBT has been telling everyone. If it is not true then the use of company e-mail should have always been used by IBT to communicate with the pilots. Why it has not been is a mystery to me.

-WTHO

FlyingChipmunk

WTHO- Are you going to this? Would be interesting if both the CAPA and IBT guys went. And theres free food!!!

TGAR


"Hello Gang,

I have heard a lot of complaints (and rightly so) about the meetings IBT has
hosted that people don't hear about until the following day. Bearing that
in mind, I asked Walter to invite the IBT back to address questions,
comments, and concerns of those who didn't attend the other meetings. I
asked them to make it in Boston for the pilots in Boston and those further
north. I am personally trying to get the word out to EVERYONE, as everyone
is welcome.

So, Friday, April 10th, (yea yea, I know it's Good Friday, but it's the best
I could do.) the new IBT team is hosting a dinner (read: FREE DINNER) and
meeting which will be held up in Boston at a location near the airport.
Currently, they are checking out the Hyatt and the Hilton. I will let you
know the location as soon as something is confirmed. Dinner will most
likely be a buffet style affair to accommodate people coming and going as
their schedule allows. Dinner begins at 5:00pm and will probably go until
9:00pm or 10:00pm.

Larry and Scott have been invited. I haven't heard whether or not they can
attend. My hope is that we can have an intelligent, non-confrontational
discussion so that pilot's can make an informed decision in regards to the
upcoming vote. This is too serious a situation to rely on rumors and
half-truths. Come hear it from the "horse's mouth", so to speak. Whether
your mind is made up or you are still on the fence, come and enjoy some food
and what promises to be an interesting evening. Spouses are also welcome to
attend. You may leave there convinced IBT has finally stepped up, that CAPA
is truly our best choice or that no union at all will best serve the pilots.
I hope to see many of you Friday night."

BelowMins

I wish I could but I'll be in EYW for the weekend. Are you going?

par8head

Any one here swimming the pool? Have you heard anything about future classes? I cannot get a hold of anyone in HR about a class date

BelowMins

Sorry haven't heard of any future class dates for now. We are fully staffed currently, and they try not to run classes in the summer months. Now if there are a lot of call backs for furloughees then this may change.

Good Luck

bullmechum

I can’t imagine management of any company tolerating union organizers, whether it’s CAPA, IBT ALPA or the Fraternal Order of Water Buffalos, useing company E-mail or other resourses to incite a union shop. Unless…..THEY WERE BACKNG ONE PARTICULAR GROUP.