Astar buying Polar

[Whistlin' Dan]

1. Yes he got fired. I have no idea where the union stands. But I have yet to hear a pilot who was annoyed at the news, much less willing to wildcat because of it.

If you're serious about not knowing where your union stands on this, then you either need to; A) get some new leadership into your union, or B) make an effort to find out where they stand. If they're not behind the guy 110%, see answer choice (A).

I'm not aware of any union that's ever wildcatted over a single termination. The practice of "taking hostages" when a labor dispute looms is pretty common, and as old as the labor movement itself. The company may be trying to get some idea of how unified your pilot group really is. If so, they got their answer when you all showed up for this rally. To get almost a third of your pilot group to show up was a remarkable achievement, especially considering how many pilots had to come in from out of town on their day off.

As for the guy that got fired, my guess is that they got him because he's senior, and fairly high-profile. They're making a statement..."Nobody is immune from our wrath! Fuss with us in any way while this is going on and you'll be gone, too!" The thing is, he may be your strongest asset at this stage of the negotiations. If the company senses that you'll go to the mat for ANY pilot that's taken hostage, they'll tend not to use that as a negotiating tactic. Take heart...you might have been the next on their list.

Lastly, if you or any other pilot has a problem with the pilot in question, take it up with Pro-Stan. Better yet take it up with him. But DON'T give the company any reason to believe that it's OK to fuss with some of your people, or you'll find that eventually, they'll be fussing with you all.

 

[rotor&wing]

If you're serious about not knowing where your union stands on this, then you either need to; A) get some new leadership into your union, or B) make an effort to find out where they stand. If they're not behind the guy 110%, see answer choice (A).

I'm not aware of any union that's ever wildcatted over a single termination. The practice of "taking hostages" when a labor dispute looms is pretty common, and as old as the labor movement itself. The company may be trying to get some idea of how unified your pilot group really is. If so, they got their answer when you all showed up for this rally. To get almost a third of your pilot group to show up was a remarkable achievement, especially considering how many pilots had to come in from out of town on their day off.

As for the guy that got fired, my guess is that they got him because he's senior, and fairly high-profile. They're making a statement..."Nobody is immune from our wrath! Fuss with us in any way while this is going on and you'll be gone, too!" The thing is, he may be your strongest asset at this stage of the negotiations. If the company senses that you'll go to the mat for ANY pilot that's taken hostage, they'll tend not to use that as a negotiating tactic. Take heart...you might have been the next on their list.

Lastly, if you or any other pilot has a problem with the pilot in question, take it up with Pro-Stan. Better yet take it up with him. But DON'T give the company any reason to believe that it's OK to fuss with some of your people, or you'll find that eventually, they'll be fussing with you all.

if memory serves me correct, this was the third time this pilot has been fired. on a previous firing, he was brought back at a great expense to the rest of the pilot group.....remember that dan?

 

[Whistlin' Dan]

if memory serves me correct, this was the third time this pilot has been fired. on a previous firing, he was brought back at a great expense to the rest of the pilot group.....remember that dan?

I've heard 3 times also, but the next time the story is told, I'm sure it'll be 4. Stories have a way of propogating like that. Remember the Tales of Brer' Rabbit?

The correct answer, BTW, is once previous - which the company lost in arbitration.

I'm curious...how does defending one persons job incur "great expense" upon the rest of the pilot group? That's what your dues are for. Have you considered the expense to the group of NOT protecting jobs? That's a vitally important role for any union, but extremely so for one like yours, where there's a "no furlough" clause in effect.

You can negotiate "industry-leading" pay scales 'till the cows come home, but without protecting Scope and agressively addressing job-protection, any contract you secure is meaningless.

 

[AV8OR]

If you're serious about not knowing where your union stands on this, then you either need to; A) get some new leadership into your union, or B) make an effort to find out where they stand. If they're not behind the guy 110%, see answer choice (A).

I'm not aware of any union that's ever wildcatted over a single termination. The practice of "taking hostages" when a labor dispute looms is pretty common, and as old as the labor movement itself. The company may be trying to get some idea of how unified your pilot group really is. If so, they got their answer when you all showed up for this rally. To get almost a third of your pilot group to show up was a remarkable achievement, especially considering how many pilots had to come in from out of town on their day off.

