TMC- Travel Management Company
07-28-2018, 04:22 AM
#1121
New Hire
Joined APC: Jul 2018
Posts: 6
From the response that was received from this post looks to me like no one really cares..... The union at TMC is effectively dead, pull the plug and move on. Never fit the model anyway and as predicted was a complete waste of everyone's time.
Originally Posted by Windshear
This is a rebuttal (from the TMC pilots union) to a clueless pilot’s drive to win the #1 spot under the boss’ desk. Please don’t follow this clueless pilot in his irrational attempt to decertify union representation. It’d be a choice you’ll regret.
“July 20, 2018
Fellow TMC Pilots,
Recently, Robert Wilson, who is a senior TMC pilot, sent an email out to the entire pilot group on TMC’s business email system asking you to support his effort to decertify our Union. Using Company resources this way is not only a possible violation of Company policy, but if sanctioned by management, it may also be a violation of federal law. Your Union asked TMC management for “equal time” to send out a rebuttal over their system. Our request to be treated equally and fairly was flatly refused. No surprises there, since management never wanted a Union around in the first place. In his email, Wilson made many unfounded accusations. Your Leadership Council would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.
First of all, who is Robert Wilson? He claims he had “nearly 25 years”...“with ALPA and the IACP”, that he’s not “against unions” and that he has “been a member in good standing.” What he doesn’t tell you is, according a well-documented scab list that has been widely circulated in the airline industry for decades, he crossed a picket line and betrayed his fellow union brothers and sisters during the Continental strike of 1983. Here is the entry from that scab list that identifies him (we have redacted his date of birth and Social Security number, which we have verified): “Wilson, Robert James CAL 83 dob */**/**, SSN ***-**-****, 0195C.” Ask him and he will tell you all the reasons why he selfishly did what he did. Scabs always rely upon revisionist history to concoct self-serving excuses, none of which justify their unacceptable behavior. Wilson has not paid a single cent in Union dues to support our collective efforts to make tangible improvements for the TMC pilots. In fact, he has specifically asked that he not be notified of Union business. We have honored his requests.
So, how has union representation improved the lives of TMC Pilots? For years we asked management for legal rest, better pay, benefits, vacation, a seniority list, training on rotation, a realistic crew meal policy, fair disciplinary hearings, a line pilot member on the ASAP ERC, fair duty periods on travel home days, and job protection in the event of downsizing or being sold. These are some of the issues that TMC management refused to address—issues which precipitated our effort to organize in December 2014. The result was a landslide decision, where two out of three pilots recognized the need for union representation. A decision of that magnitude only comes when there is a consensus among pilots recognizing that things need to change. A Union was brought in by the pilots to improve our quality of life and the quality of service we provide. We have done just that!
Thanks to all the hard work of your Union’s Negotiating Committee and other committees such as Safety, Travel, Stewards and Professional Standards (which incidentally would not exist without the Union), every one of the issues we have identified have been resolved or are currently being negotiated. We have a process in place that protects us if management questions our performance at work and a Union representative sits on the ASAP Event Review committee. Simply stated, there have been significant improvements to TMC pilots’ quality of life since we formed our Union. The TMC pilots through their Union are the ones who were responsible for these improvements! Wilson couldn't have missed the mark further in his email to the pilot group when he claimed otherwise.
As you undoubtedly know, not one member of the senior management team that built and ran this company for years remains. Instead, TMC is now owned and operated by TPG, which is a venture capital group that is only interested in maximizing profit for its shareholders, not properly rewarding those who actually do the hard work. Their management is responsible for running the Company. These executives make the decisions, which must satisfy TPG’s economic goals. The pilots and Union have no say in how the company operates: we have no say in management’s business decisions; we have no say if airframes are parked; we had no say in how TMC’s aging fleet was operated, maintained, sold or cut up for scrap. Management parked the 800 fleet due to increasingly prohibitive maintenance costs that were affecting the profitability of the Company. The Elkhart staff was reduced and “right sized” to match TMC’s pared down operation. Somehow, according to Wilson, the Union was to blame. That is utter nonsense and demonstrates just how shallow is his understanding.
