ASA MEC Elections
 

The ASA MEC elections are coming up, yet nothing has been announced. No candidates have announced their candidacy (even the incumbents!) and nothing has been communicated.

A friend called me the other night and said he overheard some ASA ALPA guys in a bar talking about nomination ballots being sent out this week. Unable to verify that. But if that's the case, and no announcement has been sent beforehand, it would appear that the incumbents are trying to slide it past anyone who may be interested in running. Either way, I find it very strange that no one has publicly announced their candidacy (even the incumbents!) That usually happens a couple of months before the election.

(NO I am NOT running, and will not be endorsing a candidate).

John,

Here is another point to ponder. Many of those who aren't happy with the current situation are in bad standing and won't get ballots and won't be eligible to vote...Isn't that convenient.:rolleyes:

So pay the $30 you owe and then you get a ballot. It's really that simple.

I got a connection email last night that said the nominating ballots would be mailed out tomorrow.

It should be really simple to get an exact accounting. I can do it with a calculator. Is that really too much to ask?

What about the people on bad standing who have never received a bill?

This is the generic group III email I got today about elections. I don't remember if ASA and PNCL are both group III.

September 1, 2009

Dear Election Group III Member:

In an effort to make voting more convenient, we are introducing another option for members to cast their vote when a ballot is available. *The new voting option allows the member to access the balloting system through the ALPA crewroom website. *By virtue of being able to access the crewroom site, the member will be able to pass through to the balloting site in a few simple steps without having to enter different voter credentials. *(NOTE: *Any member wanting to vote via phone or directly on the ballotpoint website will still need to use the voter credentials established with the balloting vendor.)

All eligible voters in any local council election or MEC ballot will see a graphic on their ALPA Members Only home page alerting them to an open ballot. *This graphic will display for the duration of the balloting period as the ballot system is designed to allow a member to re-enter the system and recast a vote at any time during the balloting period. *In addition to the required communications via US mail, members will also receive an email announcing when a ballot is available and a reminder several days before the ballot closes. *The graphic and related emails will be available only to a member who is eligible to vote. *

Nomination ballots will be mailed the first week of September to all members of local councils who are to nominate representatives for the term of office beginning on March 1, 2010. *As a member, you are responsible for determining the nominee's willingness to serve prior to nomination. *The nominee must declare his willingness to serve in writing to the Local Council Chairman, or his designee, prior to the adjournment of the Council meeting in order for their name to to appear on the election ballot. *A declaration by fax, email, or marking of the willingness-to-serve box on the nominating ballot envelope will be acceptable. *Nominees must be Active, Executive Active, or Grievance Pending members in good standing of your council and in the same Status (Captain, First Officer, etc.) as those members that he/she would represent.

After the nomination meeting, the Local Council officers will return all completed ballot materials to the Herndon office. **Upon receipt of the returned materials an audit is completed by the Membership & Council Services Department. *After completion of the audit, Representative Ballot notices will be mailed to the eligible voting members of the Local Council. *

Voting for representatives and officers will be conducted by telephone or through the Internet, using the services of a bonded, independent organization. Election notices sent to the members' home addresses will provide the dates voting will occur and directions on how to use the telephone and Internet voting systems. Each member's votes will be secret, and ALPA's Election Ballot and Certification Committee (EBCB) will certify the results of the election.

For council meetings held in September or early October; ballots may be mailed as early as October 15 with the results certified on November 10. *Ballots from council meetings held later in October will be mailed by November 10 and the results certified on December 10. *Following the certification of the representative election, an officer ballot notification will be mailed to all voting members of the local council. *

During the election cycle, candidates for office may use the services of the ALPA Publishing Services Group to send campaign material to the voting members of their local council. A candidate may send campaign material via mail, e-mail, or a combination, but all expenses associated with sending campaign literature are the responsibility of the candidate.

The rules governing the nomination and election processes (ALPA Constitution and By-Laws, Article III, Sections 7 and 8) as well as candidates' rights (Section 90 of the ALPA's Administrative Manual) are available on the Members Only section of the ALPA website-crewroom.alpa.org.

