Airline Pilot Central Forums - C-171 CA Rep election

Mark Twain once said "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story". Yesterday, my opponent in the Captain Representative election sent you an email that, in no uncertain terms, accused me of trying to steal money from pilots in Council 171. He's been doing this for a while on internet forums and handwritten leaflets at the airport. Nothing I have ever said, done or written could be construed to support his claim. In fact, quite the opposite is true. I have refrained from responding until now out of respect for the dignity of the election process and because I believe that our council needs to have faith that our union representatives will act like professionals. Captain Cummins' email reflects a lack of understanding of the contract, the LCAL LTD plan, council resolutions and our current LTD plan so I am required to respond.

To give you the opportunity to decide which of our very different views are true I will present you with iron-clad facts from documents readily available to you..

First, as I pointed out in my last email to the council, the money that is in the LCAL LTD fund can ONLY be distributed to the pilots that paid the premiums in that plan. Read paragraph 12.2 (a) of the LCAL LTD plan document (available on the MEC website) or refer to section 24-H-18-b of the UPA to see the language that protects your rights. No one can change that and there is no one who wants to change it.

There ARE outstanding issues with that plan, but if Captain Cummins can't even understand those issues he is never going to be able to fix them. Any reasonable accounting of that LCAL LTD plan shows that there is more money in it than there needs to be. But the problems with that plan are HOW MUCH needs to be returned and WHEN. Nobody disputes WHO gets those funds; not the company, not ALPA and certainly not me. I will fight to make "how much" as much as possible and "when" as soon as possible. "Who" gets the money are the pilots who paid the premiums, no one else.

Second, the LCAL LTD and our current LTD plan funds are completely separate. There is NO WAY those two funds can be mixed. Captain Cummins claims that they can be mixed or re-directed, when they simply cannot. Last month, at our council meeting, we unanimously passed a resolution that deals with the CURRENT LTD plan (which covers pilots who are disabled after the 2013 UPA was signed). Our current LTD plan caps benefits at $8,000 a month if disabled. With our contract extension and its associated raises that $8,000 per month is inadequate. The resolution that the council passed and I fought hard to get passed at the MEC simply asks ALPA to find an alternative, entirely optional, way for pilots to receive higher benefits. That resolution only affects our current LTD plan. In no way does that resolution involve the LCAL LTD fund. In no way would it remove money from the LCAL LTD plan.

Whoever our council elects in the next week will be your representative for the next few years. You will have to rely on them to protect your interests and give you information over that time. As this election has progressed you have been given a very clear choice. You can choose a representative who understands the issues at hand and will help you understand them as well. Alternatively, you can choose someone who consistently fails to understand issues that are important to so many of the pilots in the council. You can choose a representative that will tell you the unvarnished truth, or you can choose a representative that will mislead you with bad information.

You cannot sit this election out. It is up to you, you will get the union you deserve.

Please vote for Captain Brad Hutchens at http://www3.alpa.org/VoteNet/tabid/6263/Default.aspx.

Respectfully and fraternally,

Brad Hutchens
LC 171 Interim Captain Representative
773-301-4785
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/Hutchens171/