Polar Air Cargo close to an AGREEMENT

[B-atch]

747-300......big Mouth.......little Man!!!

 

[mar]

Sold down the river and water under the bridge.

....and if you would have, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. The stike would have been over in a day.

Dude, how would you feel if you went on strike (impossible since you guys caved and signed a No STRIKE LOA) and they simply moved all of you struck freight to Polar? Wouldn't you feel sold down the river?

The ONLY way for this strike to have worked was to get the full support of the Atlas pilots, that HAD THE RIGHT to NOT CROSS any of the picket lines.

Well, now that I've finally made my escape from the Anchorage Marriott and gained thousands of miles of distance from the events of last week (literally and metaphorically) I'm a little cooler.

Funny how the 'fight or flight' reaction kicks in when you're forced into a position you never had the luxury of choosing for yourself.

My only response to you is that you seem to forget the fact that THE JUDGE ordered the flights to be flown and *he* SUSPENDED the struck work rules. The only caveat from ALPA was to indeed honor the picket lines.

Talk about your sticky wicket.

The choices were:

--Cross the line, fly our airplanes.
--Evade the line, fly our airplanes.

Which entity is to be satisfied: ALPA? The Court? Mangement? Can you imagine all three at the same time?

It was a lovely position to be in. And I won't even mention the legal, ethical or moral issues of picketing a military contract.

Nice work.

 

[B-atch]

Listen MAR.... Don't KID YOU'R SELF!!! We all know what can be achieved when a group comes together as ONE....Bottom line is, most of you guys could care less if POLAR fell on it's A$$. The sad part about this whole thing is that we were fighting a battle that if won, would have benefited both Polar and Atlas.....I fail to believe that the Atlas pilots lack of CREATIVITY, and lack of imagination, would HINDER you'r ability to assist the Polar pilots in their plight....YOU JUST DIDN'T GIVE A $HIT!!!......

Good LUCK AMIGO!!!!......"What comes around, goes around"...

 

[mar]

Wrong!

I cared.

Until I was threatened, harrassed and intimidated with SCAB status for flying an empty ATLAS airplane from JFK to DOV on an AMC contract.

BEFORE the strike you could actually find some support (in some fashion) for Polar integration on the Atlas seniority list. Either date of hire or some ratio.

But I'll tell you what, Atlas pilots didn't pick this fight and now after being backed into a corner there is virtually no support for anything better than bottom of the list.

You guys could've waited for the merger but instead you rattled the cage and now the beast is loose. Everyone is gonna pay for this. At least you guys got to vote for it.

As I've mentioned, I have friends at Polar. I can only blame this mess on some failed leadership and a few on the lunatic fringe....but there you have it.

 

[TonyC]

The choices were:

--Cross the line, fly our airplanes.
--Evade the line, fly our airplanes.

You missed the obvious one.

Don't fly the airplanes because you can't cross the line.




Perhaps you didn't like getting a phone call, but I can guarantee Gary would have preferred he not have to make any calls.



You're not alone, mar.






.

 

[Jim]

I have a good friend just off IOE at Atlas. She called the Atlas ALPA leadership after getting the message (via ALPA) that a judge had ordered them to cross Polar picket lines and fly. Atlas ALPA told her to report to work and fly - that there was no choice now that the company had a court order. They posted the same thing on the Atlas ALPA website.

So I agree - mar had no option but to fly and neither did my friend. A court order took any other options away.

It was gut wrenching to my friend. She believes in ALPA and solidarity with Polar, but she was also afraid for her job. She had recently seen another of our friends at Polar as well as all the Polar new hires in the training center get fired (who she attended indoc classes with). She was called by management during her days off and told if she did not fly, she would get fired too. She was going to follow the Atlas ALPA guidelines and not cross any picket lines - and probably be fired herself. The court order was a relief to her yet she hated it. I'm glad I was not in either mar's or her shoes.

 

[BIGBROWNDC8]

Can someone please post the specifics outlines in the TA? Not just hearsay, but actual language that you all will be voting on, yes or no.

Is there a link that we can read?

Im sure you guys know this, but I'll say it anyway:

Just because you have a TA doesnt mean its time to go back to work. Remember why it was that you went on strike in the first place, if the TA doesnt meet that, keep striking till you get what you want/deserve...

Good luck....

 

[mar]

WRONG again!

You missed the obvious one.

Don't fly the airplanes because you can't cross the line.

Tony, I apoligize for being blunt, but you just don't know what you're talking about.

The "Line" was arbitrary and capricious.

It wasn't as Black and White as: Don't Cross The Line.

Sometimes there was a line. Sometimes there was one person. Sometimes there was a screaming mob. Sometimes they picketed the entrance to Operations. Sometimes they staked out an intersection. Sometimes they picketed the hotel.

What was the point? To declare all of New York City, Anchorage and Fairbanks a legal picket line.

The instructions, no matter how conflicted, were perfectly clear: Fly the airplanes but do not cross the Line.

Why FedEx is so preoccupied with this stike I have no idea. Don't you have bigger fish to fry.

Jim--Thanks for your post.

 

[HAL]

Small world.

I flew alongside MAR in Fairbanks, although I didn't get a chance to meet him personally.

Two of the guys I flew Navajos with in FAI are now with Atlas.

I worked with Jim at Hawaiian.

My initial sim partner at HA & very good friend was one of the initial Polar pilots 'fired' in the pre-strike mess.

What it all means is that aviation is a small world, no matter how you look at it. Mar did what he had to based on the rules laid out to him by the company & ALPA; rules that were essentially unworkable in the real world. It is easy to stand on a soap box now and berate someone, but until you are in their exact shoes, discretion is by far the better road to travel. This industry is way too volatile to be tossing grenades - the flasback could singe a few of your own hairs soon enough.

HAL

 

[Jim]

My initial sim partner at HA & very good friend was one of the initial Polar pilots 'fired' in the pre-strike mess.

I believe this is another Hawaiian furloughee who did her initial 767 FO sims with you but did her intial DC-10 FO sims with me while I was doing FE initial.