AWAC Pilots Get Hosed - Thanks ALPA

[ILLINI]

All the arbitrator has said so far in a nutshell is that the pilots have won the grievance. With this latest letter, he said that the pre-concessionary (2001) contract will not be reinstated, and that we will continue to work under our current (2003) contract. As of yet he has not ruled how much or which pilots are entitled to any back pay if any at all. That's what he wants the company and union to agree on within the next 45 days. At the end of those 45 days he will issue his own decision as to who will get back pay if any and how much they are owed. Since neither the union or company have budged whatsoever on all previous attempts to reach a decision, I'm pretty confident they won't come to an agreement in the next 45 days either. Hopefully the arbitrator already has his decision written up and will submit it shortly after the 45 days has expired and we won't have to wait another 90 days to submit our arguments all over again and have the arbitrator take another 6 months to review it before he takes his 90 days or whatever it is to issue his decision.

 

[XJohXJ]

It sounds like the arbitration process is what needs to be fixed, not ALPA.

 

[DoinTime]

It sounds like the arbitration process is what needs to be fixed, not ALPA.

The only way to get us out from arbitrators settling all of our disputes is to contribute to ALPA PAC and vote for labor friendly politicians (generally not republicans).

 

[IADBLRJ41]

I agree without ALPA we would have never even seen an arbitration date. We would not even seen a case.

True it is not what we were 100% looking for but we are one of very few airlines that have had some success at getting some of the concessions back. We shall see what happens.

 

[ualdriver]

All the arbitrator has said so far in a nutshell is that the pilots have won the grievance. With this latest letter, he said that the pre-concessionary (2001) contract will not be reinstated, and that we will continue to work under our current (2003) contract. As of yet he has not ruled how much or which pilots are entitled to any back pay if any at all. That's what he wants the company and union to agree on within the next 45 days. At the end of those 45 days he will issue his own decision as to who will get back pay if any and how much they are owed. Since neither the union or company have budged whatsoever on all previous attempts to reach a decision, I'm pretty confident they won't come to an agreement in the next 45 days either. Hopefully the arbitrator already has his decision written up and will submit it shortly after the 45 days has expired and we won't have to wait another 90 days to submit our arguments all over again and have the arbitrator take another 6 months to review it before he takes his 90 days or whatever it is to issue his decision.

Interesting. Thanks for the information. Good luck with your arbitration. You guys deserve 100% of your money back, plus significant interest.

 

[John Pennekamp]

I have no idea what this is about, but why is it that everyone blames ALPA whenever things don't go their way.

For AWAC and Us Air pilots... when you go to an arbitrator, you go in knowing that you are rolling the dice. Take what you got and quit whining. If you wanted a sure thing, you shouldn't have gone to arbitration! You made your bed, now lie in it!

 

[ualdriver]

I have no idea what this is about, but why is it that everyone blames ALPA whenever things don't go their way.

For AWAC and Us Air pilots... when you go to an arbitrator, you go in knowing that you are rolling the dice. Take what you got and quit whining. If you wanted a sure thing, you shouldn't have gone to arbitration! You made your bed, now lie in it!

John,

One of the rare times I'll have to disagree with you concerning the AWAC guys. They got screwed, the arbitrator sided with them, and they are being forced to go to arbitration to get to get the back pay that they deserve. Their management is dragging their feet because they know they are going to owe their pilots significant $$ due to arbitrator's original decision.

The guy that started this post was a misinformed idiot who somehow believes that ALPA told the arbitrator to rule the way he did or some other ridiculous notion. It wasn't even worth addressing as he was so far out in left field.

 

[John Pennekamp]

The guy that started this post was a misinformed idiot who somehow believes that ALPA told the arbitrator to rule the way he did or some other ridiculous notion. It wasn't even worth addressing as he was so far out in left field.

That's pretty much the point I was trying to make.

 

[Skyguy]

Not ALPA’s fault. Ask yourself who sets the arbitration process? How is this process beneficial to the pilots? Its NOT! Did ALPA hire any outside experts to present evidence to Holden? NO! ALPA keeps it in house to save them money not you. Was there any investigation into Untied side of the story? NO, this would cost money. Do you think the ALPA attorneys, on a guaranteed salary, have anything at stake compared to an outside attorney with a private law practice? I doubt it. I bet they are great lawyers, but they have little at stake. Who from the MEC agreed to this arbitrator? What is his record for the pilots in the past, ZERO! Was there any investigation to the reality of the Sub-Chapter “S” corporation’s financials? NO! They just accepted the face value of the report given by who else……. AWAC. So the owners lied to employees to get the concessions, why would they not lie in the arbitration, because they took an oath? Get real, they did just what they wanted, and stole that money from the employees and had a better Christmas than any of its hard working, cross country moving, dedicated professional that allow it to operate and make them rich.

Just check the internet. AWAC ended up with 8.3 Million shares of USAir at 15.00 a share. Plus one seat on the board. AWAC EMPLOYEES GOT HOSED. Before anything else happens, someone better figure out how to find the lies, uncover them and vacate this binding arbitration. This is not going to happen under ALPA.

 

[BoilerUP]

So much ignorance, so little time (or desire)...

I don't know how our hard-working Grievance volunteers or Carl Fleming keep doing what they're doing when they read posts like this...