let the whipsaw begin
 

As if pinnacle mgmt couldnt get any lower, they finally officially stated the colgan vs pinnacle whipsaw....

On February 5, 2008, the Newark Star-Ledger ran an article on our inaugural Q400 service for
Continental. Regrettably, the headline and several paragraphs focused on a few ALPA
Picketers. Apparently, they (ALPA) felt it was necessary to rain on our parade.
Shortly after the purchase of Colgan Air by Pinnacle Airlines Corp., we announced an agreement with Continental to fly 15 Q400 aircraft out of EWR. Through the untiring efforts of many Colgan Air Family members we delivered on this commitment.
The entire NAPD event was carried out by Colgan Air employees. It was our sweat and our labor that got it done. Now we get to enjoy (fly) the fruits of our hard work.
ALPA said they came out to ‘support their colleagues. As you may recall, ALPA conducted a campaign last summer to organize the Colgan pilots. The majority of you chose to deny representation. ALPA, in trying to organize you, all along was trying to put your interests behind the Pinnacle pilots. This is obvious from the picketing and other actions, such as ALPA's attempt in Pinnacle bargaining to limit Colgan pilots to 34 seat flying!
The labor differences between ALPA and Pinnacle Air, Inc. pilots at Pinnacle Air, Inc. does not and
should not affect us. As part of the Pinnacle Corp. family, naturally we want them to resolve this issue
and prosper in the future. In this, we wish both parties good luck in their negotiations.
You need to remember airline pilot contracts, conducted under RLA, typically take a long time to reach
an agreement.
Thank you for the great job you do everyday.


:mad: anyone else about gag when they read this crap?

This wasn't pinnacle management, this was Colgan management that said this to Colgan employees.

And no, I didn't gag. I just threw it away. Same mindless anti-ALPA banter we've been hearing over here since the whole campaign started.

I did think that it was funny how Buddy tried to make it sound like ALPA did the picketing. No, sir... those were Pinnacle pilots picketing (tongue twister?) with the support of ALPA.

And "the majority of you chose to deny representation..." Yeah, by a whopping 4 votes. Sounds like a landslide to me. The only thing that stopped that vote from going the other way was the general mindset at Colgan that "I'm only going to be here a few years anyway..."

But, back on topic for a second... I understand Pinnacle's problem, don't get me wrong, but I fail to see how picketing our flight helps your cause at all. Feel free to enlighten me.

I'm not thrilled about getting the anti-alpa emails either. I'm not a union 'yahoo' but I certainly know what my vote will be next time around...which hasn't changed since the first attempt. I refuse to fly that thing for wages less then a friggen Dash-8 300 Captain does at PDT. That's 24 extra bodies plus 1 extra FA that would be under my command. Screw that...

And how about the FO pay? We can't forget about that either. These blended FO rates are pathetic. The Saab rates are about a dollar on average less then Mesaba. Not bad, but could be better. But the Q FO's are getting gipped! I could see probationary pay being what it is, but second/third/fourth year...C'mon?!

Now, here is a question, just because I don't know the answer...
Could Colgan and Pinnacle be under the same contract, and keep the seniority lists seperate? Or would they have a seperate contract for each company? I just don't understand how all of the union stuff works...

Thanks

last i heard 51 percent was a majority

I have not read propaganda liks this since Nazi Germany. Yeah, like how dare ALPA protest the Q to an airline who did not vote them in, please. It is propaganda and will not work to influence people like it did this time.

but I fail to see how picketing our flight helps your cause at all. Feel free to enlighten me.
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Plasticpi, we werent picketing you as pilots. We were picketing to show our management that we have balls and arent going to sit by idly while they dump resources into another airline so they can get around our contract that they always seem to throw out the window anyways. And if it's the same Buddy i'm thinking about, he is pinnacle management. Pinnacle stuck him over at Colgan to be one of Trenary's pawns.

It is the same Buddy, a notorious union buster like his boy Lorenzo. Pinnacle has the right to protest the Q's when PNCL cries poor and then buys new planes. I mean come on, look at their FO pay at $24 second year.

The Pinnacle pilots dont want the Q flying, they want to be treated fairly. Once ALPA passes this year I am sure both our groups can work as one to improve things as a whole, I am looking forward to it and like always we support you guys with the strike.

I understand why they are upset about money going to buy shiny new airplanes and all that, don't get me wrong. The thing that I don't understand is how putting your face out there in the general public in a picket is going to get you any closer to the contract you guys want and deserve. John Q Public could care less about Pinnacle's contract. They just wanted to get on an airplane and get to where they were going. Their interest stops there. I understand the motive, just not the method.

