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Pinnacle Pilots - FLY SAFE

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This is why. I am getting really sick of these aholes

Mediated negotiations resumed today at the National Mediation Board offices in Washington, D.C.

The two parties met with NMB Mediator Jack Kane.

Present for the Association were your full Negotiating Committee, MEC Chairman and Vice-Chairman, Scheduling Committee Chairman, Communications Committee Chairman, ALPA attorneys and an ALPA Economic & Financial Analyst.

Present for the Company were Clive Seal, Frank Fato, David White, corporate counsel Joe Manson and corporate staff.

As previously reported, the Preferential Bidding System (PBS) dominated yesterday’s negotiations, which adjourned late yesterday evening with little to no progress. Over the past four weeks, the Association had met with the Company “away from the table” on multiple occasions to discuss PBS in an effort to achieve mutually agreeable terms while improving the quality of life of the pilot group. While these meetings were not mediated, they were conducted with the approval of Mediator Jack Kane. Your Association was lead to believe that significant progress was made on PBS and received verbal assurances that only minor issues remained in order to reach a mutually acceptable agreement on PBS. Your association came to Washington D.C. ready to close PBS and discuss the remaining open items: scope and certain economic items. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Yesterday, the Association was presented with a PBS document that did not in any way represent the spirit of the talks conducted over the past weeks. In many respects, the PBS proposal submitted by the company could be characterized as regressive. As a consequence of the company’s position, a substantial part of time set aside for negotiations today was consumed by reviewing the latest company proposal and formulating a response that served the best interests of the pilot group.

This afternoon, the Association presented its response to the Company’s PBS proposal. At the conclusion of the presentation, corporate counsel Joe Manson indicated that the company would respond to the Association at a later date. Excluding PBS, open items include scope and certain economic items.

At the conclusion of today’s negotiations sessions, National Mediation Board Mediator Jack Kane informed both parties that mediated negotiations were recessed until further notice. Mediator Kane reiterated NMB Member Hoglander’s stance that the duration of the negotiations combined with the existing open items were the driving force behind the decision to recess further negotiations.

Throughout the negotiations process, your association has conducted negotiations with the utmost integrity and good faith with the best interests of the pilot group as its objective. We are deeply disappointed that it proved impossible to reach a mutually beneficial agreement during the last round of negotiations however, we can not and will not enter into an agreement that achieves anything other than a contract that serves the best interests of this pilot group. Your association appreciates your support and remains committed to obtaining the fair contract that we all deserve.


PCL MEC & NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
 
Management will delay to the last possible second before they will come to a deal. It makes perfect sense to them. Stalling saves money. So until the NMB drives us into self-help, which could be months more or even never, we will never see "good faith" negotiating or a new TA.
 
As previously reported, the Preferential Bidding System (PBS) dominated yesterday’s negotiations, which adjourned late yesterday evening with little to no progress. Over the past four weeks, the Association had met with the Company “away from the table” on multiple occasions to discuss PBS in an effort to achieve mutually agreeable terms while improving the quality of life of the pilot group. While these meetings were not mediated, they were conducted with the approval of Mediator Jack Kane. Your Association was lead to believe that significant progress was made on PBS and received verbal assurances that only minor issues remained in order to reach a mutually acceptable agreement on PBS. Your association came to Washington D.C. ready to close PBS and discuss the remaining open items: scope and certain economic items. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Yesterday, the Association was presented with a PBS document that did not in any way represent the spirit of the talks conducted over the past weeks. In many respects, the PBS proposal submitted by the company could be characterized as regressive. As a consequence of the company’s position, a substantial part of time set aside for negotiations today was consumed by reviewing the latest company proposal and formulating a response that served the best interests of the pilot group.

This afternoon, the Association presented its response to the Company’s PBS proposal. At the conclusion of the presentation, corporate counsel Joe Manson indicated that the company would respond to the Association at a later date. Excluding PBS, open items include scope and certain economic items.

Sigh. This is why you don't meet with the company outside of mediated discussions. They agree to things verbally, then when it comes time to put it in writing, they conveniently forget that it happened.

Same thing that happened at ASA. We fell for it once, then got burned, and our CNC never met with the company outside of mediation after. The company tried to raise hell that the union was unwilling to meet with them, but most of the pilots saw through their games.
 
It's an intimidation tactic. They know that lots of people don't want to go through all of the trouble in getting the FMLA paperwork handled, and lots of pilots are scared of discipline from the sick leave policy without using FMLA, so lots of pilots will simply come to work even though they're really sick. The truth is, no one has ever been really disciplined for calling in sick, even though they've far exceeded the number of sick calls that the policy allows. It's all just intimidation tactics that are designed to force people to come to work sick so they don't have to staff the airline properly and pay out sick time.

Hey PCL_128 there was a Captain in MSP that got disciplined for calling in sick too many times. So it has happend, but the FAA hasn't been informed yet. My next carpet dance im going to bring a tape recorder...

Fellow 9E pilots, its time to FLY SAFE every flight.
 
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Other side of the coin

Does this mean that Pinncle pilots were not flying safe before? Were they flying sick? Ignoring maintenance problems? Not following the FOM?

Maybe there should be an investigation and some suspensions, terminiations, fines, or revocations.
 
The idea of "fly safe" doesn't resonate as well here at Pinnacle compared to ASA because SO many of our trips are either highspeeds or reduced rests. I have never met a captain willing to taxi at 2mph or wait 30 minutes on the ramp for numbers at the expense of missing the early employee parking bus/commute or 30 minutes less sleep at the hotel. ASA has many more long overnights, as well as high pay on highspeeds, so the similarities are not so similar.

As for calling sick, a large chunk of the FO's and many street captains are still on probation and not willing to risk getting cut for calling in sick multiple times. Fair or not, that's the way it is. The senior guys with nothing to lose (Mississippi flying club and the Minneapolis grandpas) often think life is fine and have no intention of rocking the boat.
 
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Hey PCL_128 there was a Captain in MSP that got disciplined for calling in sick too many times. So it has happend, but the FAA hasn't been informed yet. My next carpet dance im going to bring a tape recorder...

Fellow 9E pilots, its time to FLY SAFE every flight.

If you're referring to a verbal warning, then that's not really what I mean by discipline. My employee file from Pinnacle is filled with probably a dozen verbal warning letters. I laughed each time they issued one. They don't mean jack, and they can't be forwarded in a PRIA check. Not a big deal. If you're talking about a suspension or other real discipline, then I highly doubt that.
 

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