With each passing month, TMC’s pilot seniority list continues to shrink—three pilots might get hired, but six pilots leave! It’s like a revolving door at this Company. Pilots leave TMC because there are much better opportunities in the airline industry, NOT because of anything your Union did or didn’t do. Right now, with the ever increasing pilot shortage, it’s a pilots’ market out there. Why not move on to greener pastures, where the meager TMC wages can be doubled or tripled in just a few short years? It is no accident that the airlines that provide enviable wages, benefits and working conditions to their pilots are also represented by unions. Over 95% of the successful professional pilots in the U.S. belong to unions. It is no wonder management is using our Union as a recruiting tool in their attempts to attract new hire pilots ( ). They have been advertising that TMC is unionized and will have a contract soon. “So, come work for us!” What they don’t say is they have no interest in increasing the wages, benefits and working conditions of the TMC pilots anytime soon.
https://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/...t-135/tmc_jets Considering that TMC management has, so far, refused to agree to industry-standard provisions regarding pay and schedules, it’s easy to understand why former members of your Union’s leadership have taken promising jobs at FedEx, Delta, United, Southwest and Kalitta Air, to name a few. Consequently, the Union’s leaders and negotiators have changed, just as the pilot group has changed. When one of the pilots in a leadership position leaves for another company, there has been another pilot willing to step up and take his place. TMC pilots serving on your Union’s Leadership Council or Negotiating Committee have been present at every bargaining session on behalf of the pilot group.
Throughout these changes, your leaders have been assisted by IBT International Representative Captain Rick Dubinsky, a very experienced and respected pilot negotiator and Union leader, who has sat in every negotiating session since they began. (Rick flew for United for 37+ years—including the 1980’s when the Continental pilots went on strike. He was a senior ALPA official and knows what occurred in 1983 and why.) We have kept to the main goals that originally inspired the formation of this Union—getting the TMC pilots an industry-standard contract. We have not wavered and are almost at the goal line. The majority of the sections for our future contract have been agreed to between your Union and management and, we hope, will soon be presented to the pilot group to vote upon. Think of that future contract as an insurance policy for your job. Without a contract, our work rules, pay and benefits can and have been changed unilaterally by TMC management at any time for any reason. They can make all the promises you want to hear, only to see them take things away whenever they see fit. A contract preserves a bar to be raised, not lowered.
Because of the changes that occurred with IBT Local 1108, we are now directly represented by the IBT Airline Division. We still have the full backing and resources of the Teamsters. Union business and negotiations will continue normally. When we do come to a final agreement with management on a contract, we will be placed in an Airline Division Local that best suits our particular interests.
Please do not foolishly follow self-serving, ill-informed individuals like Wilson who want to prevent the pilot group from having a meaningful voice at the workplace. Ask him what he has ever done to improve the professional lives of the TMC pilots. Don’t help him to tear down your Union and all that it has and will continue to accomplish by sending in a “decert” card as he requests. Instead, if you want to help make TMC a great place for pilots to work, join your fellow volunteer pilots’ efforts and let us know what you need and want. Members of your Union’s leadership volunteer their time off to attend negotiations, new hire classes, solve pilot disputes and much, much more on a daily basis. We truly care about TMC and the future of this pilot group. While we cherish our time off with our families, we also know our fellow pilots need some of their peers to lead the charge. If you have a little time to spare, we will find a place for you in your Union’s structure. There is no more gratifying work than helping your fellow pilots improve their professional status and standing and the security of their families.
In Unity,
Your TMC Pilots Leadership Council”
“July 20, 2018
Fellow TMC Pilots,
Recently, Robert Wilson, who is a senior TMC pilot, sent an email out to the entire pilot group on TMC’s business email system asking you to support his effort to decertify our Union. Using Company resources this way is not only a possible violation of Company policy, but if sanctioned by management, it may also be a violation of federal law. Your Union asked TMC management for “equal time” to send out a rebuttal over their system. Our request to be treated equally and fairly was flatly refused. No surprises there, since management never wanted a Union around in the first place. In his email, Wilson made many unfounded accusations. Your Leadership Council would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.
