Airline Pilot Central Forums - Another reason to vote No (American Eagle)

Thought I should pass this along....

It is imperative that every American Eagle pilot read the letter (attached below) to the Los Angeles pilots from the ALPA Eagle LAX Council Chairman Herb Mark and Vice-Chairman Bill Sprague.

Do not read the letter casually, study it and read between the lines.

What is blatantly obvious from the letter is that the Eagle MEC has been summoned to Washington. This is the beginning of the ALPA National/management Cram-Down.

The Eagle MEC will be held hostage in Washington DC by ALPA National, on behalf of management, until the MEC agrees to management's ever changing demands.

What is also obvious from the letter is that the more of your money (wages, retirement, health insurance, work-rules, quality-of-life) MEC Chairman Tony Gutierrez and MEC Vice-Chairman Dave Ryter offer American Eagle President Dan Garton, the more money Dan Garton is demanding from the pilots.

ALPA National has been directly solicited by management to threaten, intimidate and coerce the MEC into signing an agreement.

ALPA National refuses to defend the American Eagle pilot's wages, retirement, health insurance, work-rules and quality-of-life in the Bankruptcy Court Section 1113 process because defending the American Eagle Pilot Agreement costs money. Capitulation costs ALPA National nothing, it all comes out of the American Eagle pilot's pockets.

ALPA National refuses to use the more than $350,000.00 in dues money the Eagle pilots pay ALPA every month. American Eagle pilots pay ALPA more than four million dollars ($4,000,000.00) every year.

ALPA National, Tony Gutierrez, Dave Ryter and management ALSO do not want to risk having the truth exposed, in Bankruptcy Court, how they have colluded to financially harm the American Eagle pilots.

The AEPA will shortly bring to the attention of the American Eagle pilots how and where ALPA has failed to represent the pilots and colluded with management to financially harm the American Eagle pilots.

This Washington Cram-Down, beginning tomorrow, Monday July 30, 2012 is just a continuation of the failure and refusal of ALPA National to represent the American Eagle pilots.

Please mass circulate this email as every American Eagle pilot should read the letter from Herb Mark and Bill Sprague to the LAX based pilots.

...letter begins...

Fellow LAX pilots:

Herb and I wanted to provide a quick update on the status of our negotiations with the company.

Several weeks ago we delivered comprehensive proposal to management that provided the savings that they demanded in bankruptcy. The proposal was a far departure from the agreement we had in principal last fall related to divestiture. As you may recall, that deal would have guaranteed our competitive place in the fee-for-departure market. The company countered our offer shortly after we delivered it. Their offer contained much larger concessions and demonstrated that we had a lot of work to do.

The company then repaid our efforts by threatening to directly file an 1113 motion with a term sheet that regressed dramatically from their last offer.

The MEC subsequently authorized Tony to put a little more of your money on the table. It wasn't enough. Tony wants to bring Herb and I to DC on Monday to decide on your behalf how much more we will give up to get a "deal". The plan is to keep the MEC there until we decide what to do. It has become a "race for the deal".

Most of you have reached out to us and have made it crystal clear which direction you want us to go. Herb and I are committed to following that direction. Please continue to provide your perspective.

Stay tuned.