Originally Posted by Ben Salley

Lady's and Gents:

Please consider that this thread was generated to indict me for political posturing. I think most folks understand that I have no further political ambitions other than representing the IAH F/O's. In a twisted manner, I think the author understands this as well.

From today's CAL MEC update:

MEC INVOLVEMENT
The members of the Merger Committee are elected by the MEC, yet we work directly for the pilots. The Merger Committee should be and is autonomous. Our sole job is to represent the interests of all CAL pilots relating to seniority. In the past at other ALPA properties, many MEC representatives and MEC chairmen have inserted themselves in the process - and not always with positive results. That was not the case here. The CAL Merger Committee received nothing but the full support of your elected leaders. We were left alone to do our singular job without political distractions of any kind. Capt. Pierce made certain that we had all the resources we needed and made certain that we could stay focused on our singular goal: representing the Continental pilots.

I agree whole-heartedly with above stated. Both merger committees, have done the best job possible for their respective Pilots. I doubt anyone in IAH likes F/O Ruark's proposal; I doubt anyone in ORD likes Captain Brucia's. As an MEC member, I can state that the merger committees were allowed to do their thing without much, if any, input from Line-Pilots or LEC Reps.

An SLI is an ugly process that is an unfortunate by-product of the profession that we share. At USAirways, we had an Army/Air Force type rivalry between Philly (USAIR) and Charlotte (Piedmont). My Captain and I got called on the carpet because the Captain made a PA referring to the Charlotte Motor Speedway as the "North Carolina Performing Arts Center"; a certain B of A executive failed to see the humor in this and relayed that sentiment to Stephen Wolf. The Piedmont/USAIR rivalry was passionate, but not venomous. Fast-forward to the AmWest merger and things got very bitter. So bitter that the collective East/West Pilots Pilots have probably lost 2 BILLION Dollars basking in their hatred for one another. The sad part; on an individual basis, I know of no east/west Pilot who hate one another. The respective merger committees and MEC's did, but that's what they thought their duty was. Ultimately, the Line-Pilot suffered, and continues to financially suffer for that hatred.

My point, if the SLI award has the potential to be far too bitter a pill to swallow, then come up with a plan B instead of wasting your time bashing each other on the web-boards. I'm not pontificating because that's exactly what I did...I felt the USAirways isl so unpalatable, that I resigned. I left the same guys, who are still posting venom in other threads to pursue greener pastures at Continental; and those who I left are still posting the same insults and venom that they were 8 years ago when I resigned my USAirways position.

Now the USAirway situation is far worse than what we face at the current United, as furloughs and mergers were still forthcoming. CAL has been hiring 16/week for over a year, and true UAL recalls will begin post sli. Even so, if whatever the arbitrators deliver is not palatable to you and your family, I suggest you start making contingency plans instead of wasting so much time insulting each other over a train that has already left the station. If you plan to stay post sli, like me, do us all a favor and try to bring something positive to the table and not just p!$$ and vinegar to feed OUR new-hires.

Philosophically speaking, about 120 Billion people have ever been born on earth; maybe 1o million have been as fortunate as us; being able to earn a fruitful living doing something we LOVE to do. Just like bad-mouthing America, bad-mouthing each other is a terrible insult to those born in Yemen or relegated to flying for less-than viable carriers for their entire careers. I, for one, think this merger can be a GREAT thing for BOTH groups...if we make a conscious and united effort to make it so. That doesn't mean that I'll ever shed one ounce of pride in myself or my fellow CAL Pilots; but it does mean that I am willing to admit that I like what the United Pilots bring to the table, look forward to sharing that same pride with you and know that we will do best together.

It's time to put this petty and self-destructive fighting (posting) behind us. I suggest we ALL donate $1 into a pot for the poor bastard who gets ***** the worst (of course that'll be me ) and buy him/her a good bottle of cognac. Let's make a conscious effort to treat each other better; 3 years of this is too long.

Frats,

Ben

Originally Posted by Probe

CACTUSMIKE:
I am on the other side of Ben on the SLI but I have the utmost respect for his decision, and cohones, to resign from USairways. He looked at the outcome, considered how it would effect his career, and had the balls to pack up and leave.

Most pilots *****, moan, and beat their chest's. Ben took his life and career into his own hands and moved on.

Bravo

Originally Posted by AxlF16

Can you give me an example of a more extreme position the LCAL side could've taken? I'm not saying 'stupid extreme' like stapling all of us, just more extreme but somewhat defensible.

Originally Posted by CleCapt

While MANY may not agree. And it is not one of the stated corner stones of the NEW ALPA merger policy that are to be considered, it would be difficult for anyone to make an argument that Relative Seniority isn't fair.

Absent a merger, the UAL guys would have kept their relative position on their list, and the same for the CAL pilots. The furloughed guys would still be furloughed. To say that you would end your career as top 747 captain is projecting too far into the future and makes too many optimistic assumptions, given the volatility of the US Airline business.

So what could be more fair than being within a few percent of your current relative position.

I would be way better off with DOH, and I still think relative is fair. (I'm not a scab)

Sure, I think all the points raised on both sides will move a specific group up or down a few percent. Maybe there will be some fancy formula used to calculate the new list. In the end, I still think it will be close to current relative percent, plus or minus a couple.

Does that favour one proposal over another? It doesn't matter. I think that is how it will come down for most.

Originally Posted by cactusmike

So, you resigned from US Airways after you decided that you did not want to honor the SLI produced by ALPA merger policy. The SLI that was negotiated, mediated and arbitrated according to the ALPA Constitution. There is bitterness at Airways because one side did not honor the process that was agreed to. AWA pilots did not lose billions of dollars, your former cohorts made the conscious decision to forgo a new contract because that contract would have included the Nicolau Award. Each east captain has lost over $450000 dollars in pay since the merger because of their own decision to reject the SLI that was arbitrated.

I wonder how you will feel should the SLI not go your way this time. Will you again resign or will you honor the process this time? You gave up 8 years of seniority to go to CAL. I do hope this works out for you.

By the way, the Nicolau Award was not straight relative seniority. If you take the time to read the award you will see that the East was allotted the top 517 positions for only 20 widebodys, 10 of those 767s. He crafted the award to allow for heavy jet upgrades on the East for a period of time before any AWA pilot would be able to hold that slot. As a senior AWA captain I actually lost 18% seniority under the Nic. But I did not care since that was the process we agreed to. Now that we have another merger coming up I will not expect anything other than a fair arbitration, however that may turn out.

Originally Posted by AxlF16

Come on guys...give me at least one example of a slightly more extreme position you could've taken.

Originally Posted by Skyflyin

Sure Axl, we could have ignored your higher F/O augmentation and done a straight 1:1 ratio instead of giving you the advantage there. Happy?

Originally Posted by CleCapt

While MANY may not agree. And it is not one of the stated corner stones of the NEW ALPA merger policy that are to be considered, it would be difficult for anyone to make an argument that Relative Seniority isn't fair.