Piedmont (ALG, PSA) Pilots
“We will be meeting with the Company on Tuesday to begin negotiations for the RJ deal. Olav, myself, and the Negotiating Committee will be representing the pilots. Please listen to the hotline, and make yourself heard to your reps. Please don't sit silently by and make us guess what you want, we want what is best for us all and the only way we will know for sure what you want is if you tell us. This is going to be tough, all the signs point to Group asking for concessions in return for RJs. Another problem is that there are time constraints. We have a standing resolution that any changes to the contract have to be ratified by the pilots, one that I endorse. This takes time though, and time is something we may or may not have. Please let your thoughts and feelings be heard by your reps via ASPEN, emial or a phone call. Replying here on Crew Voice will not be an effective way to communicate with your reps because we will be too busy to look here during negotiations.”
From PDT PILOT:
MEC1. Scope: We should have some scope language with regards to our current Dash 8 flying not being reduced until some date in the future. I am concerned that if the company makes any decision to replace our current Dash lines with the new RJs on a one for one basis, that some Piedmont pilots will be negatively affected. For example: Currently our Dash 8’s are staffed on average with 8 pilots per aircraft. An RJ would be staffed by 10 pilots per aircraft. However, only 5 of the 10 pilots positions would be filled by Piedmont pilots, the other 5 by mainline furloughees. On a one for one replacement the effect would be a net loss of 3 Piedmont pilot positions. This scope could be accomplished by setting some date in the future when Dash 8 flying could be reduced or when certain attrition occurs ie retirements, mainline furloughees returning to mainline.
2. Seniority: The mainline furloughees should be given seniority numbers as new hires. The only preference should be their mainline seniority in obtaining left or right seat in the RJs. They should receive no other preference for seniority with regards to any part of our current contract. This is imperative. Any seniority preference at Piedmont would be the equivalent of a “forced flow through agreement”. The Piedmont pilot group has been denied a flow through many times by mainline, and the mainline pilots should not get to enact such an agreement now just because they are faced with hard times.
3. Furloughs: If at anytime Piedmont is faced with furloughs, then the mainline furloughees would have to be released before any Piedmont pilot is released. It would also be a good idea to go ahead and add all current Piedmont pilots to the “no furlough list”. However, furloughs should not be an issue if seniority is worked out as stated above.
4. RJ Pay: Pay should be more than our current Dash 8 rates. However, I do not think at this time that we should fight for industry leading pay rates, but they should be competitive. This is an area where I think we can be flexible. We do have a formula already in place for RJs in our current contract and that may be a good place to start.
5. Working Agreement: Our current contract is amendable May 16, 2004. We should not make any amendment to our work rules before that. The RJs should come in on our current contract with no changes other than RJ pay rates. We can discuss contract terms in December of 2003 when we begin negotiations for our new contract. NOT BEFORE.
6. Voting: This is crucial in my opinion. I believe that any agreement should be ratified by our pilot group, not just our MEC. Any agreement that is arrived at could severely affect the future of the individuals that comprise this pilot group. Therefore everyone should get a vote on any agreement made. I understand that time is of the essence and things are moving fast, however we should not allow a handful of people to decide the fate of this entire pilot group. Setting time constraints and short deadlines is a negotiating tool and a trap that we should not fall into. Right now the ball is in our court and we should take our time think things through, discuss, and allow all the pilots an opportunity to weigh in by voting up or down on an agreement.
With all that said, and I may have missed something, I believe that if management cannot agree to the things I have said above then we should pass and let them move on to one of the other express carriers. The reason I say this is, if the items above cannot be agreed to in general then the deal management wants us to take is probably not good. If any of the items above are denied then it would leave big loopholes that would probably end up negatively some if not all the Piedmont pilots.
I appreciate your interest in our opinions and feelings regarding the RJ issues. I wish you all the best of luck in your talks with management and leave you to hammer out the details.