Airline Pilot Central Forums - Attn: US Airways Express carriers

Just so you know what you guys are getting now that "American Eagle" is part of the UsAir feeders club.. Good Luck, enjoy the "snacks" !! :cool:

(Names, Email, and phone numbers "X" out for obvious reasons)

February 21, 2013

Fellow DFW pilots:

I’ve had concerns for some time about uncontrolled spending of our union dues and the lack of accountability for such spending. Prior to our special MEC meeting last week, I visited the finance department at ALPA national to review expenses submitted over the last year. ALPA encourages all members in good standing to do the same.

I discovered a pattern of spending that can only be described as disturbing. There were numerous bar tabs for large amounts expensed as “snacks.” However, rather than provide a list of each expense report, I’ll reference one example and my efforts to shed light on the report.

While reviewing expense reports, I found that Axxxxxy Gxxxxxxxz submitted an expense for a group meal on August 3, 2012, for a restaurant in Washington, D.C. Eighteen people attended with a final bill of $1,000.00. I was unable to locate a receipt for the $1,000.00 restaurant bill, but I did find a receipt for that date that totaled almost $2,100.00. I later found the meal was expensed under two different line items: $1,000.00 was coded to “group meals >5 people,” and the remaining $1,085.00 was coded to “MEC meetings.” That explains my inability to find a matching receipt to the meal expense report.

That total seemed high to me, so I pulled up the menu for the restaurant and calculated the charge for each attendee to purchase the most expensive appetizer, entrée and dessert, and one $3 drink. I also included a 15 percent gratuity and applicable taxes. The total came to over $1,500.00. That is over a $500.00 difference. I then contacted the manager of the restaurant and was told a detailed receipt was easily available. I felt that our MEC chairman should provide a detailed receipt to the MEC as an explanation of his actions.

I felt it highly probable that the balance was used to purchase alcohol. This would have been in direct violation of MEC policy. I tried to discuss this at the meeting on Tuesday because I felt it was relevant to another item on the meeting agenda. Tony refused to allow that discussion to take place and made no attempt to discuss the issue with me. I made myself available after the meeting for anyone to ask me what I had found, and one of the attendees of the group meal admitted to me that alcohol was consumed at that meal.

The next day, an ALPA executive vice president asked to speak with me privately. He said that if I made this information public, ALPA national would come down hard on the Eagle MEC. Although this is not a personal threat towards me, I felt it was an attempt to get me to drop the issue and was an indication of just how serious this matter was.

Later that day, the Eagle MEC chairman and vice chairman approached the LEC 83 chairman, Vxl Jxxxxr, and asked if he would be interested in the MEC secretary-treasurer position if they could have the current secretary-treasurer removed from office. Tony has also been pushing to remove the treasurer from the approval process. He then could have the vice chairman, Dxxe Rxxxr, approve his expenses. With this in place, what little accountability we have now would be further compromised. Deduce what you wish from these actions.

The MEC chairman will try and portray me as a trouble maker and say that what I have presented isn’t accurate and contains half truths and lies. I can assure you I have embellished nothing. He will say we need to focus on the big picture and not be distracted by petty and trivial issues.

You elected me to ensure that your interests would be represented on the MEC. I take that responsibility very seriously. Part of that responsibility is to ensure that your dues monies are used appropriately. I need some help carrying that out. Your money is being wasted on excess at a time when we are taking cuts in compensation and you are being forced to pay higher dues to ALPA. I urge you to call Tony at 6xx-xxx-xxx7 or e-mail him at [email protected] and ask him to explain the necessity of ignoring policy and abusing his position as MEC chairman. Please CC me on your e-mail inquiries. I would like to know how you respond to this.

Kxxxy Pxxl
Vice Chairman
EGL Council 83