RJDC a failure!

[Rez O. Lewshun]

(3) Scope over 500 RJ's ordered by Delta Management in the year 200. (Today the RJ fleet is bigger than Delta's mainline fleet)

Scope is the glue that binds the company to the contract.

And the RJDC is just as guilty as ALPA for screwing it all up...

They wanted:
(1) A merger, since one list would fix all the problems brought to the table. Traditionally no windfall ALPA mergers have been sorted by pay and equipment. ASA and Comair's pay and equipment was smaller than Delta's. The merger would be a staple. Advantages to the Delta pilots were:

• Perfect scope... no outsourcing
• Job protection... thousands hired below Delta pilots
• Greater power... Delta's list would be around 14,000 today with TB Kane close to the top 40%
• Protection for longevity... during furlough, some Delta pilots came to ASA for first year pay... IMHO they should have enjoyed their Company longevity

But ASA and CMR were persona non grata at the BBQ!!!!

Advantages to Delta management:

• Ability to maximize revenue by using the right sized airplanes (no 70 to 142 seat gap)
• Ability to minimize costs
• Stability
• Being able to avoid contractual entanglements

However, this was not the path chosen.

And that is all of our faults... still no justification to sue...

Worse, ALPA blocked ASA and Comair pilots from negotiating scope with their parent companies. Scope within ASA & Comair was non binding as management proved when Comair's and ASA's airplanes were transferred during contract negotiations. ASA could not get a contract and Comair's fight went into a full blown strike.

Because since ASA/CMR blew the BBQ and were now ready to take from the mainline guys...

The RJDC worked for at least a year to resolve the representational problem within ALPA. The wall between the regional MEC's and their real employer had to come down for ALPA to do its' job at the regional level.

Actually it seems like the RJDC needed to have a BBQ and fix the "social' stuff.

However, ALPA had a political problem on its hands. Legally, it owed the Regional pilots the same level of representation has the Mainline pilots, but, politically saying a Comair member was equal to a Delta member was political suicide.

How dare ALPA be a political organization.... (kinda like saying.. how dare the Pope be Catholic)

ALPA got itself into a political no-win. They could not legally harm the Regional pilots and they sure could not be seen to cede power from Delta's powerful MEC.

So instead of understanding that... the RJDC sued...

Eventually the flight attendants began negotiating contracts that ALPA said were impossible. ALPA had to accept reality and allow regional airlines to negotiate contracts that bound their parent companies. Today ASA's contract binds SkyWest and Comair's binds Delta's.

The RJDC was made up of pilots who brought ALPA on to the property of ASA and Comair, who served in ALPA leadership and who served their fellow pilots on committees.

But couldn't attend a BBQ with a follow up invitation to a meeting.

Say what you want about the intelligence of the RJDC effort, but at least they had the balls to take a stand for their belief in the union's core principles of unity and pilot representation.

There is a little BBQ sauce on the RJDCs' face.......

A loss? How measured? Today they enjoy their own binding scope and pay increases compared to their year 2000 numbers.

Ahh.. so its all about them now... who cares about the mainline guys! Who cares about anyone but themselves!!

What happened to unity? Or is that just a talking point when it serves the RJDC purposes...

This lawsuit settlement is nothing but historical marker. The significant loss was at the 2000 ALPA Board of Director's meeting when our union took a turn away from its own principles.

Perhaps... but it seems like politiking... influencing, grassroots efforts, etc was the way to go. How about saying... "I think the 2000BOD made a mistake here is why and here what we can do... win win for everyone..."

We again have an opportunity to embrace unity in our handling of the Delta / Northwest merger and I hope we learned something. Let's take it back.

Maybe you need to have a BBQ.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

In the end, the only bad side was that ALPA had to pay some of their legal bills.

Every ALPA pilot had to pay their legal bills...

In terms of voting rights-- that is a huge part of my argument- so i may be more ignorant than i thought. Part of my b!tch about scope in this world is exactly what outahere is talking about- it's a real dillemma to decide to go anywhere not named southwest, nja, fdx or ups from the so-called 'regionals'. Every legacy, you become exactly furlough fodder- w/ no vote to whether or not you're job will be scoped out again- and you'll be swinging gear for guys who's IOE you did just a few years ago.

And how did we get here as younger pilots? We didn't get one vote in who got what flying- and that's a huge problem. "Regionals" can be whipsawed w/o limit. Get too strong, and you lose your codeshare- comair and awac proved that-- along w/ UFIS, westair, the original mesa, etc etc- Combine that w/ getting no vote at the scope table and LEGACY pilots have completely disenfranchised GenX in their career.

Why should you care as a legacy pilot? (Other than your bottom 20% has been furloughed more often than not- punishing them for being good enough to win a job there-- and I MEAN PUNISHED! btw. Starting over, every time you recall just to furlough, just to release scope, just to pick up overtime)
You should care- b/c you've created a situation where it is a VERY REAL STEP UP to go to VIRGIN(!) You b!tch about those wages-- but have created the situation where a pilot is willing to fly for them.

Now your pay goes down as "industry standard" gets redefined.

Then you complete your job of destroying the career by voting RIGHT WING - and creating a situation where even a unified union has no leverage...

Like i've said-- i don't get the entire lot of you.

Well said.... ALPA has successfully copied our culture paradigm... which is "Pull up the Ladder, I've got mine"...

Until the senior guys start looking out for everyone... the senior guys will continue to be screwed....