and the HINTS keep coming!!!
04-25-2012, 03:53 AM
#1
SLI best wishes!
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Position: B767 Capt
Posts: 399
and the HINTS keep coming!!!
A strike vote is next. My guess is that after the 30th if we ask to get released, the UAL MEC will have to track down JP from his VACATION getaway to get his blessing on the Strike vote communication....
Remember JP was very critical of Wendy Morse for going on vacation last December during the PS negotiations, now he takes off on vacation himself when the going is getting tough....
April 24, 2012
Dear United Pilots:
As we all have experienced throughout our lives, timelines are common; they come and go, often without notice. However, attached to any meaningful timelines are usually consequences. If debtors don’t pay their bills on time, students don’t complete their exams on time, taxpayers don’t mail their taxes on time and employees don’t get to work on time, there are penalties. If passengers don’t get to their gates on time, the ship sails without them.
Until now, whenever a timeline was inserted into these negotiations, it has always been one that would prove to be detrimental to the pilots. While attempting to negotiate the Transition and Process Agreement (TPA), we insisted on no terminable provisions prior to JCBA but were forced to settle on a timeline. However, when negotiations went past that deadline, it was the pilots who lost profit sharing, domicile and flying protections, etc. During the TPA extension talks, there was an attempt to again include consequences (monetary penalties and non-terminal provisions) should management not conclude a deal, but they refused.
In our latest discussions before the National Mediation Board’s mediators, management again easily agreed to a timeline but, as in the past, without any penalties against them for failing to abide by it. The only people who are harmed by missing that kind of a timeline are the more than 11,000 pilots who must go on without a JCBA. Under the law defined by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), there are no palpable incentives or motivations for management to reach a JCBA. Setting yet another useless timeline that the company could disregard is hardly in the best interests of all the United Airlines Pilots.
Seeking a release under the RLA is the only legal and meaningful leverage available to this pilot group. Agreeing to palpable timelines with real consequences will truly determine who is motivated to complete a JCBA and who is not.
The United MEC has sought out and hired some of the most highly regarded professionals working in Washington, D.C. They know how labor relations work and how to work within those parameters. They have represented more than 20 labor organizations at different times in the past. Teamsters, Machinists, Brick layers and the Police Association are but just a few of those who have benefitted from their services. One of their recent clients was the NFL Players Association. The NFLPA is significant due to the fact, like our profession, that football players have diverse highs and lows in their contracts that make their negotiations extremely complicated. We have hired the right people with the right relationships to get the job done.
Your entire MEC and the MEC structure are committed to getting us towards a JCBA. As reported to you in January, we created a Strategic Planning Group to help plan, organize and work together in a concentrated effort to secure a JCBA. The Negotiating, Grievance, Communications, SPSC, Family Awareness and Legislative Committees’ efforts have been directed, focused and coordinated with each others to ensure we are on the same correct glidepath and course for a JCBA. They each have a specific job to do in achieving our mutual goal.
The goal of the UAL MEC Strategic Plan is real and achievable – the conclusion of a JCBA for all of our pilots. The time for delay is over. Our pilots deserve a new contract.
We are United,
Captain Jay Heppner
Chairman, United Master Executive Council
Remember JP was very critical of Wendy Morse for going on vacation last December during the PS negotiations, now he takes off on vacation himself when the going is getting tough....
April 24, 2012
Dear United Pilots:
As we all have experienced throughout our lives, timelines are common; they come and go, often without notice. However, attached to any meaningful timelines are usually consequences. If debtors don’t pay their bills on time, students don’t complete their exams on time, taxpayers don’t mail their taxes on time and employees don’t get to work on time, there are penalties. If passengers don’t get to their gates on time, the ship sails without them.
Until now, whenever a timeline was inserted into these negotiations, it has always been one that would prove to be detrimental to the pilots. While attempting to negotiate the Transition and Process Agreement (TPA), we insisted on no terminable provisions prior to JCBA but were forced to settle on a timeline. However, when negotiations went past that deadline, it was the pilots who lost profit sharing, domicile and flying protections, etc. During the TPA extension talks, there was an attempt to again include consequences (monetary penalties and non-terminal provisions) should management not conclude a deal, but they refused.
In our latest discussions before the National Mediation Board’s mediators, management again easily agreed to a timeline but, as in the past, without any penalties against them for failing to abide by it. The only people who are harmed by missing that kind of a timeline are the more than 11,000 pilots who must go on without a JCBA. Under the law defined by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), there are no palpable incentives or motivations for management to reach a JCBA. Setting yet another useless timeline that the company could disregard is hardly in the best interests of all the United Airlines Pilots.
Seeking a release under the RLA is the only legal and meaningful leverage available to this pilot group. Agreeing to palpable timelines with real consequences will truly determine who is motivated to complete a JCBA and who is not.
The United MEC has sought out and hired some of the most highly regarded professionals working in Washington, D.C. They know how labor relations work and how to work within those parameters. They have represented more than 20 labor organizations at different times in the past. Teamsters, Machinists, Brick layers and the Police Association are but just a few of those who have benefitted from their services. One of their recent clients was the NFL Players Association. The NFLPA is significant due to the fact, like our profession, that football players have diverse highs and lows in their contracts that make their negotiations extremely complicated. We have hired the right people with the right relationships to get the job done.
Your entire MEC and the MEC structure are committed to getting us towards a JCBA. As reported to you in January, we created a Strategic Planning Group to help plan, organize and work together in a concentrated effort to secure a JCBA. The Negotiating, Grievance, Communications, SPSC, Family Awareness and Legislative Committees’ efforts have been directed, focused and coordinated with each others to ensure we are on the same correct glidepath and course for a JCBA. They each have a specific job to do in achieving our mutual goal.