The local council representatives who are elected this Fall will become members of their pilot group's master executive council (MEC). As members of the MEC, they represent the interests of the members of their local councils at MEC meetings.

The elected representatives are also members of ALPA's Board of Directors, which is the highest governing body of the Association.

ALPA as an organization has many goals, one of which is "to provide representation for all members of the airline piloting profession; to promote the interests of that profession; and to safeguard the rights, individually and collectively, of its members."
The Association's representation structure and democratic process allows for each and every member to have his or her voice heard. Let your voice be heard through your participation in the process of nominating and electing your local council representatives and officers.

Should you have any questions regarding the election process, please send an email to [email protected] or call (888) FLY-ALPA, press '3' and follow the voice prompts for assistance.

I guess you have to decide which is more important, holding out for an "exact" value that might save you $2, or voting in the next round of elections.

If you determine that holding out for an exact amount is the most important, then don't whine that you can't vote.

I guess that they probably should have kept their addresses/phone numbers/emails up to date in the database.

If they didn't receive a bill, they wouldn't receive a ballot either.

BUZZ. Try again. I know of at least 10 whose info is current and they receive other ALPA correspondence, but haven't gotten a bill.

Well according to the email, ALPA sent the rumor is true.

A well known ALPA insider says DU and NT will be on the ballot. Not sure how he knows that since they don't get mailed until the 3rd.

I also find it fishy that the incumbents are automatically on the nomination ballot, if true. Are they going for name recognition and hoping no one else will get a big enough majority to be nominated?

I have heard of some other candidates who are planning to run. They are all pilots who have never served in ALPA and are NOT a "coalition". They are all running independently. what they have in common is a belief that the MEC needs change and accountability. I'd expect to see more info come out this week.

What? They can't be on the ballot. Nomination ballots are blank. The point of this process is to (drumroll please) nominate people.

You know this... you ran for office last time. You're very familiar with how the process works, so quit spreading misinformation.

That's what I thought too. But the "Minister of Defense" supposedly told EF that they are "on the ballot". Moreover, he said it 2 days before the ballots get mailed. So either the MOD is off his rocker, or something up.

Captain Rich Viars is one of the candidates running. I've also heard that Captain Alan Gregory is interested.

They're ALL going down! I'm voting to replace everyone of the incumbents. DN can't even take a day once a week to hang out in the crew room. Guess he forgets WE pay his salary.

Hoser
Roll Tide!

Are the ballots going to be electronic or sent snail mail?

"In an effort to make voting more convenient, we are introducing another option for members to cast their vote when a ballot is available. The new voting option allows the member to access the balloting system through the ALPA crewroom website. By virtue of being able to access the crewroom site, the member will be able to pass through to the balloting site in a few simple steps without having to enter different voter credentials. (NOTE: Any member wanting to vote via phone or directly on the ballotpoint website will still need to use the voter credentials established with the balloting vendor.)

...

Nomination ballots will be mailed the first week of September to all members of local councils who are to nominate representatives for the term of office beginning on March 1, 2010. As a member, you are responsible for determining the nominee's willingness to serve prior to nomination. The nominee must declare his willingness to serve in writing to the Local Council Chairman, or his designee, prior to the adjournment of the Council meeting in order for their name to to appear on the election ballot. A declaration by fax, email, or marking of the willingness-to-serve box on the nominating ballot envelope will be acceptable. Nominees must be Active, Executive Active, or Grievance Pending members in good standing of your council and in the same Status (Captain, First Officer, etc.) as those members that he/she would represent"

Hey Guys, I'm not quite sure how to go about doing this... If I wanted to nominate someone for say, FO rep, how would I go about doing that...?

I really want to get a freind of mine on the ALPA list, because he is not a severe douche rocket like NT and pals.

What form do I need to fill out to get him nominated?

The ballots being sent out to your home this week are actually nomination ballots not voting ballots. That is the one you need to write in his/her name. Remember, it is very important to get as many other people as you can to nominate that same person. Normally, the voting ballot only includes the top several nominees. It is very important to first get on the voting ballot. To my knowledge, I don't think anyone has won as a write in candidate.

