And So It Begins

[jonjuan]

Just speaking of a few NJ furloughees pushing rubber dog crap into dark Mexican airports in the middle of the night in aged out junk that would think that going back to NJ would be like going to heaven.

Maybe if they finished their degrees at bumblebee state, their options would open up, yip? Ultra llllcc spirit guys are making $150K after just 3 years. No tpic required.

 

[flagshipper]

I can't believe it took 40 posts to hear about rubber dog poop and Mexico!!!

 

[pilotyip]

Maybe if they finished their degrees at bumblebee state, their options would open up, yip? Ultra llllcc spirit guys are making $150K after just 3 years. No tpic required.

ha ha ha got'ya there, all have college degrees, admitted a couple from a place called Ohio State University that doesn't even rate with bumble Bee State.
BTW if the 150K job is so good how come the presently employed NJ guys aren't jumping at it? Jezze if enough did maybe these JUS NJ furloughees could get out of the on-demand bizz world and go back to a fantastic job.

 

[T-1GUY]

Oh please, Netjets is not a fantastic job. I bet you think a regional job is the shizzle. Just because they have a degree doesn't mean squat. I saw plenty of college graduates with a basket weaving degree. Show me an engineer, computer science, or accounting major that is hard pressed to find a good job. On top of that, graduating with a 2.0 GPA doesn't really stand out either. If those guys are so hard up, I would say they only have one person to blame for that, and thats the guy in the mirror.

 

[Praetorian]

The point of this is, at least one organized group is willing to put their asses on the line, AGAIN. That seems to have been missing with their competitors groups.

I suspect you are referring to the Flight Options pilots? Let me remind you of a few things.

For over three and a half years from 2006 - 2010 the Flight Options pilots fought hard to achieve a first contract, while we were at-will employees and without the benefit of a just cause provision, or status-quo protections.

In May of 2008 we had 70 pilots terminated, out of seniority and without cause. The company claimed they lacked "productivity". These pilots were subsequently reinstated with full back pay 3 months later.

Also during this period we had two ownership changes and three rounds of furloughs effecting 40% of our pilot group.

Our pilots stood together and forced out three Vice Presidents of H.R. three opposing labor attorneys from a notoriously anti-union law firm, one Vice President of Flight Operations and one CEO.

After the dust settled and in the middle of the worst recession since the great depression, our union negotiated a 10% raise and retro pay upon CBA ratification in 2010 and what amounted to an average 38% raise for pilots spread out over the five years of the CBA - a process that was complete at yesterday's CBA anniversary date, April 1st. This was in addition to significant improvements to sick/vacation time, work rest and scheduling rules and scope and job protections.

All of this was accomplished through thousands of hours of hard work and sacrifice by hundreds of volunteers and their families.

I would never diminish the importance of what the NJ pilots have been able to accomplish in the past. And I fully support them in their efforts going forward. However, I don't think it benefits any of us for you to minimalize what the Flight Options pilots have been able to accomplish, or the hard fight we went through to get there.

Even across company lines we are all stronger when we stand together.

 

[pilotyip]

Just because they have a degree doesn't mean squat. I saw plenty of college graduates with a basket weaving degree. Show me an engineer, computer science, or accounting major that is hard pressed to find a good job. On top of that, graduating with a 2.0 GPA doesn't really stand out either.

There is something we agree upon

 

[nordo_2]

ha ha ha got'ya there, all have college degrees, admitted a couple from a place called Ohio State University that doesn't even rate with bumble Bee State.
BTW if the 150K job is so good how come the presently employed NJ guys aren't jumping at it? Jezze if enough did maybe these JUS NJ furloughees could get out of the on-demand bizz world and go back to a fantastic job.

Most SIC's would, if they could. Some already have. And love it. NJ SIC pilots are not the cream of the crop.

 

[CRAWDADDY]

I would never diminish the importance of what the NJ pilots have been able to accomplish in the past. And I fully support them in their efforts going forward. However, I don't think it benefits any of us for you to minimalize what the Flight Options pilots have been able to accomplish, or the hard fight we went through to get there.

Even across company lines we are all stronger when we stand together.

I would agree with all of this except you left out one very important thing. As our contract dragged out under 284 and Jon Wentz, you resisted unionizing because you were assured that EJA would have the best paid pilots for only one day and then your management would match them. Then, we got the POSTA and you went huh?

 

[Praetorian]

I would agree with all of this except you left out one very important thing. As our contract dragged out under 284 and Jon Wentz, you resisted unionizing because you were assured that EJA would have the best paid pilots for only one day and then your management would match them. Then, we got the POSTA and you went huh?

Yea I remember that. KR fed our pilots that line of BS and some of our pilots bought it and threw it in your faces. Indefensible behavior.

I would only submit that over the 10+ years since those events occured and after all our pilots had to go through to get our own CBA we are smarter than that now.

 

[BlueNose]

Meeting To Address Merging Flight Ops, Flexjet Pilots

Yea I remember that. KR fed our pilots that line of BS and some of our pilots bought it and threw it in your faces. Indefensible behavior.

I would only submit that over the 10+ years since those events occured and after all our pilots had to go through to get our own CBA we are smarter than that now.

Since it's in an AIN article, care to give us some idea of how the meetings progressed?


Meeting To Address Merging Flight Ops, Flexjet Pilots
AINalerts ? April 3, 2014
by Matt Thurber
April 3, 2014, 3:10 PM

A meeting between company officials and the Flight Options pilot union planned for today and tomorrow is intended to address issues arising from the consolidation of fractional-share operations Flexjet and Flight Options. Flight Options parent Directional Aviation Capital purchased Flexjet from Bombardier last December for about $195 million.

In a March 27 announcement sent to members of Teamsters Local 1108, which represents Flight Options pilots, the union noted that it had filed a "grievance alleging multiple violations of Section 1 of our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and related letters of agreement." According to the union, the filing of the grievance allows it to "preserve our right to use the grievance and arbitration process in defense of pilots' rights under the CBA while we simultaneously meet with the company in a good-faith attempt to resolve all issues related to the consolidation of the two carriers."

The specific grievances alleged by the union include "consolidating certain Flight Options and Flexjet functions prior to exhausting the mandatory fence negotiation and arbitration procedures set forth in the CBA and reducing positions and slowing growth at Flight Options through subcontracting."