Setting the record straight
Here's the part that stood out to me:
So BW's admitting that Liar LeBrecque ORGANIZED THE COALITION? That ought to tell the ASA pilots everything they need to know. The "coalition" is 100% organized, supported, and financed by management as an attempt to eliminate our union representation.
A vote for the coalition is a vote to abolish ALPA at ASA, and cave on the contract.
Vote your conscience and vote wisely.
Regarding
Richard Gozinya's post, while accurate generally it is inaccurate in certain important details. Yes I ran into BL while turning in some paperwork and yes we talked about the contract in the hallway but our conversation migrated to his office and we talked one on one at length about the contract, sitting chair to chair for one and one-half hours. (I have known BL personally for about 5 years) He began to discuss a number of details about the negotiations at which point I stopped him and specifically asked what about our conversations I could relate publically. I agreed not to discuss any details about his specific conversations but he did give me specific permission to discuss the rest of OUR conversation which I in turn related to Beal a couple of days later.
I specifically observed him closely and the whole time he looked me straight in the eye so if he is lying through his teeth, he is dang good at it. He did state that in the last round of negotiations he offered all he was authorized to offer and then some. He stated that after the mediator had looked at the MEC counter offer, he didn't present it to management, rather the mediator stated that "you are still too far apart" and announced he was going back to Washington. He also related to me that his current guidance from Salt Lake was to "let it run its natural course" - St. George was convinced that the current offer would probably make ASA uncompetitive for future growth unless BL could find millions of dollars in increased efficiencies over the next year or so - any further significant concessions would just exacerbate that condition.
He admitted that the Atlanta station needed considerable work and that the negotiation process had distracted him from devoting the necessary attention to that task and that improving performance in Atlanta was now job one for him and fixing it was being held as one of his important personal performance benchmarks.
AT NO TIME did BL EVER bring up Barry Lee or Lynn Jackson - rather I brought it up and asked him his opinion of it. He had the same opinion that I have - at least someone (Im not sure they will prove any better) has a defined plan and a timetable but he like me was not overly optimistic for any real significant change. The point here is that BL never had anything to say about Barry Lee and Lynn Jackson until I brought the subject up and then and only then expressed a simple opinion that in representing a possible change from the status quo, their throwing their hat in might result in renewed progress toward completing the contract.
Do I like Bryan? Yes, I think he truly is trying to do what he thinks is best
for the company as a whole. Do I think he is a saint? No I have some real reservations about how he approaches problems sometimes - quite frankly I have worked for better managers in that they were much more skilled in communication, coaching, and motivating. Does BL hate pilots? No but he is perplexed about the vitriol spewed his way and the personal ad hominen attacks. But do I think BL has long canines and a forked tail hidden in his drawers as some of you think? No what I see is a man simply trying to do his job the best he can on a day to day basis. What I don't see is a lot of well thought out alternative options being expressed by my peers to fix the problems we have. What I don't see is a sincere attempt to see and understand the problems from the management perspective.
You know there ARE a
very few mid level personnel in the GO who think that every ALPA pilot is a programmed unthinking automaton who goosesteps to the marching orders of ALPA National but BL is not one of them - neither is CT. Being around line pilots I know better - there are a few kool aid drinkers but the vast majority of line pilots that I know try sincerely to make difficult policy and position decisions on inadequate and at times inaccurate information. I agree with some of them, some of them I don't but one thing is for certain, we have all paid for the right to have our opinions aired in the marketplace of ideas.
Similarly I am amazed at the level of misinformation and misrepresentation regarding senior management actions and motives evident in these forums. What I can't understand is why more pilots simply don't pick up the phone, schedule an appointment, and talk directly one on one with some of these managers like I have. Neal Boortz likes to say on his radio program: "Don't believe anything I say unless you personally know it to be true." When I want to know if something is true that someone else told me, I simply march off to the office of the individual in question or call them on the phone and politely confront them with it. And then I ask questions until I have a good grasp of the problems they face, the constraints they are under and therefore usually come to an understanding of why they did what they did. I may still not like it, may still disagree with it - BUT AT LEAST I GOT THE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE.
Over the years I have told managers to their face including Skip Barnett that certain actions by the company and by them were unfair or inappropriate. ( my complaint to Skip was how the Delta treated the family of the Ft. Walton Beach station manager after his death. I
politely and professionally told him that Delta's inaction was indefensible and was exactly the kind of action that just fuels the worst of pilot/employee management complaints).
One manager, who has known me for years (and has heard my complaints about the quality of my representation), after I pinned him to the wall on a decision he made that I thought was unreasonable very politely and in a friendly way called me "an equal opportunity a$$%!". He is right, I am in some respects because I think for myself and I try to hold both sides accountable for their actions and inaction when I think they are wrong.
So like me, hate me, agree with me, disagree with me, debate me: I have formed my opinions not because I cozy up to management or the union, I have formed my opinions through educating myself over the last 10 years from third-party independent analyses of the airline, the union, the industry and their history. I have studied past successful managers and leadership to understand what good leadership is and to recognize it when I see it.
Quite simply, I don't trust anyone with my career future - I mean that I DONT TRUST ANYONE in this regard - there are too many special interest groups with their own agenda who are more than willing to try to manipulate you to their own ends and in this industry history shows that they are on both sides of the negotiation table. I have plenty of third party material and would be happy to pass it on (most of it is in e-file form) if any of you want a broader perspective. Educate yourself from sources other than the union and the company. Form your own opinion - we may end up agreeing or we may end up disagreeing vociferously but at least we will both be informed and not ignorant of the forces and conditions in play that affect whether our negotiations are on target for a sustainable contract or not.
BW