CAL EWR B737
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2005
- Posts
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Magenta Line July 23, 2009
“Because they are so intent on creating an atmosphere of distrust and unhappiness, they appear not to see any need to rely on facts...” - Captain Fred Abbott in the July 2009 issue of the Flight Operations Update, apparently referring to your EWR Council 170 representatives.
Note to Fred: facts appear below—just like they do every week.
Today is Thursday, July 23, 2009 and there are 10 items for discussion.
Item 1: Furlough Notices Out; Management Must Want Something—Again
Mr. Smisek strode on stage this past week as the CEO-elect of Continental Airlines. Mr. Smisek brings baggage with him as those who have experienced him first-hand will tell you. His image as the “bad-cop” of the executive suite has been well-earned so we offer him a piece of advice as prepares to take the tiller from Mr. Kellner: leave the attitude at the door. Mr. Smisek will have the smallest window of opportunity ever of any incoming CEO to get on the right side of things with the pilots of Continental and we urge him to use this one-time opportunity to do just that.
The pilots Mr. Smisek is dealing with today aren’t the same ones who cowered in the corner in 2005 while management threatened their way to Contract ’02. We aren’t even the pilots of last year who fell over ourselves to provide management with a furlough-mitigation LOA that didn’t mitigate furloughs. The new hardware update is Continental Pilot 2009. This new hardware prevents us from helping management further destroy us and adds the ability to take back what management gleefully took from us in the past. Continental Pilot 2009 is unable to make any deals to add to management’s hostage total and will not negotiate anything away to “save furloughs” that management fully intends to take anyway. Our message is that if management wants to furlough additional pilots while we junior-man almost daily, have new airplanes on order, and have massive and sweeping changes to the FARs coming within months, go ahead—but we will not help you do it.
We will be happy to sit at the table with you—as equal partners. We will listen to what you have to say—but we will not be threatened or dictated to. We will arrive at whatever solution needs to be arrived at—with the understanding that we will do nothing to jeopardize the future of our pilots and their families in either the short or long term.
Threatening us by sending out 308 furlough letters is not only a very bad start to your new job, it doesn’t really scare us anymore. We’ve heard from our membership: we aren’t giving anything up to prevent a single pilot from being furloughed from what used to be an honored career—but is now just a job.
So come talk to us—don’t threaten us, don’t strong arm us, don’t lead with arrogance. You’ve already started off on the wrong foot—don’t compound that error. You need us, we don’t need you. There are tens of thousands where you came from—but only 5000 Continental pilots here today and able to operate the airline—today. Whether we operate the airline tomorrow—well, that’s up to you.
Item 2: Special CALMEC Meeting Update
Your CALMEC Officers met for three days this past week in a special session to receive briefings on the STAR Alliance, the status of Contract ’08 negotiations, the state of the economy, and the financial position of Continental Airlines. We also provided new guidance to our Negotiating Committee that will allow them to tailor our demands to fit any scenario that may arise. Based upon this new guidance, we will be able to capture every possible benefit as our negotiations proceed.
As many of you know, Continental Airlines was granted anti-trust immunity by the Department of Transportation two weeks ago. This grant allows Continental to become a full partner in the STAR Alliance—provided, of course, our concerns as the pilots of Continental are dealt with. There is a road to full partnership for Continental—and on that road sits the CALMEC toll booth. There is huge revenue potential for Continental as a STAR Alliance partner and we fully intended to capture our share.
Negotiations on many sections of Contract ’08 are proceeding. Most of the economic sections are upcoming and the Negotiating Committee requested our guidance going forward.
They also requested our guidance on the proposed FAR changes being discussed now in Washington, D.C. These new changes are forthcoming in part as a result of the Colgan Airways crash in Buffalo, New York, and the evidence that came to light in the hearings that followed. The ARC Committee has a September 2009 deadline for submission of their proposals. These new proposals, if implemented, will be the most sweeping changes in flight, duty, and rest regulations in decades. ALPA has an equal seat at the table and any changes made will take our requirements as pilots into account. The tentative effective date for implementation of any new rules is January 2010.
We also gave guidance to the Negotiating Committee to capture every possible no or low-cost item in as short a time-frame as is feasible. Management always wants something from us, it’s time for us to return the favor.
The meeting was conducted in a spirit of cooperation. There were virtually NO major differences of opinion among your representatives; we know what we want and when we want it.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Chairman Jay Pierce announced his appointment of Captain Eric Hunter as the next Chairman of the SPSC. Captain Hunter will replace Captain Mike Jones effective October 1, 2009. Captain Hunter’s appointment will be confirmed by the full MEC at the October MEC meeting. Your EWR reps welcome Captain Hunter to his new job. He brings a wealth of Strategic Preparedness and Strike Committee experience to his new position. We are looking for amazing things from Eric—we know he will not disappoint.
