Alpa President John Prater's Video Response To Age 60

[LJDRVR]

And yes, he was, is, and always will be a scab.

No, he's not. Try doing a little research before you throw that word around. How old were you in 78 when he was hired? Or 83 when he walked the picket line?

Punk.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Exactly. The membership had an opportunity to voice their opposition to the age-60 policy, and they chose not to. That means that the current policy should stand. Just because a majority of the membership is apathetic and doesn't want to take ownership of their careers doesn't mean that we ignore the clear direction that the participating members have given us.

Well..........

Since there is no written guidance on this it seems a difference in leadership style... one not better than the other....

Times change.... adapt or be left behind....

The Age 60 issue is being pushed by other organizations other than within ALPA. ALPA has to address the issues with industry...

I don't think ALPA can sit down the FAA, ATA and others and say.... our members are apathetic so we are going to leave the status quo as is.....

 

[AAflyer]

Well..........

Since there is no written guidance on this it seems a difference in leadership style... one not better than the other....

Times change.... adapt or be left behind....

The Age 60 issue is being pushed by other organizations other than within ALPA. ALPA has to address the issues with industry...

I don't think ALPA can sit down the FAA, ATA and others and say.... our members are apathetic so we are going to leave the status quo as is.....

Rez,

I find enjoyment in learning new things daily, especially about people and events from our profession. I just looked up Bill Hopson. Thought i would post what I found, not to stray to far from thread topic, but we all need union representation in some form.

Thanks AAflyer

The members of ALPA’s Board of Directors assembled in Florida in October were acutely aware that our profession is at a crossroads. One path leads easily to a world of pilots undercutting each other in a race to the bottom, scrambling to hold on to an ever-diminishing piece of the pie. The other path leads through darkness and over rough road to a hard but attainable recovery.

In my report I challenged the delegates to decide—together—which road we would take. I asked whether we would remember the sources of our collective strength or throw in the towel. By the end of that important week together, we concluded that only one option is available to us. It may be the harder road to take, but it is the only one that leads to a career worth pursuing.

Fortunately, that road has trail marks left by the pioneers of our union and deepened by those who followed that path across the decades. The secret of ALPA’s success is no secret and no accident. It is the result of a well-crafted economic and political strategy born decades ago.

ALPA’s first president, Capt. Dave Behncke, was Franklin Roosevelt’s closest advisor on aviation. Behncke wooed Congress around the clock, helping to pass legislation that institutionalized our economic strategy. ALPA’s special relationship with Roosevelt led to pilot pay increases as aircraft became larger, carried more, and flew faster and farther. The piloting profession rode atop the productivity wave despite management efforts to scuttle our contract standards.

Over the decades, management shifted its methods of attack, but its goal remained the same: to split pilots from one another. Today, airline brands employ elaborate strategies to get pilots who work for separate companies to compete for work on a "lowest bid" basis. Of all the challenges vexing us in the first years of the 21st century, this may be the greatest. If we accept the status quo, the race to the bottom will continue. But if we join together, some group of pilots within one brand will develop a prototype model that stops the bleeding. If "necessity," indeed, is the mother of invention, we have all the "necessity" we need to invent that new model.

Like those who came before us, this generation will never forget and will never quit. The FedEx pilots have a steely resolve and determination to advance this profession. Comair pilots didn’t strike for three months just to wave the white flag and give it all back at the first sign of trouble. Pilots from more than a dozen airlines braved below-zero wind chills to support Mesaba pilots’ demands for a scope clause and better pay. ExpressJet pilots stuck to their principles—and concluded a breakthrough agreement with massive gains in all areas.

The fire burning inside airline pilots has not dimmed with adversity, but glows with even greater intensity. Our leather-tough pilots who have suffered deep cuts, furloughs, or bankruptcy are developing new strategies to go back on the offensive. If managements mistake these tactical retreats for surrender, they’re in for a surprise. Our confidence in the future is well founded. International traffic will grow solidly for decades. Domestic yields will recover. Ten to fifteen dollars of current crude oil prices are based on fear alone.

Our confidence is bolstered by our past. In 1928, air-mail pilot and ALPA icon Bill Hopson died because "Schedule with Safety" was just a dream. In 1931, Behncke and his "key men" formed this union in the midst of the Great Depression. Those founders knew who they were and what they stood for. They had learned through bitter experience that no airline would be loyal to them. They would always be expendable. Nearly half of those "key men" died in airplane crashes.

