Delta Contract 2012

[GogglesPisano]

For a whole hell of a lot, actually. ALPA has tons of experienced staff that really makes the union what it is, and you can't afford to replace even a fraction of them on your own dues revenue. ALPA has 60 attorneys on staff, for instance, each with their own specialties in the law. There's no way to find substitutes for them on your own, especially since many of them are the best in their fields. Bruce York, the Director of Representation, is absolutely irreplaceable. No one else has as good a relationship with the NMB as he does, and if an airline the size of Delta ever hopes to have leverage in Section 6, you need him.

The IPA, APA, and SWAPA seem to do quite well on their own, without subsidizing other pilot groups -- especially their own replacements.

The DL pilot group is now the largest in the world, with the deepest pockets.

 

[PCL_128]

The IPA, APA, and SWAPA seem to do quite well on their own, without subsidizing other pilot groups -- especially their own replacements.

The IPA negotiated their latest contract by having ALPA's Assistant Director of Representation at the bargaining table with them. They had a services contract without ALPA to provide the help. Without ALPA, these independent groups would have serious problems in the Section 6 process.

A perfect example is the APA, which you mention (they aren't even close to doing "quite well"). The APA has handled negotiations in a way that has not exactly endeared the NMB to their cause. Ask the APA how often they've been negotiating over the past couple of years, and how much progress they've been making. It's truly pathetic. They don't have the experienced professional negotiators that they need to work through the process.

As for SWAPA, they've also contracted for services with ALPA on many occasions, but their key strength is that their management team has a different mentality than any other airline's management team. When management changes for the worse at SWA, SWAPA will be woefully ineffective.

 

[GogglesPisano]

All of these negotiators can be retained on a contract every four years. No reason to subsidize ALPA national for the rest of the time.

How many cents on the dues dollar does a mainline pilot get back in benefits vs a regional pilot?

 

[PCL_128]

All of these negotiators can be retained on a contract every four years. No reason to subsidize ALPA national for the rest of the time.

These negotiators are only as good as they are because of the fact that they are negotiating constantly, at one airline after another, continually dealing with the NMB. If you don't have ALPA, with someone like Bruce York, then you lose your leverage in Section 6. We'll all end up like the IBT pilot groups, with substandard contracts that never work their way up to industry standard, let alone industry leading. An overall pattern bargaining strategy is what gets us results.

How many cents on the dues dollar does a mainline pilot get back in benefits vs a regional pilot?

Wrong question. The real question is, how many more resources do I get from being in a national union as compared to an independent union? An independent union, even at a carrier of DAL's size, could never provide the same level of resources.