SkyWest ALPA Vote Scheduled, Letter from Mgmnt
 

For those who want to know the latest on the SKW ALPA drive, this letter was emailed to all at SKW late last night (Sept 21) by Brad Holt. But the letter was not written by BH, it was probably written by the Law Firm they're spending an incredible amount of money with to keep us non-union. BTW the letter says only 35% of the cards have been returned, actually the numbers are far greater but still not the 70-80% the committee was looking for. The votes going to be close.

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To: SkyWest Airlines Pilots
From: Brad Holt
Date: September 21, 2007

Re: No call = “no” vote

We have received notification from the NMB that ALPA has submitted signed authorization cards from at least 35% of our pilots. This means that during the next few weeks, there will be an election to determine whether our pilots want to be represented by ALPA.

Several of our pilots have voiced concern about the voting process and the possibility that those who have not gone through this process before may unintentionally vote for a union. Their concerns are valid because there are some serious pitfalls to telephonic voting that you should understand prior to the election, such as:

• There is no button to push for a “no” vote.
• By calling and entering your ID numbers – even out of curiosity – you create the risk of inadvertently being counted as a “yes” vote for representation.
• Because of the way that the NMB counts the votes, “writing in” other entities, such as SAPA, could end up helping ALPA win the election.
• There is no information about unions provided on the voting line.
• This phone number is for voting only once you have made your decision.

There is a simple solution: If you do not want ALPA, simply do not call. This election is about whether our pilots want ALPA representation or not. If you prefer SAPA, again, don’t call. SAPA will continue (as it did after the previous UPA, ALPA and teamsters drives) if ALPA does not get enough votes. Indeed, voting for SAPA could backfire as those votes will be added to ALPA to determine whether more than 50% want a union. Therefore, if you do not specifically want ALPA, do not cast a vote. Not calling is the same as a NO vote.

Sometimes, employees feel so strongly that they don’t want a union that they want to call the voting number to express that view, even though not voting is the same as a NO vote. That is VERY dangerous because there is no prompt to vote NO if you call. In order to vote “no” on the system, you must go through a series of prompts, clearly speak your intent at the correct moment, and then complete the call. If you call and hang up at the wrong time, or if you are not clear in your intent, your call may end up being counted as a pro-union vote. This happened in the last UPA vote, where the NMB counted a caller’s “silence” as a pro-union vote!

Once your vote is registered by the system, even if by mistake, you will be locked out and there is no way for you to recall or change your vote. The surest and best way to vote “no” is to not call the system in the first place.

The ALPA vote is scheduled for October 09, 2007 – November 06, 2007 and will be conducted telephonically. You will be receiving voting instructions and two unique identification numbers – a voter identification number (VIN) and a personal identification number (PIN) – from the NMB. Over the next few weeks, I will be sending you short notes that will contain answers to frequently asked questions. Each note will have links to more information about the issues so you can be fully informed.

Please remember that a vote cast for the union cannot be changed, and that getting a non-performing union out is next to impossible. If we end up with ALPA there is no “test drive.” There is no prescribed procedure for “decertifying” a union (going back to being non-union) once you have one.


Brad Holt
VP – Flight Operations


NMB VOTING PROCEDURES Q&A

Q. How will the National Mediation Board (NMB) conduct the upcoming union election?
A. Through Telephone Electronic Voting (TEV). All employees eligible to vote in the election will receive instructions from the NMB about how to vote via telephone, as well as a personal “voter identification number” (VIN) and “personal identification number” (PIN).

Q. How do I vote against ALPA? A. By not voting (not calling) at all. There is no prompt to vote NO if you call the voting number. There are only prompts if you want to vote for ALPA or “write-in” someone else. To vote NO, don’t call the number at all! In fact, to eliminate any chance of someone else casting your vote (which would be against the law), shred your instructions and VIN and PIN when you get them.

Q. What about “writing in” SAPA or some other organization or person?
A. Because of the way the NMB handles elections, a vote for another representative could end up helping ALPA get elected. If more than half of the eligible SkyWest pilot group call in and vote for any representative – another union, an in-house committee, even a co-worker – the union with the most votes will win, even if that union does not get a majority of the votes itself. The NMB even counts “hang ups” on the “write in” option as votes for unionization. So, if you don’t want to help ALPA get elected, don’t call.

Q. Can I change my vote after I cast it?
A. No. Once you have voted and hung up the phone, you can’t call back and change your vote.

Q. Can I still vote against ALPA if I sent in an authorization card? A. Yes! The authorization cards were used by ALPA to get an election. Now that an election will be held, the authorization cards are meaningless, and you can vote however you want. The best way to vote against ALPA is not to call at all.

Fear and intimidation.

That memo says "don't call" SIX TIMES.

Wow...

Is there a point to be sharing company information on a public forum like this?

I don't call the letter a bad thing in the least....they're just trying to keep all of us more informed on how to vote NO if we decide to vote that way. The voting process (if you read the entire letter) is very geared towards voting in a union. You essentially vote for ALPA or another union....some of us, believe it or not, don't think a third party is necessary at this time.

The reason that letter is posted here is because many on this forum don't think we have a right to know how to vote no...ALPA, of course, wants to win - even if by trickery or ommission of information.

The telephone-system IS very-geared towards voting in ALPA. If I were Brad Holt (or the lawyers, makes no difference), I would have said "Don't Call" about a hundred times LoL

Yes...by saying so no fewer than SIX TIMES.

Seeing as the company has the most to lose from the pilots obtaining representation, don't you think they're trying to reinforce something?

Does freedom of choice not mean anything?? Does it absolutely kill ya'll that some don't think the way you do? Oh - I'm sorry - we're all stockholm-syndrome brainwashed, right?

Look guys! That dude is different! Let's throw rocks at him because we're not comfortable with the fact that some people just don't think the same things we do!! ::rolls eyes::

God I can't wait for this vote to be over so I don't have to sift through all this union bullcrap on the Regional forum...

Yes, it's called a debate. This is a company letter about public information, NOT COMPANY INFORMATION! It's public because it deals with ALPA and the voting process. Many of the pilots on here have been through the process and can add valuable insight. If it was company sensitive then I would not have posted it.

BTW, it's called "Business Ethics" and I understand it thoroughly seeing that I have two degree in business as well as many years of experience.

If that diatribe is in response to either of my posts, I have no idea WTF you are talking about or the point you were trying to make. Then again, I've only had one cup of coffee so far...

Vote no if you don't think ALPA would be beneficial to you and your pilot group. Vote yes if you think it will. That said, don't get caught up in the emotion either way...fairly and objectively evaluate both options and consider ALL pros and cons. I think the pros of representation far outweigh the cons, but admittedly I don't work at Skywest.

I think this vote is going to fail by a 40-60 margin, and its going to fail largely because many FOs (falsely) believe ALPA will damage relations with management causing their upgrade train to come to a screeching halt. Just the opinion of one observer, with more than a passing interest in the outcome.

LoL sorry BoilerUP - it really is far too early to be engaging in such heated-debate...And i've only had half a cup myself!! Oh and btw, thank you to the DOT for getting me up every morning at 0630 with that roadwork-sounding alarm-clock...

No it doesn't. It says at least 35%. It was a purposely worded statement to give the impression that barely 35% of cards had been turned in.