In the twilight of 2004, when the word "legacy" has been contorted into a slur, when carpetbagger managements squander world-class airlines, when a pilot’s worth is calculated by bean counters in pennies of unit costs, we must return to those roots—and stand shoulder to shoulder as one. We will not—cannot—fail those giants. We’re going to start right here, right now, to show the world that the 21st-century pilots of ALPA do have the right stuff and understand the power of unity. We will never forget. We will never quit.

 

[Freight Dog]

Rez.... do you know the percentage of American people voting for president?

When you find out, report back on frequency. The number will surprise you.
Let's suppose that only 38% of Americans come out and vote for the national elections. The majority of them vote for McCain. Given that the Congress is now predominately Dems, should the Dems be like... ah no, this is not representative of all Americans, so we're putting Hillary in charge?

Think about it...

If you didn't care enough to vote, and/or take the poll, you wasted your vote.

 

[big_al]

so 66% of 37.6% want age 60 to remain...
That is 24% of 66,000 or 15,840 members. Hardly a true representation. Could one argue that only 24% want Age 60 so that is a minority. The other 50K don't care or want it changed.

The Keep Age 60 crowd is the minority....



How can Prater lead when there is no followership....

You guys are weak....


Somebody school me!!!

well only 40% of the 50% of American voters voted for our current President yet we were supposed to call them the majority... I fail to see how your twisting around of numbers is any different?

 

[big_al]

and of course the people in charge at ALPA want the rule moved to 65. how could they not? They probably had to rush to the restroom once they figured out how much more money in dues they would get

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Fellas-

I am not advocating for or against Age 60. What I am advocating is repsonsibility and particpation in our Profession.....

In reality, if the membership wants a re-survey, let's do it. I am not saying that the ALPA leadership should say " You guys had your chance to let us know how you feel on Age 60 and only 37% of you care about the issue so forget the rest of you..."

However ALPA spent alot of money on an educational campaign and 63% of you DID NOT HAVE ANY CONCERN...

My issue is ....particpate.. ALPA has to spend more dues money now that your attention has been gotten.....

You cannot be a spectator in your airline career and expect to be able to have a voice.... Get off the grandstand and on to the playing field....

 

[Neubyfly]

Email captain Prater: [email protected]

Email your Congressmen:


http://www.senate.gov/general/contac...state&Sort=ASC

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

 

[Andy]

However ALPA spent alot of money on an educational campaign and 63% of you DID NOT HAVE ANY CONCERN...

Rez, there were a lot of us who weren't allowed to vote. I was one of them. Since this effects everyone, why were furloughees excluded? Please justify.

 

[pipe]

Rez, there were a lot of us who weren't allowed to vote. I was one of them. Since this effects everyone, why were furloughees excluded? Please justify.

DITTO!!!! I was furloughed and in good standing. Staunchly opposed to the change.

One man one vote. Except for myself and tens of thousands of other furloughees.

Is that even remotely defensible? I think not.

PIPE

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Not sure why furloughees could not vote? Why not email and ask....

 

[pipe]

Not sure why furloughees could not vote? Why not email and ask....

I have e-mailed ALPA many times. No response.

PIPE

 

[Andy]

Not sure why furloughees could not vote? Why not email and ask....

Because they were trying to rig the results! And a majority was STILL in favor of the status quo!

 

[Neubyfly]

Also Email Ms. Blakey: [email protected]
(202)-267-3111

Email captain Prater: [email protected]

Email your Congressmen:


http://www.senate.gov/general/contac...state&Sort=ASC

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

 

[LJDRVR]

I've let both the President and Administrator know how I feel.

Here's a question for all of you guys who don't want to see your career stagnate for five years, FORCING you to work past sixty to recoup what you lost. (If you even can make it up.)

If ALPA doesn't do the right thing here, what are we going to do to organize and fight this? Andy, this is the single worset thing that could possibly happen to our profession, I sense you know that. While I'm going to give ALPA the benefit of the doubt on this one, they're going to have to come out publicly and strongly against this issue very soon.

Folks, CALL YOUR LOCAL REPS IMMEDIATELY! IF WE SCREW THIS ONE UP IT'S GOING TO COST YOU HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!

I do not want to spend the next five years on reserve and missing my kid's weekends so some greedy slob can continue to line his pockets when he or she knew full well what the rules were going in!

Perhaps we could organize a group of pilots to represent our views. We could call it a...........union.