I hear you Skip, silly me.
I'll report to the clinic at 3pm with urine jar in hand for the Test.

BTW....Don't you like the one operative word describing the NMB's "gag order"???:rolleyes:

i love how mgmnt can break said gag order and have nothing happen--- sound like we should do some more tomfoolery too.
what a joke. if no progress has been made in 2 years, what is a few months, let the process work and release it, the deal will get done-- pathetic puchala

What is the next date that we are going to hang onto in hopes of a contract?

July 27?
August 14?
October 31?

How about April 1? That seems fitting. Our management sucks. They have lost me forever.

One has to wonder what it will take to get 12000 angry pilots in front of the White House to let this administration know that the system is badly broken. We are mice, at best.

July 14, 2012

Dear United Pilots:

Here is where we are in JCBA negotiations: Our last mediated session of negotiations was June 30. There, with the National Mediation Board’s direct involvement including the attendance of the NMB Chairman, we came the closest to concluding negotiations that we have ever been. The degrees of separation were reduced. And while we remain under an informal gag order from the NMB that we have been very careful to follow, it leaves a vacuum of information for you. You may safely assume that the remaining issues in the contract are the obvious ones, including scope.

I informed you that ALPA had its follow-up status conference with the NMB on Wednesday, and management had its conference on Thursday. While we obviously were not at management’s conference, the NMB informed us yesterday that they had that conference with them and will have an additional conversation with management. In the meantime, the JNC has been preparing to renew negotiations as soon as management is ready. We do not require the NMB to continue negotiations – only a motivated partner.

There currently are no future scheduled negotiations, but that should not be misconstrued. This week, the two MECs are in individual and joint sessions all week, as was scheduled earlier in the year, so no negotiations were expected anyway. The JNC stands ready to negotiate anytime and anywhere, and sessions may be scheduled at a moment’s notice.

We remain under the NMB’s process for a negotiated agreement. We are complying with their requests and are prepared to resume negotiations at any time. As pilots, we like to be in control and analytically understand everything around us. However, the NMB is in the best position to determine our next steps. They have not yet informed us of their intentions for us. But we are confident they will use all the tools available to them under the RLA to assist us in achieving a JCBA.

We must be patient and prepared for any eventuality. We must continue to be smart and professional in our everyday dealings with the company. Management continues to look for any chinks in our unity, and inactivity makes us the most vulnerable. The pilots remain the better characters in these proceedings and will continue to be so.

As soon as there is more information to pass on to you, we will do so. In the meantime, keep your heads up and do what you do so well – safely delivering our passengers to their destinations each and every day.

We are United,



Captain Jay Heppner
Chairman, United Master Executive Council

Hey...if anybody out there still believes Obama's lies...he says that he'll walk with us.

2007: Barack Obama promised to "walk on that picket line" if workers are denied the right to bargain - YouTube

Yeah he'll walk, but we have to get released first

I'm fairly confident we won't have a contract for another year....maybe two.

But as for one year, that's my vote.

I say we have a contract this year.

I'm thinking after the 1st tuesday in Nov.