Jethikoki and Block30,

Don't mistake my gratitude for President Moak's letter and acknowledgement of the factual accuracy of his writing as agreement with the way the Pinnacle bargaining was conducted.

The express pilots have failed to manage their union. Not a single MEC Chairman called for an Executive Board to stop ratification, not a single MEC Chair called for an Executive Board Meeting to review the President's actions. Not a single Status Rep brought forward a resolution to direct their MEC. Not a single pilot brought forward any resolutions on the matter at the LEC ... and no one has been recalled.

In contrast, the express MEC Chairman gathered to sign a letter of mutual support stating they are not going to do what just happened at Pinnacle and then was repeated at PSA.

I've pointed to the tools in the Admin Manual which exist to prevent these bargaining failures. The response from some of your smartest express guys has been to complain that they will not waste their time taking action. OK ... well at least get on the record as having been right, recall your Reps if they are truly "bought."

There is nothing I can do to help you if you will not help yourselves. Your Reps, officially, signed a letter affirming ALPA's bargaining just a few weeks ago. They have spoken for you.

So, in the absence of any demonstrated interest in managing your union, we might as well learn every thing we can from President Moak's strategy and get on board. President Moak is wagering that if your MECs can survive this current economic downturn that the market for pilots will drive a correction as the supply dries up. His plan to fix the longevity problem is a system of flow throughs.

There are rumors of mainline being forced to insource express flying as economics and pilot supply collide. That may be where this is going, but, I am not yet that optimistic. For starters express MECs (who can't even raise an objection to Pinnacle bargaining) raise all unholy hell when mainline groups talk staples (although a double staple, or giving express pilots mainline numbers they can use to bid into a position when they desire seems to work)

In summation, my web board rants are useless if not a single person at an express carrier will pick up and use the tools I have outlined. The Pinnacle contract is in the history books now. Might as well be pragmatic and look forward for new opportunities.

I don't consider what you say is useless. At least you can keep your replies respectful and have educated points rather then resorting to lower class name calling and insults. I hope you can keep on with your replies.

Again I ask for your opinion though when one group negotiates jobs away from another group in the same union.

Who cares about my opinion?

What matters is in Section 40 of ALPA's Admin Manual. Log in to ALPA's main page, go to "My ALPA" middle of the page, click on e-library. Get the Admin Manual, read section 40. About page 6 or so you will see the process which should stop this sort of predatory bargaining. Having been enlightened, you will then want to know, how does this get enforced?

Next, read the Constitution and Bylaws of your union. This will describe each position, the limits of their powers, how they are elected and how you get rid of them.

At that point, your knowledge will be around the top 5% of your union's membership.

ALPA's a great organization. 98% of what this union does is spot on. Most pilots are not even aware of the work the ~5% of volunteers do (because saving careers is discreet work).

Bar, thanks for the reply.

True, but the selection is made by people we did elect to represent our interests, so what happened?

--Did we elect the wrong reps?
--Did our good reps turn bad, but get re-elected anyway?
--Does something about the current system render even good reps powerless?

Whatever the answer, I find it hard to believe that our rank-and-file membership is not ultimately at fault if we claim to have gotten unsatisfactory leaders, one after another.

The biggest problem out there is that 90% of the membership complains about what the LEC or MEC does, but less then 10% will take the 30 seconds it takes to vote on the LEC.

If you want to change the association it starts at the LEC level. If you can change them, they can change the MEC, but nobody cares enough to pay attention.

I think the more layers of separation between leadership and line pilots, the lower the level of accountability. Why is the voting process for national officers conducted the way it is? Reps vote, then go make backroom deals, then vote again, then make more backroom deals. I'm just an RJ FO, but to me, the whole system seems setup to create opacity and discourage line pilot involvement.

Because it's very political at the upper levels. It runs like government, for themselves not those being represented.