Publishers said:
If you want reality through history, just check with the Air Force wife. The Teamsters came to EJA through the railroad ownership. They wanted a piece of dues from the pilots at EJA who made more than the folks that they represented at the time. General LeMay liked having the Air Force pilots because he could save money and get skilled Lear Jet pilots.
1108 makes it sound like the three years before never happened and that there had been no progress at all. They came in and Walaw, there was a contract..
Not exactly there bud! The teamsters were asked to represent the few pilots at Executive Jet Aviation almost 30 years ago. The AIR FORCE (Yes Sir/No Sir) pilots were so fed up with the crap that EJA and it's "Generals" were pulling that they, the pilots of EJA began a search for Union representation. This search began at ALPA, but, much to our pilots dismay, ALPA wasn't interested in some little jet charter pilots. Through much effort on the part of several pilots at EJA, they were able to convince the IBT to seek representation rights of the pilots. What you seemingly also do not know is that once the vote was counted and EJA Pilots were in fact represented, these same small number of pilots were a Charter member of what was to be the newest IBT Local, Local 284 in Columbus. 284 didn't seek out the pilots, there wasn't any 284. IBT didn't seek out the pilots either, the pilots looked for them, and were also a charter member of what was to become the so-called airline division within the IBT.
As someone in the know, yes, the 3 years of playing with the Company that 284 attempted, half-heartedly, did in fact lead to some of the changes you see in the current CBA, however, it was the changes to both the past contract and the rejected attempt by 284 that would cause the pilots to vote yes. Nothing left-over in it's original form from the rejected 3 year effort was in itself, or in total combination, good enough for a yes. The real issues that the rejected TA and 3 years of our time was so lacking in was negotiated in less than a year, and was accomplished with the help of the existing pilot force, not the disdain for them that was demonstrated by both the 284 Leadership and the pilot leadership at the time. When you go to a fight and you have a club, or a nuke in your possesion, to win you use them, not ignore them in hopes of being "kind" with management, especially when that same management was showing such "kindness" for the line pilots.
Even the Company management was shocked at just how out of touch bith the pilot leadership was, and how out of touch 284 was when that first vote was counted. Time will tell if the same thing happens at 1108, but for the current time, we are better off, much better off.
The ownership interests found in the Pennsylvania Railroad was a short lived and illegal part, a small part of EJA history. It had nothing to do with representation, and the IBT represented few Railroad Workers at the time anyway, they have their own AFL-CIO representation Unions.
