He must be talking about an LEC Chairman.
MD's message was full of his typical bluster:
"And let me be perfectly clear on one last consideration: These are mature negotiations in which we pulled every trigger, fired every bullet, to deliver every last penny."
Yeah, my ipad thinks every three letter word lately is MEC.
Anyway, enjoy....
June 11, 2015
(pdf is attached as a viewing option)
Contract 2015 Chairman?s Update #1
Fellow pilots of Council 66,
The MEC voted on the TA in open session yesterday in Atlanta. As you may know by now, the result of the TA vote was 11 for and 8 against. Both NYC reps voted against the TA. It will now proceed to membership ratification, where you will be the final arbiters. More on that soon.
Below is a transcript of the speech that I made to the MEC yesterday during open session. This will provide you a brief look at my reasoning for voting ?No.? I recognize that there is a thirst for information, and we will follow up very shortly with more background for you. In addition to information from your reps, you can count on the Delta MEC administration to provide you with a wealth of information at
https://dal.alpa.org. As always, feel free to reach out to me, Chris, or Dave, with your thoughts and concerns.
?Ladies and gentlemen, members of the MEC, and MEC administration,
?I would like to thank the negotiators, the MEC administration, the attorneys, subject-matter experts, and everyone involved in the effort put forth thus far in crafting the TA before us.
?
Never in the last 42 years that I have been piloting commercial aircraft have I witnessed a greater spread between the economic climate in which we found ourselves and the resulting agreement. And, that most certainly includes our pre- and post-bankruptcy concessionary contracts.
?We are highly skilled, mission-oriented pilots. We are, in my estimation and the company?s as well, the finest pilots on the planet. Our hard work should be rewarding us, not demanding that we be granting the company relief. We have before us the best negotiating environment in our careers; multiple record-breaking profits; incredibly high load factors. The timing is right for an historic contract. We raised expectations, sure, in our opener and in our communications?are we guilty of over-promising and under-delivering? I?ll leave that up to you to decide.
?The pilots of Delta Air Lines have spoken loudly to us?in crew lounges, at meetings, in multiple surveys and out flying the line. These pilots have given greatly to save this airline, and they have told us loud and clear that now is the time for payback.
?But perhaps we are missing the point.
?This agreement isn?t about money or scope or sick leave. This agreement is about respect. Respect from the company and self-respect for ourselves. Agreeing to this TA means we accept the notion that management has little respect for our past sacrifices and the professional job we do day in and day out. Agreeing to this TA means we have lost our own self-respect for our skills and dedication. We will chase a pay rate, and abandon benefits and quality of life, just to get to that shiny number. And frankly, the pay rate ain?t all that shiny.
?Look closely at this agreement. The devil is in the details.
?With great thanks for all those involved in its crafting, my belief is that accepting a TA that is marginal at best will haunt us for years to come. It?s time we stopped bluffing. Management has overreached, and we must not validate their overreach. In good faith to both the pilots I represent and all the pilots of Delta Air Lines, I must vote ?No? on this TA.
?I vowed to follow a clear process from the start. In keeping with that promise, I can?t accept a TA that clearly does not meet the mandate of this pilot group. The pilots? mandate and the direction given to the negotiators never included making drastic sacrifices to important sections of our contract during such prosperous times.
?For those around the horseshoe who want to reject it but plan to pass it along to the pilots to ?let them decide,? I ask, ?What purpose do you serve? Why have an MEC??
?This body?s credibility is at stake every time we forward a TA to our fellow pilots. We are the first arbiters after the negotiators and must not abdicate our solemn duty.
?
This TA should sell itself, and common sense says it cannot. It under-delivers. It would take a full court press, with a very slim chance of getting this thing across the finish line. It shouldn?t be so. It must not be so.
?Thank you for the privilege of addressing you.?
Respectfully,
Chairman
Council 66
?Member Driven?
Air Line Pilots Association, International
