About time! AAA Local Council 41 put into trusteeship

[FR8mastr]

are you serious Fr8mastr? How about the fact that they will not issue a statement supporting Alpa? They are alpa reps! If they want to support USAPA then that is their right but they should first resign their post as an ALPA rep. They should not be trying to recruit the ALPA HIMS chairman for USAPA.

here's your evidence...

What is it with you guys? Parroting a bunch of crap from ALPA is still Crap from ALPA.

They can not support ALPA on ALPA's current course of action IE they disagree with Prater. That is allowed under the US constitution and the ALPA constitution. That does not mean they are going against ALPA. If you cant see the difference then I guess you should run for office as well.

As far as the HIMS guys, (I was waiting for that) it is a LIE. furthermore this guy will testify to such in the kangaroo court in 30 days. Not only is it a lie he told Prater and others that he would not be part of ALPA's witch hunt for council 41.
I know this all does not fit in with your "ALPA can do no wrong" attitude but there it is. ALPA, Prater, are lying.
It is really eye opening that some of you believe anything you read .

 

[SoCentralRain]

From and outside perspective, the deal sucked for US Airways East guys. Unfortunately, your company went into bankruptcy not only once, but twice. I think most there are lucky to have jobs. Still just a bad situation for you guys.

I just gotta know: What part of "binding arbitration" didn't the East guys understand?

::shrug::

SCR

 

[PCL_128]

They can not support ALPA on ALPA's current course of action IE they disagree with Prater. That is allowed under the US constitution and the ALPA constitution. That does not mean they are going against ALPA. If you cant see the difference then I guess you should run for office as well.

From the oath of office for all ALPA Officers, contained in Article I, Section 7 of the ALPA Constitution & Bylaws: (bold emphasis added)

to comply with and advance the policies of the Association; to bear true allegiance to and uphold the principles of the Air Line Pilots Association and conduct myself and this office in such a manner so as to bring credit to the Association, its members and the airline piloting profession.

 

[Crzipilot]

Why don't you copy the whole section of that bylaw....as it pertains to ALPA officers, and it names such officers it's talking about..

SECTION 7 - OFFICERS AND OATH OF OFFICE
A. The officers of the Association shall be the President of the Association, the First Vice
President, the Vice President-Administration/Secretary, and the Vice President-Finance/Treasurer.
B. After the election of any of the officers of the Association the following oath of office shall be
administered by the President of the Association or his designee:
I hereby pledge on my honor to accept the responsibilities of this office and perform the
attendant duties to the best of my ability; to uphold faithfully the Constitution and By-Laws of
the Air Line Pilots Association; to comply with and advance the policies of the Association; to
bear true allegiance to and uphold the principles of the Air Line Pilots Association and conduct
myself and this office in such a manner so as to bring credit to the Association, its members​

and the airline piloting profession.

I dont see any mention of LEC reps or MEC reps mentioned in having to take any oath????

 

[TWA Dude]

If that is the case the lawsuit is probably being drawn up as we speak.

Another frivolous suit, if it's actually filed. The EC voted unanimously. The evidence is clear.

 

[Turtle21]

The evidence presented to the EC proved otherwise.

Evidence in secret is no proof. The EC isn't even going to have a hearing for 30 days.

What is in public view is that the pilots have voted in new representation into the BOS positions and the power had returned to the pilots instead of the Pratophiles. Based on trumping charges on secret evidence the Pratophiles have manipulated the vote and once again proved ALPA is not about free democracy.

Your obssesive affinity calls into question how much FPL you collect.

 

[Turtle21]

are you serious Fr8mastr? How about the fact that they will not issue a statement supporting Alpa?

Just what is ALPA? Is ALPA known by the rants of a lunatic president? How about the rants of a senile president? If the president becomes a lunatic then who is left to define ALPA? The CB&L. And it was the CB&L that always defines ALPA.

No. ALPA is not known by the transient whims of a president or any other spokesman trying to trump up a personal witch hunt. ALPA is merely what is agreed to in the CB&L.

There has been no evidence that council 41 has breached any part of the CB&L, nor will there be.

 

[Mamma]

To my fellow US Airways pilots,
I have been an ALPA member in good standing for over twenty nine years and currently hold seniority number XX on the system seniority list. I’ve had other pilots tell me that since I have been unaffected by the recent arbitration award that I really don’t have a dog in this fight. Nothing could be farther from the truth. While the current catalyst for change is the unfair arbitration award, the reasons for breaking our long standing affiliation with ALPA run far deeper than just that one issue. ALPA’s basic structure is flawed. Our union is made up of many separate pilot groups that have conflicting financial and career goals. We are competing with each other for the same piece of the airline pie. Please remember that both the United and Delta pilots engaged in a letter writing campaign that was directed at putting US Airways out of business. If that is the face of a national union then I want nothing to do with it. Also keep in mind that we have a bloated top heavy national leadership that is EARNING obscene salaries at your expense while doing absolutely nothing for the US Airways pilots.
I say that it is long past time to replace ALPA with an in house union whose sole responsibility is to the US Airways pilots. In the late 80’s I supported the formation of an in house union and regrettably not enough of you supported that effort. I believe that had we succeeded then, that we would never have lost our pension. While it’s too late to change that now, looking forward we can prevent more travesties like that from occurring in the future. We, with ALPA representation, have lost our pensions, vacation time, duty rigs, pay and respect. And now many of you face the loss of seniority as well. I say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
As I said earlier, the decision to leave ALPA should not be decided on one issue alone. However, having said that, the current seniority crisis is certainly one of the biggest problems that this pilot group has ever faced. Unlike the loss of our pension, it is not too late to fix this problem. Do not look to ALPA to fix it for you.
ALPA may not be able to fix this problem even if they wanted to and their indecisive response indicates to me that they do not have the will or courage to stand up and do what is right. I believe that replacing ALPA is the only possible way to rectify this injustice. Right now there are a very dedicated, hard working group of pilots taking steps to replace ALPA with an in house union. They can not, nor should they have to do it alone. This is a fight that all of us share. Don’t sit on the sidelines and hope someone else will preserve your seniority for you.
Get involved and help both with your time and money. This process will not be cheap although I believe it will be much less than you are spending in ALPA dues. The return on your investment could be huge. I and others have already contributed a substantial amount of money to this effort.
Fraternally,
Captain Ed


