ALPA sues SKYW

[trip]

Its nice to have ALPA sueing the company before they are even on the property, I dont think this will sit well with a lot of the pilots. All over the stupid bulletin board? only the lawyers will win this one.


Fellow SkyWest Pilots,

Today, May 22, 2007, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee filed suit against SkyWest Airlines, Inc. to compel the carrier to obey the principles of the Railway Labor Act with respect to employee free choice and union solicitation.

Under the rules governing union organizing, SkyWest pilots are entitled to distribute and receive information from ALPA and its supporters on exactly the same terms and conditions that they have received information from management and SAPA. To that end, the Organizing Committee, in a letter to B H in March, requested what it is entitled to under federal law: that it be given the same privileges and opportunities granted to SAPA. The company refused to grant these requests, prompting the Organizing Committee to take this latest measure.

In conjunction with the filing of the litigation, the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee asked the Court to move quickly to prevent SkyWest from interfering with pilots’ right to organize. On the same day the lawsuit was filed, the Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order, requiring SkyWest immediately to cease and desist from preventing members of the Organizing Committee and its supporters from wearing ALPA insignia on lanyards or pins and distributing ALPA materials in non-work areas such as crew lounges and bulletin boards. The Temporary Restraining Order also requires SkyWest immediately to provide the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee with access to the same channels of internal communication to the pilot group that are now available to SAPA.

For your reference we have attached a letter, mailed to SkyWest pilots today, which outlines the rationale for filing this lawsuit. We have also attached the judge’s order, and posted all of the key filings in the case on the SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee webpage – www.skywestalpa.org.

With this Temporary Restraining Order, the Organizing Committee and its supporters are free to exercise their federal rights to discuss and to learn more about ALPA and the benefits of union representation. We look forward to talking with you soon.

In solidarity,

The SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee
1-888-SKY-ALPA
http://skywestalpa.org

 

[FishandFly]

Rather than assuming that it is frivolous, why not question why skywest refuses to follow the law?

I would consider this a good primer for skyw's future life of needing to take into consideration the law and their employees in future decisions they make instead of solely doing what benefits the company alone.

 

[CoAlpha]

alpa wont happen here at skyw. No one talks about it anymore. dead stick

 

[~~~^~~~]

......

 

[skypine69]

I wonder if skywest would sue alpa if alpa were to do something illegal.
answer....you bet your a$$ they would. I know some people refuse to believe it, but skywest is very intimidating when it comes to organizing efforts.

 

[Weasil]

Well done guys! I'm glad to see it! This should be a wake up call to the pilots about what is possible when you stand together as a union, you don't just have to take the company's word as final say anymore, you can stand up for your rights together as a group.

 

[shamrock]

Just for clarification, are the members of the "SkyWest Pilots ALPA Organizing Committee" actually from ALPA or are they SkyWest pilots who are trying to bring ALPA in?

 

[skypine69]

They are skywest pilots who are trying to get alpa on the property. they work with alpa national.

 

[Weasil]

Its nice to have ALPA sueing the company before they are even on the property, I dont think this will sit well with a lot of the pilots. All over the stupid bulletin board? only the lawyers will win this one.

Actually you might want to read the actual litigation material, it's on skywestalpa.org
I just finished reading through it, they are requesting that the Judge issue a restraining order against SAPA. They want SAPA shutdown, as an illegal company sponsored bargaining representative.

To you it might be just a stupid bulletin board, but to many of us it is our legal right to engage in union organization efforts that is being intefered with.

 

[CoAlpha]

for real, get a girlfriend or something. there will be no alpa here, thank god. If you were represented by alpa in the past you would feel the same way.

next question

 

[shamrock]

So is the title "ALPA sues SKYW" really accurate then?

Is it ALPA or the SkyWest pilots filing the suit?

 

[skypine69]

the legal thingy says skywest alpa organizing commitee. guessing that alpa paid for it on behalf of the oc.
hey weasil, the copy i have has the part about funding SAPA lined out. what does that mean?

 

[7dustfan]

It is simple: SKYW ALPA organizing committee are acting like children due to the lack of ALPA following in SKYW.

 

[HelloNewman]

for real, get a girlfriend or something. there will be no alpa here, thank god. If you were represented by alpa in the past you would feel the same way.

next question

That is correct. I think this move will actually be the death blow to the organizing effort. Even members of the OC aren't confident they will ever get the cards they want. This move has already turned a lot of people off. Why are they trying to shut SAPA down when the majority of pilots have not asked for it? I would like to thank the members of the OC for making our jobs easier. For us, the majority of SkyWest pilots who do not want ALPA here we now have a lot less convincing to do. I still don't see how they are suing on behalf of the pilots when the majority did not even request it.

There isn't one person here that hasn't been bombarded almost to the point of harassment by the organizing effort. I don't see how they can say they are being hindered with a straight face. A lot of us ORD employees have already filed a complaint against the FCC as we are on the do not call list yet they persist in calling us after repeated instructions to not call us. They keep harassing us to sign cards when we do not want to. We are already in contact with the proper channels to keep this at bay If anyone needs some help drop me a line. This is equivalent to a bunch of whiny babies who are trying to salvage a union drive that has almost no chance of winning.

 

[JoeMerchant]

It's dead already... this is called DESPERATION.....

 

[HelloNewman]

It's dead already... this is called DESPERATION.....

perfect one word summation of this entire union drive. It has been a sense of DESPERATION from day one. Even most OC members have little confidence this drive will actually pass. Only ones who are out of touch with the employees think this one will actually pass. This lawsuit seals their fate.

 

[7dustfan]

Well said....

 

[Gnarloooo]

Newman, please for the love of God, SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! You may speak for yourself if you wish, but do not pretend to speak for me ever again.

 

[rickair7777]

Actually you might want to read the actual litigation material, it's on skywestalpa.org
I just finished reading through it, they are requesting that the Judge issue a restraining order against SAPA. They want SAPA shutdown, as an illegal company sponsored bargaining representative.

To you it might be just a stupid bulletin board, but to many of us it is our legal right to engage in union organization efforts that is being intefered with.

You have got be f***** kidding me!

I'm open to all sorts of ALPA driving, and willing to see where it goes but SAPA does serve a beneficial purpose (as anemic as it may be) and I sure as &^%* don't want them shut down. If that happens I'll start campaigning against ALPA personally.

SKW ALPA DRIVERS: You need to convince people with valid arguments, not try to litigate what you want like Al F%^&* Gore! Cut this S&^% out, the company is not strong-arming anyone about the union....they make their opinion clearly known but that's about the extent of it.

 

[Gnarloooo]

Rick, SAPA is as useless as your posts. Oh, and Al Gore actually won the last election you war monger.