.
ALPA: The Pilots Union
“Because they are so intent on creating an atmosphere of distrust and unhappiness, they appear not to see any need to rely on facts...” - Captain Fred Abbott in the July 2009 issue of the Flight Operations Update, apparently referring to your EWR Council 170 representatives.
Note to Fred: facts appear below—just like they do every week.
Today is Thursday, July 23, 2009 and there are 10 items for discussion.
Item 1: Furlough Notices Out; Management Must Want Something—Again
Mr. Smisek strode on stage this past week as the CEO-elect of Continental Airlines. Mr. Smisek brings baggage with him as those who have experienced him first-hand will tell you. His image as the “bad-cop” of the executive suite has been well-earned so we offer him a piece of advice as prepares to take the tiller from Mr. Kellner: leave the attitude at the door. Mr. Smisek will have the smallest window of opportunity ever of any incoming CEO to get on the right side of things with the pilots of Continental and we urge him to use this one-time opportunity to do just that.
The pilots Mr. Smisek is dealing with today aren’t the same ones who cowered in the corner in 2005 while management threatened their way to Contract ’02. We aren’t even the pilots of last year who fell over ourselves to provide management with a furlough-mitigation LOA that didn’t mitigate furloughs. The new hardware update is Continental Pilot 2009. This new hardware prevents us from helping management further destroy us and adds the ability to take back what management gleefully took from us in the past. Continental Pilot 2009 is unable to make any deals to add to management’s hostage total and will not negotiate anything away to “save furloughs” that management fully intends to take anyway. Our message is that if management wants to furlough additional pilots while we junior-man almost daily, have new airplanes on order, and have massive and sweeping changes to the FARs coming within months, go ahead—but we will not help you do it.
We will be happy to sit at the table with you—as equal partners. We will listen to what you have to say—but we will not be threatened or dictated to. We will arrive at whatever solution needs to be arrived at—with the understanding that we will do nothing to jeopardize the future of our pilots and their families in either the short or long term.
Threatening us by sending out 308 furlough letters is not only a very bad start to your new job, it doesn’t really scare us anymore. We’ve heard from our membership: we aren’t giving anything up to prevent a single pilot from being furloughed from what used to be an honored career—but is now just a job.
So come talk to us—don’t threaten us, don’t strong arm us, don’t lead with arrogance. You’ve already started off on the wrong foot—don’t compound that error. You need us, we don’t need you. There are tens of thousands where you came from—but only 5000 Continental pilots here today and able to operate the airline—today. Whether we operate the airline tomorrow—well, that’s up to you.
Item 2: Special CALMEC Meeting Update
Your CALMEC Officers met for three days this past week in a special session to receive briefings on the STAR Alliance, the status of Contract ’08 negotiations, the state of the economy, and the financial position of Continental Airlines. We also provided new guidance to our Negotiating Committee that will allow them to tailor our demands to fit any scenario that may arise. Based upon this new guidance, we will be able to capture every possible benefit as our negotiations proceed.
As many of you know, Continental Airlines was granted anti-trust immunity by the Department of Transportation two weeks ago. This grant allows Continental to become a full partner in the STAR Alliance—provided, of course, our concerns as the pilots of Continental are dealt with. There is a road to full partnership for Continental—and on that road sits the CALMEC toll booth. There is huge revenue potential for Continental as a STAR Alliance partner and we fully intended to capture our share.
Negotiations on many sections of Contract ’08 are proceeding. Most of the economic sections are upcoming and the Negotiating Committee requested our guidance going forward.
They also requested our guidance on the proposed FAR changes being discussed now in Washington, D.C. These new changes are forthcoming in part as a result of the Colgan Airways crash in Buffalo, New York, and the evidence that came to light in the hearings that followed. The ARC Committee has a September 2009 deadline for submission of their proposals. These new proposals, if implemented, will be the most sweeping changes in flight, duty, and rest regulations in decades. ALPA has an equal seat at the table and any changes made will take our requirements as pilots into account. The tentative effective date for implementation of any new rules is January 2010.
We also gave guidance to the Negotiating Committee to capture every possible no or low-cost item in as short a time-frame as is feasible. Management always wants something from us, it’s time for us to return the favor.
The meeting was conducted in a spirit of cooperation. There were virtually NO major differences of opinion among your representatives; we know what we want and when we want it.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Chairman Jay Pierce announced his appointment of Captain Eric Hunter as the next Chairman of the SPSC. Captain Hunter will replace Captain Mike Jones effective October 1, 2009. Captain Hunter’s appointment will be confirmed by the full MEC at the October MEC meeting. Your EWR reps welcome Captain Hunter to his new job. He brings a wealth of Strategic Preparedness and Strike Committee experience to his new position. We are looking for amazing things from Eric—we know he will not disappoint.
.