Preface: I feel it important to inform the USAir pilots that I resigned from ALPA nearly two years ago after years of disappointment and disgust concerning ALPA's leadership failures.

This is a follow up to my note of several days ago. I think the USAir pilots might benefit from learning about the FedEx MEC chairman's appearance before the America West Pilots on April 21, 2004, and how ALPA's short-term decisions affect its long term credibility and strength.

During the early part of 2004, the AWA pilots had been considering decertifying ALPA and replacing it with an in-house union. The situation became serious enough that then-ALPA president, Duane Woerth, asked FedEx MEC chairman, Dave Webb, and CAL MEC chairman, Jay Panarello, to address the AWA pilots on the disadvantages of an in-house union. What the pilots were not told was that Jay Panarello was one of the worst strikebreakers that we had at Continental. Not only did he cross the picket line early on, he proactively attempted to get other employees fired. This is a note that I received from one of our former CAL pilots who was married to a CAL flight attendant:

Bob: If I ever see Panarello I will personally embarrass him in front of as many real pilots as possible...He did his level best to have my wife fired at Continental and made her life hell as she was under close observation for many months...He is the ONLY CAL PILOT that I know of that attacked another pilot's family member during a strike.

Readers might ask, "How did a strikebreaker like Jay Panarello get back into the union, much less get elected chairman of the Master Executive Council?" The answer is this: Some time before his election, ALPA national, in its desire to increase dues income, decided to permit all Continental strikebreakers to join the Association as members in good standing. This was done with no requirement for any act of penance, no period of probation, and no requirement to pay back-dues. It was, by all standards, a free pass for crossing the picket line.

My viewpoint is that of one who spent two years on strike at CAL, started over several times before landing at FedEx, and gave up about one million dollars in compensation because of people like Jay Panarello. To me, it was inconceivable that Duane Woerth would send a strikebreaker to act as a spokesman for ALPA in any venue (can you imagine any true union doing this?), and that my current MEC chairman, Dave Webb, would share the stage and microphone with such an individual. After all, the strike against Continental was probably the most righteous strike ever in the airline industry. It was called against a management team that was both corrupt and incompetent. Stories of Frank Lorenzo's corrupt behavior even during his college days were well-know and public knowledge. Anyone who wanted to know, could and should have known, including Jay Panarello.

But, to me, there is something more important and disturbing about this whole matter: It is the idea that an organization calling itself a "union" could unconditionally welcome into its fold the confirmed enemies of working men and women in this country with, apparently, no comprehension, whatsoever, of the downstream strategic effects of such a move. Not only does the embracing of known strikebreakers physically dilute the strength of an, otherwise, potentially solid membership, but it substantially demoralizes those who have fought, or might ever be willing to fight, the war against corruption. How in the world do you successfully mix together the valiant individuals who were robbed of their jobs, with those who stole them? And, if such tolerance is the end result, how could you possibly expect anyone to ever again take a picket line seriously? It is unfathomable. To some extent, this is why ALPA has been unable to protect pensions, incomes, and working conditions. It has so diluted its strength by catering to the weakest of its membership that it no longer has any credibility or leverage.

If any USAir pilots are under the illusion that ALPA's incompetence and corrupt behavior started with them, they need to think again. This has been going on for decades. In my opinion, ALPA's inability to defend its members against pension loss, pay reductions, executive manipulation, the courts, or internal fragmentation is the direct result of a legacy of leadership incompetence that has left it impotent. ALPA's principle-free policies, employed for short-term gain, have resulted in a membership that so lacks trust in both the organization and in each other that there is, in my opinion, little possibility of ALPA ever again throwing up a meaningful picket line or doing much of anything else to defend its members. Where there is no accountability for crossing a picket line, there is no good reason to not cross a picket line.

And, that is why we are where we are as a profession today: Dog-eat-dog, every-pilot-for-him or herself. Oddly enough, it is not the mighty FedEx pilots who have the incentive to change our world---they are still mind-numbingly apathetic and, essentially, leaderless. Nor is it ALPA national---all it appears to care about is its dues money. For the moment, it is the pilots at USAir who are in the driver's seat.

Sincerely,

Bob

 

[PCL_128]

"Ed" and "Bob" need to do some research. There's so many factual inaccuracies in their letters that I wouldn't even know where to begin.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

We are competing with each other for the same piece of the airline pie.


Bob

Gee "Bob".....

its called free market capitalism... something we adore in this country...

I bet you, most of the USAIRways, USAPA saps and ALPA pilots will vote this Nov., for a president that supports 'pilots competing with each other for the same piece of the airline pie'

How does one rationalize with someone who is willing to crap where they eat.....??

I know, I know, soical issues like abortions, guns, gays, etc.. is more important that your retirement, seniority intergration, etc....


Air Line Pilots are like chickens voting for Frank Purdue....