First of all, who is Robert Wilson? He claims he had “nearly 25 years”...“with ALPA and the IACP”, that he’s not “against unions” and that he has “been a member in good standing.” What he doesn’t tell you is, according a well-documented scab list that has been widely circulated in the airline industry for decades, he crossed a picket line and betrayed his fellow union brothers and sisters during the Continental strike of 1983. Here is the entry from that scab list that identifies him (we have redacted his date of birth and Social Security number, which we have verified): “Wilson, Robert James CAL 83 dob */**/**, SSN ***-**-****, 0195C.” Ask him and he will tell you all the reasons why he selfishly did what he did. Scabs always rely upon revisionist history to concoct self-serving excuses, none of which justify their unacceptable behavior. Wilson has not paid a single cent in Union dues to support our collective efforts to make tangible improvements for the TMC pilots. In fact, he has specifically asked that he not be notified of Union business. We have honored his requests.
So, how has union representation improved the lives of TMC Pilots? For years we asked management for legal rest, better pay, benefits, vacation, a seniority list, training on rotation, a realistic crew meal policy, fair disciplinary hearings, a line pilot member on the ASAP ERC, fair duty periods on travel home days, and job protection in the event of downsizing or being sold. These are some of the issues that TMC management refused to address—issues which precipitated our effort to organize in December 2014. The result was a landslide decision, where two out of three pilots recognized the need for union representation. A decision of that magnitude only comes when there is a consensus among pilots recognizing that things need to change. A Union was brought in by the pilots to improve our quality of life and the quality of service we provide. We have done just that!
Thanks to all the hard work of your Union’s Negotiating Committee and other committees such as Safety, Travel, Stewards and Professional Standards (which incidentally would not exist without the Union), every one of the issues we have identified have been resolved or are currently being negotiated. We have a process in place that protects us if management questions our performance at work and a Union representative sits on the ASAP Event Review committee. Simply stated, there have been significant improvements to TMC pilots’ quality of life since we formed our Union. The TMC pilots through their Union are the ones who were responsible for these improvements! Wilson couldn't have missed the mark further in his email to the pilot group when he claimed otherwise.
As you undoubtedly know, not one member of the senior management team that built and ran this company for years remains. Instead, TMC is now owned and operated by TPG, which is a venture capital group that is only interested in maximizing profit for its shareholders, not properly rewarding those who actually do the hard work. Their management is responsible for running the Company. These executives make the decisions, which must satisfy TPG’s economic goals. The pilots and Union have no say in how the company operates: we have no say in management’s business decisions; we have no say if airframes are parked; we had no say in how TMC’s aging fleet was operated, maintained, sold or cut up for scrap. Management parked the 800 fleet due to increasingly prohibitive maintenance costs that were affecting the profitability of the Company. The Elkhart staff was reduced and “right sized” to match TMC’s pared down operation. Somehow, according to Wilson, the Union was to blame. That is utter nonsense and demonstrates just how shallow is his understanding.
With each passing month, TMC’s pilot seniority list continues to shrink—three pilots might get hired, but six pilots leave! It’s like a revolving door at this Company. Pilots leave TMC because there are much better opportunities in the airline industry, NOT because of anything your Union did or didn’t do. Right now, with the ever increasing pilot shortage, it’s a pilots’ market out there. Why not move on to greener pastures, where the meager TMC wages can be doubled or tripled in just a few short years? It is no accident that the airlines that provide enviable wages, benefits and working conditions to their pilots are also represented by unions. Over 95% of the successful professional pilots in the U.S. belong to unions. It is no wonder management is using our Union as a recruiting tool in their attempts to attract new hire pilots ( ). They have been advertising that TMC is unionized and will have a contract soon. “So, come work for us!” What they don’t say is they have no interest in increasing the wages, benefits and working conditions of the TMC pilots anytime soon.
https://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/...t-135/tmc_jets Considering that TMC management has, so far, refused to agree to industry-standard provisions regarding pay and schedules, it’s easy to understand why former members of your Union’s leadership have taken promising jobs at FedEx, Delta, United, Southwest and Kalitta Air, to name a few. Consequently, the Union’s leaders and negotiators have changed, just as the pilot group has changed. When one of the pilots in a leadership position leaves for another company, there has been another pilot willing to step up and take his place. TMC pilots serving on your Union’s Leadership Council or Negotiating Committee have been present at every bargaining session on behalf of the pilot group.
