November 1, 2010
Pilots of Council 11 and 34,
Many of you have contacted your council officers asking what the hold-up in negotiations is. You have expressed outrage at the company, as well as the ineffectiveness of our MEC in reaching agreement on a contract, and we have heard you loud and clear. Unfortunately, your anger is misdirected, and the purpose of this update is to finally communicate what the problem has been.
To put it simply, the problem is that the Continental MEC has for months insisted on structuring Section 3 of our contract (Compensation) in such a manner as to give them an advantage in the integration of the seniority list (ISL), and they have refused to allow negotiations to progress beyond this point until we capitulate and give them their way.
To illustrate exactly what the Continental MEC is attempting to do, let us first quickly review ALPA merger policy. There are three “cornerstones” of ALPA merger policy¾career expectations, longevity, and current position¾which must all be considered in arriving at an ISL.
The joint collective bargaining agreement process should be separate and distinct from the integrated seniority list process so that one does not advantage or disadvantage either party, this in the name of transparency and fairness to all parties. At this time, it is our strong and firm belief that while the United MEC has been taking the high road in moving toward trying to achieve an industry-leading JCBA, and is doing the same regarding ISL, the Continental MEC has taken action after action to attempt to stack the deck in their favor for the ISL.
The Continental MEC has dug their heels in and refused to allow any form of compensation proposal to be passed to the company unless it is their proposal. We assure you that the UAL MEC has made good-faith gestures to the CAL MEC to keep the process moving toward what will benefit, to the maximum extent, our collective pilot groups. Many of us are saddened and frustrated by the childish tack taken by the CAL MEC. Many of us have read the rhetoric being spewed by the CAL EWR chairman, Jayson Baron, in the Magenta Line, their council publication. Captain Baron describes himself as being the one man who is single-handedly taking on the United MEC in our attempts to oppress the pilots of Continental. While such blather is counterproductive and does nothing to move the issues forward, and in fact serves to foment the seeds of disharmony and antagonism between our two pilot groups (who by the way, are going to live together for a very long time), we categorically reject Captain Baron’s assertion. We believe that the United pilots (old and new) will be proud of the way they are being represented in this matter by the UAL MEC.
We are further compelled to ask why Captain Baron points the finger at the United MEC as being the root of the problem, but fails to publish in his Magenta Line his statement¾made during a joint session of the UAL and CAL MECs in September 2010¾that if the United pilots don’t give him what he wants, he will hold up negotiations for years, forcing the United pilots to work under our current draconian pay and working conditions until we capitulate to his demands. Where we come from, these words would be more of a management tack than those of a trusted unionist brother. Captain Baron’s threatening and offensive outburst led to the UAL MEC walking out of the meeting.
There are other complicating factors that include childish behavior by the Continental master chairman, but a significant reason that we do not yet have a contract can be attributed to the refusal of the Continental MEC to allow a compensation proposal to be passed until and unless the United MEC agrees to conditions that will advantage Continental pilots in an ISL. Your seniority is not for sale at any price, and we will not succumb to conditions grounded in amateurish scare tactics and rhetoric. We believe that the United pilots, including our new brothers and sisters at Continental, expect and deserve better than this type of behavior.
We are currently employing several strategies to help resolve this conundrum, and are prepared to utilize all resources under ALPA merger policy, including appealing to the president of the Association and the ALPA National Executive Council to help move the process forward, as provided for in ALPA merger policy. Even so, the Continental MEC and master chairman have publicly stated that they will refuse to abide by ALPA merger policy if the decision goes against them. With this kind of attitude we are not optimistic about the future as it relates to our two pilot groups’ chances for making United Airlines the premier, world-class airline we believe it can and should be.
Brothers and sisters, when the Continental MEC decides to come sit at the adult table, we will welcome them with open arms and put this silly nonsense behind us.
Fraternally,
Marco Salazar, Vice Chairman, Council 11
Mike Holman, Vice Chairman, Council 34