The goal of the UAL MEC Strategic Plan is real and achievable – the conclusion of a JCBA for all of our pilots. The time for delay is over. Our pilots deserve a new contract.
We are United,
Captain Jay Heppner
Chairman, United Master Executive Council
04-25-2012, 04:09 AM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2006
Posts: 621
Originally Posted by LeeMat
A strike vote is next. My guess is that after the 30th if we ask to get released, the UAL MEC will have to track down JP from his VACATION getaway to get his blessing on the Strike vote communication....
Last edited by johnso29; 04-25-2012 at 01:17 PM.
04-25-2012, 04:26 AM
#3
SLI best wishes!
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Position: B767 Capt
Posts: 399
[QUOTE=CALFO;1175361]
Ok so he will be in phone range! Good, got it.
Originally Posted by LeeMat
A strike vote is next. My guess is that after the 30th if we ask to get released, the UAL MEC will have to track down JP from his VACATION getaway to get his blessing on the Strike vote communication....
You need to check your source, JP held an all pilot conference call yesterday and then attended an LEC meeting that evening.
You need to check your source, JP held an all pilot conference call yesterday and then attended an LEC meeting that evening.
04-25-2012, 04:42 AM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2006
Posts: 621
[QUOTE=LeeMat;1175366]
Hmm, what part of "attended" don't you understand? BTW, if you want to have a dialog with a pilot force as large and as spread out (GUM to EWR) as CAL, an all pilot conference call is the best way to achieve that.
I understand legitimate criticism of JP, but in this case you couldn't be further off the mark. You're throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping one of them hits.
Originally Posted by CALFO
Ok so he will be in phone range! Good, got it.
I understand legitimate criticism of JP, but in this case you couldn't be further off the mark. You're throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping one of them hits.
04-25-2012, 04:56 AM
#5
SLI best wishes!
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Position: B767 Capt
Posts: 399
[QUOTE=CALFO;1175371]
Hmm, what part of "attended" don't you understand? BTW, if you want to have a dialog with a pilot force as large and as spread out (GUM to EWR) as CAL, an all pilot conference call is the best way to achieve that.
I understand legitimate criticism of JP, but in this case you couldn't be further off the mark. You're throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping one of them hits.
CALFO no need to argue over this, do you have access to your PBS awards, or VAC awards simple way to put this to rest...I will man up to it, if false for posting this rumor without verification. fair enough? peace.
Originally Posted by LeeMat
Hmm, what part of "attended" don't you understand? BTW, if you want to have a dialog with a pilot force as large and as spread out (GUM to EWR) as CAL, an all pilot conference call is the best way to achieve that.
I understand legitimate criticism of JP, but in this case you couldn't be further off the mark. You're throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping one of them hits.
04-25-2012, 05:38 AM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2012
Posts: 225
[QUOTE=CALFO;1175371]
Hmm, what part of "attended" don't you understand? BTW, if you want to have a dialog with a pilot force as large and as spread out (GUM to EWR) as CAL, an all pilot conference call is the best way to achieve that.
I understand legitimate criticism of JP, but in this case you couldn't be further off the mark. You're throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping one of them hits.
You've got to love it! Let me see if I can puff out my chest - No not worth it. Just hope when it counts JP is standing by the phone, but then again JP will likely claim he was blindsided again by the UAL MEC.
Originally Posted by LeeMat
Hmm, what part of "attended" don't you understand? BTW, if you want to have a dialog with a pilot force as large and as spread out (GUM to EWR) as CAL, an all pilot conference call is the best way to achieve that.
I understand legitimate criticism of JP, but in this case you couldn't be further off the mark. You're throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping one of them hits.
04-25-2012, 05:55 AM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2006
Posts: 621
[QUOTE=Once United;1175399]
You've got to love it! Let me see if I can puff out my chest - No not worth it. Just hope when it counts JP is standing by the phone, but then again JP will likely claim he was blindsided again by the UAL MEC.
Got it! I will demand to my Rep that JP be within one ring of his phone 24/7 just in case JH needs to get a hold of him! God I hope he doesn't make JH wait three or four rings or, dare I say it, voice mail.
Originally Posted by CALFO
You've got to love it! Let me see if I can puff out my chest - No not worth it. Just hope when it counts JP is standing by the phone, but then again JP will likely claim he was blindsided again by the UAL MEC.
04-25-2012, 05:57 AM
#8
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,071
Pierce is busy furthering the cause devising "any well thought out and realistic attempt to positively influence a prompt resolution to our joint negotiations, including seeking a release". In doing so he wants to develop an "agreed-upon process", aka protocol, while he continues "to participate with the NMB and try to advance the JCBA to its conclusion or an appropriate time to petition for release."
Why the rush?
Why the rush?
04-25-2012, 06:05 AM
#9
SLI best wishes!
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Position: B767 Capt
Posts: 399
Originally Posted by CALFO
Got it! I will demand to my Rep that JP be within one ring of his phone 24/7 just in case JH needs to get a hold of him! God I hope he doesn't make JH wait three or four rings or, dare I say it, voice mail.
If we are going to attack(and rightly so ) the management negotiator for not being available for schedule talks, and purposely missing schedule meetings then we best not be hypocrites. We have been delayed long enough....
04-25-2012, 06:10 AM
#10
Recommend Retention
Joined APC: Jun 2007
Position: Bigfoot
Posts: 1,077
Serious question for L-UAL guys: of all your contracts where a new agreement wasn't reached on the amendable date, how common was it to receive either a signing bonus or retro check? I have heard conflicting info. Merely curious. One of my largest frustrations was that 100% retro wasn't being screamed from the top of our lungs at L-CAL at the end of Dec. 2008. Somehow I don't think they are going to cut me a check for past due wages for what is coming up on 3 1/2 years. Grrrrr.
