FoxHunter said:
Sorry for the misinformed. I'm a ALPA member in good standing. Looks like all the bag stickers, slogans, "MY Union Speaks For Me" were nothing more than talk by a number of challanged individuals.
The negotiating committee does speak for me, but that doesn't mean they THINK for me. We can't all be in there negotiating with the company, that is why we have a negotiating committee to do that for us. Now it is up to every union member to do their part and read the TA, THINK about whether it meets THEIR needs, and vote accordingly.
It is NOT a rubber stamp process. The negotiating committee, LEC and MEC are loaded with senior Captains. Wonder where their priorities lie? You can bet they aren't the same as the junior/younger folk's are.
That is why there is a vote, to make sure that every member has a chance to decide it the negotiating committe has indeed represented them.
As to the TA itself, I must admit that I am pretty disappointed in the treatment of S/Os in several areas, the bonus and override for flex guys in particular. I realize that being a S/O is the pits (I am one) and we are supposed to aspire to loftier positions, but $7800 for 2.5 years? Kind of an insult. DECREASING the override for flex SOs? Again, hard to imagine how they are going to fill those slots if they decrease the S/O override while doubling the override for Captains.
I guess the committee figured that just about everybody on the property during the process could have held a widebody right seat if they had wanted to so they threw the S/Os under the bus. A lesson to be learned there.
I also don't understand why in the HE-double-hockey-sticks we spent one iota of negotiating capital on agency shop if they were just going to go ahead and grandfather the freeloaders. That doesn't make any sense to me, new hire union membership has been about 99.9% with ALPA, what have we gained there?
Oh well, just some thoughts from the peanut gallery. I still appreciate the efforts of the negotiating committee and plan to take advantage of the road shows and read the document at least a couple of times before I decide if the TA is right for me. I urge every union member to do the same.
FJ