Does anyone find it weird that we received 4 campaign emails yesterday and ALL of them are currently reps or involved with ALPA. This must be a really good gig that involves lots of sitting with very little work. How difficult is it to type up an update every week????

More of the same ahead.............

PS. Pilots are apathetic. Many wont vote, most wont even know who is running!

I know I'll be paying very close attention. The no-furlough language in the present contract is the only thing keeping me employed, and I'm concerned that some of the more senior captains would through the junior guys under the bus in order to increase their block hours like the "good old days." This election matters, pure and simple.

In addition, the furloughed guys only received a call from the MEC asking if they needed any help or had any questions the last week of August. These guys have no idea why they paid dues if their union barely acknowledges they even exist.

A shakeup is in order.

Amen Panama Jones...were in the same boat!

Hmm, must have missed that call. Guess not all of us exist. ;)

I have heard the rumor that we were tossed under the bus to appease the senior guys who couldn't live on 'just guarantee' this winter. I would love to see new blood in the union but I don't have a say anymore. Good luck!

are any 'fresh' people even running for positions. from looking at the emails that were sent out, all the people that are running are currently serving some alpa position.

Funny how fast they can get campaign propaganda to us (with pictures none the less!) but it takes them weeks to put out an update on little things like PBS negotiations and the red arrow days grievance. The current crop is useless, and clueless that they think they deserve re-election.

Others I've heard are running, never served:
CA Rich Viars
CA Priyesh Amin
CA Tim Elwell (maybe)

Not sure about FOs. I'd expect to see more info in the crew lounge this week.

that was my next question. in the past, do they hold q&a sessions or is it kind of the voters job to call them and ask them questions. i haven't flown with any of the guys you listed so i wouldn't have a clue on who to vote for.

Generally, there's no formal Q&A, but the smart candidates make themselves available for questions in the crew lounge. It's up to you to decide which ones are lying.

Ok folks I am officially throwing my hat in the ring. I have been kind of on the fence about making this serious. Well here it goes, I am on the bottom on the list since the furloughs, I figure I will be a good person to represent all FOs interests. I am in the process of sending my letter/campaign thing into ALPA, but thought I'd put it out here.

Matthew O'Hern
CRJ200 FO

Hey John,

If Captain Elwell is running, might try to get him elected. My experience while I was there is Elwell will stand strong on pilot friendly initiatives. He also will not be one of the ALPA losers bragging about union weekends and conferences in Vegas while the pilot group waits 5 years for a new contract. I did not always see eye to eye with him, but he will not sell out the pilot group like the current guys.

If you want to vote for a write-in canidate, how are you supposed to know their ALPA number? I barely even know my own.

Im going to nominate you Bill

Ask the person maybe? :D

Hoser
Roll Tide!

Thanks :). I just thought casting a write-in vote was a little more difficult than necessary. Moot point I guess, 'cause if they didn't get enough votes to get on the ballot, their chances of getting elected must be pretty slim.

Yes, e-mail them for their number.

And Tim, I actually agree with you. TE is a great guy and comes from an airline family.

Elwell decided not to run.

The nominated candidates for CA rep are:

Steve Prescott
Nick Tomlin
Danny Utley
Rich Viars

Priyesh Amin (Pree), ALPA #1393867, is running a write in campaign. He didn't get nominated by a very small margin, and according to someone on the ballot board, if 7 votes hadn't been excluded for being improperly filled out, he would have been nominated.

The FO Reps are:

Andy Hale
Mike Hodgson
Ken Armstrong
John-Claud Freese

Hodgson and Freese announced their candidacy in a coalition with Tomlin and Utley, so its safe to assume they are the incumbent's choices for FO rep (read between the lines here...).

For this election is that they streamlined the voting process. No longer the need to dig up all of that VIN/PIN stuff. Just log onto the ALPA website at https://crewroom.alpa.org/Default.as...&ctl=CrewLogin and on the top right corner is an icon that takes you to the voting page.

Thanks John, unless I missed it I did not get anything announcing who was on the ballot.

Thanks for the info John.

Looks like 24% participated in the nomination process. Is that typical? Hope more people take the time to vote in the election.

Yeah, that % is pretty typical. A mailing went out yesterday with voting instructions.