If the Pinnacle pilots really feel that they are working under such bad conditions and compensation that they feel they need to take drastic measures to change it, then by all means, do it. I don't know enough about their current contract to judge either way. But I do think that they need to focus their efforts towards the people with whom they are negotiating, and leave other airlines out of it. Work slow downs, maxing out sick time, etc. are all understandable vehicles to get your point across to your management. Picketing another airline's flight is just too detached from the heart of the issue if you ask me.

If you really want to stick it to management close all the donut shops in Manassas. And make Buddy ride on colgan all day this summer in Texas.

couldnt the alpa drive also be considered propaganda, just depends what side your on

what is up with buddy writing memos and finnegan finnegan(thats me) sending them out. Is she his secretary?

I was talking with a lead FA in IAH yesterday who is a part of the Union negotiating team for the FA's. She was telling me things that have been coming to agreement to with Colgan, they are going to have it better than us soon...why?? Because they had a lawyer with them for starters. In one trip they had uniform allowance increased to $300 a year plus money for shoes, new vacation policy, duty hours, and scheduling conflicts fixed. Do you think Colgan will give us these things because we ask, they won't.

Do you know right now Colgan is going to be getting rid of repo and run up credit in exchange for a 77 hour guarantee? Too bad most of us down here in TX are way over guarantee every month so now we will have to move company equiptment around for free. What will happen if you bump something when moving this equiptment, you're fired!

We have nobody looking out for us, that should seem wrong to all of us.

We definitely need some uniform and cellphone allowance

I don't care about uniform and cell phone allowance. That is a waste. What we need is higher pay! Don't use your cell phone for the company. And uniforms are pricey, but do you really need a $300 dollar a year allowance. I don't need big brother giving me an allowance. Just give me the money and if I want new clothes I buy them.

Why you are all upset about this? FAs demonstrated to the entire world tht they are smarter than some pyluts with STS.

i was just making the point that propaganda goes both ways

I think this pilot explains our picketing actions well...




If I may set this record straight, it was the sweat and labor of every Express Airlines I, Inc., now Pinnacle Airlines, pilot that bore the "fruits" they speak of.

Those pilots made this airline run when management was, and still is, intent on doing as little as they can get away with.

Not a single employee group, from CEO, to upper management, to middle management, to general admin staff, to mechanic, to aircraft cleaner, does their job to the best of their abilities at this company. All of those employee groups come to work, punch the clock, take their breaks, do some work, and go home at exactly when the clock strikes 5 (or whatever time their shift ends) regardless if their work is complete, let alone completed well.

Pilots (and possibly Flight Attendants) are the only labor group(s) who attempt to do their job to the best of their ability. They are the only employee group who go out of their way on a daily basis to get the flight out and completed safely.

The rest of this company comes to work, does as little as they can possibly get away with, then they go home, ON TIME. No extensions, no junior manning. If their work is not complete, the get to go home anyway. If our work is not complete, we have to stay until it is done. Tell me what employee group stays at work until their job is done?

And so the fruits they speak up were of our (pilots) making. We made this airline run all these years when every one else was just coming to work.

SO........When NWA filed for bankruptcy protection, Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. had a claim against NWA in that bankruptcy for $377.5 million. Pinnacle, in an effort to get quick cash, sold a portion of that claim for cash, $283.3 million in cash. (Form 8-K on 29-Jan-2007) That cash was sent up to Pinnacle Corp.

Just 16 days later, Pinnacle Corp. announced that they had entered into a “capacity purchase agreement” with Continental Airlines utilizing “Pinnacle's wholly owned subsidiary, Colgan Air, Inc.” to operate 15 Bombardier Q-400’s. Unlike other capacity purchase agreements which a mainline company purchases the aircraft and leases it to the operator, in this one, Pinnacle Corp. is actually making the purchase (not lease) of the aircraft from Bombardier. (Form 8-K on 08 Feb-2007 )

Now, where did Pinnacle Corp. get the money to enter into a purchase agreement of 15 Q-400? From Pinnacle Inc. All the work we did over the past 9 years to make this airline successful was passed up to holding company and down to Colgan in the form of 15 74-seat aircraft.

I do not mean to take away from the hard work associated with bringing an new aircraft on the property, hard work performed by our fellow employees at Colgan, however, that opportunity wouldn’t be available if it were not for those of us over here at Pinnacle Inc

Who ever wrote that letter knows this fact dam well and choose to spin it in an effort to obscure the truth.
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