As for the guy that got fired, my guess is that they got him because he's senior, and fairly high-profile. They're making a statement..."Nobody is immune from our wrath! Fuss with us in any way while this is going on and you'll be gone, too!" The thing is, he may be your strongest asset at this stage of the negotiations. If the company senses that you'll go to the mat for ANY pilot that's taken hostage, they'll tend not to use that as a negotiating tactic. Take heart...you might have been the next on their list.

Lastly, if you or any other pilot has a problem with the pilot in question, take it up with Pro-Stan. Better yet take it up with him. But DON'T give the company any reason to believe that it's OK to fuss with some of your people, or you'll find that eventually, they'll be fussing with you all.

Thanks for the admonition Dan, but, since you don't know who it is, and I do, you might want to get a little intel before you assume some things.

1. I am very familiar with what's going on regarding said pilot's termination and he will get just representation, but WE will not be held hostage due to this guys actions. Let's just say being a team player goes both ways.

2. The point I was trying to make was that this guy's "situation" was not and is not going to affect our negotiations.

3. Believe me, pro-stans has intimate knowledge of this guy.

 

[rotor&wing]

If you're serious about not knowing where your union stands on this, then you either need to; A) get some new leadership into your union, or B) make an effort to find out where they stand. If they're not behind the guy 110%, see answer choice (A).

Dan, we are 100% behind our union and our MEC, which I may add is the best MEC we have had to date. Much better than one of our previous MEC chairman who served in the late '90's and insisted on being a "full time" MEC chairman and drew premium pay while the line pilots got dropped to min guarantee. That same MEC chairman never even bothered to look inside of one of our cockpits for 8 years, and even the secretary at the MEC office use to laugh about ever seeing him. He just sat at home and took credit for other people's hard work.

Our MEC are all line pilots, and they fully understand what our life is all about. And unlike this previous MEC chairman I speak of, they don't have ambitions to jump over to management at the first opportunity (nor would they lie on their resumes to get one of those jobs).

We are 100% united and back our union and MEC.

 

[Whistlin' Dan]

Dan, we are 100% behind our union and our MEC, which I may add is the best MEC we have had to date. Much better than one of our previous MEC chairman who served in the late '90's and insisted on being a "full time" MEC chairman and drew premium pay while the line pilots got dropped to min guarantee. That same MEC chairman never even bothered to look inside of one of our cockpits for 8 years, and even the secretary at the MEC office use to laugh about ever seeing him. He just sat at home and took credit for other people's hard work.

Our MEC are all line pilots, and they fully understand what our life is all about. And unlike this previous MEC chairman I speak of, they don't have ambitions to jump over to management at the first opportunity (nor would they lie on their resumes to get one of those jobs).

We are 100% united and back our union and MEC.

I have some familiarity with your present leadership, and I agree, it probably IS the right group to have in there under the present circumstances. That's why I was somewhat taken aback when a previous post indicated that the union might not be doing everything they could to have those pilots (there are actually several) re-instated. You've got some street fighters in there now, and that's a good thing. You're gonna need 'em.

As for the the MEC chairman of which you speak, I guess it's safe to assume that he won't be getting a Christmas card from you this year? Just try to remember, however, that it was under his leadership and guidance that the pilots of DHL/Astar secured what was, at the time, an industry-leading contract. A contract WITH furlough protections, I might add. All that was done without pickets, job-actions, or the taking of hostages. I don't know how much he flew the line during the time he was in office, or what kind of office hours he kept while in town. What I do know is that he gave the pilots of DHL a lot of credibility and presence at ALPA headquarters, which is, after all, a large part of being an MEC Chairman. It was under his watch that DHL actually became, for a short while, a pretty good place to work.

I'm going to refrain from commenting any further on this forum about specific individuals. Let's face it, it's pretty easy to ascertain who they are. It's not so easy to ascertain who you are, or the veracity of the things that are either said or inferred about them. For the purposes of this discussion, let's maintain our focus on the issues, not on the people.

As fellow aviation professionals, I would hope you will respond likewise.