Rightseat Ballast

It appears that the first big steps have been taken towards divorcing RAH from IBT Local 747. The plan is to have RAH operate under its own local. Again, the process has already begun, and IBT Int'l is on board. This has the potential to bring some much needed change to our ability to stand up to the company, and to better represent ourselves given the evolving nature of our pilot group. Hoffa is giving RAH a lot of latitude in defining itself.

One of the major steps coming up is the creation of bylaws. Our EXCO has stated that bylaws will be written and voted on AFTER the seniority integration is complete, giving Frontier, Lynx, and Midwest pilots a real chance to help shape our collective futures. I sincerely hope Frontier and Midwest pilots will put their industry experience to work and make sure that the new local is all it can be.

I think 100% of the people at RAH and on this board are skeptical of how big any actual change may be, which is fine. But at least the potential exists to give teeth to our union. I hope this online community can muster up some support between all the bickering, and I hope everyone will see that this change can give us more power in negotiations, and give the newly integrated pilots more access to leadership roles within. There is no completion date set for the new local, and as I said above, certain steps will not be taken without the integration being concluded. Wish us luck.

atr42flyer

nice! i hope this will turn things around here!

Aloha

I'm hoping it works out well. Effective union representation could go along way for the RJ guys - cleaning up poor work rules, QOL, and low pay; which have been plaguing the industry. On the flip side, poor union representation can be a cancer. Once it starts down a road of inefficiency, corruption, or conflict of interest, you can be better off without it.
My .02 cents,
Aloha

HawkerJet

Will there not be a vote on who the union will be or is it majority rules? We have ALPA, IBT, FAPA, and UTU, would the IBT be the best choice for everyone involved or something else?

MD80

Rightseat Ballast, let me say I respect your opinion.

My issue is going to be trusting the current Republic EXCO to do anything right. I haven't seen good things coming from your leadership...

--- Doesn't file or enforce grievances
--- Doesn't communicate with the membership
--- Doesn't try to unitify the different pilot groups (letters, emails, meetings)
--- Doesn't support other labor unions


We know IBT can't get voted in so why not pick between ALPA and APA? APA is already a independent union and the bylaws could be reviewed. Work with APA to create a list of changes to their bylaws. Get Midwest, Frontiers, Lynx and Republics EXCO together to work on it.

Let's start working together.

likeitis

I didn't realize that the American's pilots union was accepting new members from different airlines. At this point I think I would prefer FAPA.

Rightseat Ballast

First, for your four points:

1. The grievance filing and prosecution is actually just beginning to turn around. The trustee of the new Local will be our current business agent, who is facilitating a lot of improvements in the area of grievances. Our former business agents were driven out of town along with the former president and legal counsel. In the past six months, our current business agent has really sorted out the mess left behind and prioritized the handling of cases. A date has been set for the 100 seat arbitration, and our business agent based a lot on getting a friendly arbitrator. For once, we have a stradegy! The necessary groundwork has been laid, and results should start to manifest by mid year or sooner, depending on the case. As for the EXCO's role in it, they were pretty much running every single facet of the union, and were easily distracted. Since the Emergency trusteeship, task delegation has improved a lot, and the new players are working hard to be defined by their own actions, not that of the EXCO.

2. Communication is horrible. Our current business agent and soon-to-be trustee is going after better communication methods. The new sheriff, plus a chance to force the issue through new bylaws may offer some hope. Secrecy has been the means by which the EXCO has maintained power. None of us are ever allowed to know enough to fairly judge the output of the EXCO, hence we have trouble justifying running against them.

3&4. As for unity, a lot of that falls on the current EXCO, no doubt. I know everyone on the outside sees things one way, but from the inside there have been some big internal battles that have been very time consuming for our union. But wholeheartedly I agree that much more ought to have been done. When the whizzing contest of SLI is done, I am sure you will find the rank and file RAH pilot is far more open and welcoming than the talking heads.

A lot if us want the EXCO gone or broken up. Elections come up this year, if I am not mistaken, so some change is possible in the near future. I hope new bylaws are more inclusive for those who want to run for office.

My hope is that we stick with this new Local until everyone is settled on property, the new contract is at least put up for a vote, and we see what we can create. The freedom to write our bylaws allows us to mimic the stronger unions without giving up our current support during negotiations. If it turns out we can't do it ourselves, then I am all for going elsewhere.

For another poster:

As for which union wins in integration, I believe there is a certain percentage of incoming pilots that must be met to force a vote on representation. However, the three "new" airlines will only come to total about 40% of the new combined group, which apparently is not enough to trigger a vote. However, many of us are open to new representation. Hopefully Midwest and Frontier pilots will be willing to participate in whatever union we have and lead us to a better place.

F9er

Having been bart of the IBT & ALPA and now FAPA I can honestly say I will never give a penny to either IBT or ALPA again. FAPA has been great all around and I really hope the guys at RAH can look at what FAPA has been able to accomplish in these tough times and see the bright light ahead.

G-Dog

You can change the local's number all you want, but it is still the same people running it. Until we have new elections, you can call our local the Justice League of America for all I care.

Don't get me wrong, I am not running away from this, but watching with eyes wide open.

WeaselBoy

That would be AWESOME! That would be the first union bag sticker I ever stuck on.