Throughout these changes, your leaders have been assisted by IBT International Representative Captain Rick Dubinsky, a very experienced and respected pilot negotiator and Union leader, who has sat in every negotiating session since they began. (Rick flew for United for 37+ years—including the 1980’s when the Continental pilots went on strike. He was a senior ALPA official and knows what occurred in 1983 and why.) We have kept to the main goals that originally inspired the formation of this Union—getting the TMC pilots an industry-standard contract. We have not wavered and are almost at the goal line. The majority of the sections for our future contract have been agreed to between your Union and management and, we hope, will soon be presented to the pilot group to vote upon. Think of that future contract as an insurance policy for your job. Without a contract, our work rules, pay and benefits can and have been changed unilaterally by TMC management at any time for any reason. They can make all the promises you want to hear, only to see them take things away whenever they see fit. A contract preserves a bar to be raised, not lowered.
Because of the changes that occurred with IBT Local 1108, we are now directly represented by the IBT Airline Division. We still have the full backing and resources of the Teamsters. Union business and negotiations will continue normally. When we do come to a final agreement with management on a contract, we will be placed in an Airline Division Local that best suits our particular interests.
Please do not foolishly follow self-serving, ill-informed individuals like Wilson who want to prevent the pilot group from having a meaningful voice at the workplace. Ask him what he has ever done to improve the professional lives of the TMC pilots. Don’t help him to tear down your Union and all that it has and will continue to accomplish by sending in a “decert” card as he requests. Instead, if you want to help make TMC a great place for pilots to work, join your fellow volunteer pilots’ efforts and let us know what you need and want. Members of your Union’s leadership volunteer their time off to attend negotiations, new hire classes, solve pilot disputes and much, much more on a daily basis. We truly care about TMC and the future of this pilot group. While we cherish our time off with our families, we also know our fellow pilots need some of their peers to lead the charge. If you have a little time to spare, we will find a place for you in your Union’s structure. There is no more gratifying work than helping your fellow pilots improve their professional status and standing and the security of their families.
In Unity,
Your TMC Pilots Leadership Council”
08-31-2018, 05:22 AM
#1123
Line Holder
Joined APC: Feb 2014
Posts: 41
Originally Posted by Bodhisattva
Sounds like Grand Scab is getting more and more little scabs to turn in cards. Too blind to see that ousting the union will only be an open invitation for TPG to have free reign in liquidating everything.
TMC closing its doors would be the best possible outcome.
08-31-2018, 06:36 AM
#1124
Line Holder
Joined APC: Oct 2016
Posts: 42
That's old news the writing has been on the walls. They have flushed everyone from the top down and now Fill is running the show. All he's there for is to make sure the numbers don't implode before they do close the doors. He doesn't know a metar from a taf.
09-06-2018, 05:22 PM
#1127
Line Holder
Joined APC: Nov 2014
Position: Phenom
Posts: 82
Pictures circulating on a couple of FB groups showing a TMC Hawker 400 that apparently had a tip strike at TEB last night. Pretty obvious contact marks from the pavement, static wicks gone, and a bent flap. FBO reported that the crew hightailed it to an Uber as soon as they shut the cabin door.
09-07-2018, 05:55 AM
#1129
Line Holder
Joined APC: May 2013
Posts: 45
Originally Posted by BuddhaPilot73
Pictures circulating on a couple of FB groups showing a TMC Hawker 400 that apparently had a tip strike at TEB last night. Pretty obvious contact marks from the pavement, static wicks gone, and a bent flap. FBO reported that the crew hightailed it to an Uber as soon as they shut the cabin door.
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