Cowboy75
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2008
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This is an excerpt from the CLT USAPA update declaring victory:
Seniority
It has been many, many months since your Union has been allowed to openly address seniority issues outside the realm of court proceedings. That all changed August 3rd when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals locked the already-closed door on the Addington litigation. Judge Wake must, once the mandate is received, dismiss the case in its entirety, and the Addington litigation and the Addington Class of Plaintiffs will then cease to exist. Make no mistake, this is a monumental victory for all pilots, not just the East.
Why? Notwithstanding the Company’s ill-conceived attempt to slow negotiations again, we can now negotiate an industry-standard contract including seniority provisions that will have a chance of passing a membership ratification vote. Membership ratification of any agreement that would have included the Nicolau award was very unlikely to ever happen; in fact, the Ninth Circuit acknowledged that it would never happen. This is a fact that Judge Wake refused to acknowledge, but shortly his opinion will be erased from the equation.
Can the Addington group sue again? Folks, this is America, and unfortunately as we all know, anyone can sue anyone else. There is no exception here. After a contract is signed, it is possible that another group or perhaps the same group will attempt to force litigation once more. However, your CLT Representatives believe future litigation is unlikely for numerous reasons, the biggest being that labor law is on USAPA’s side regarding seniority. Remember that when all was said and done, it was USAPA’s legal team that was “right on the money” with regard to our legal position; the plaintiffs’ attorneys essentially wasted somewhere in the vicinity of $2,000,000 of their clients’ money, all of which had to be raised through donations (we do not write this to rub salt in anyone’s wounds, and we would ask that each of you take care not to either). In addition to the plaintiffs’ questionable legal position is the fact that certifying another class of plaintiffs is unlikely because there are so many West pilots who would actually be harmed if the Nicolau list were ever to be implemented. Say again? Certainly.
Remember, George Nicolau put approximately 500 East pilots at the top of the list. Many of those pilots are former PSA pilots who are still commuting from the West Coast and would likely bid PHX under the Nicolau proposal (something they cannot do under USAPA’s proposal) in order to shorten their commutes. This would cause great harm to West pilots, particularly any pilot who is in his/her 50s or older. In addition to the above and contrary to the rhetoric about “East trying to destroy West careers” that has been coming from some whose job it was to raise money for the plaintiffs, we believe the truth will now come out and clearly show that USAPA is not trying to “destroy” anyone’s career. USAPA is proposing a legal seniority list that maintains East pilots’ pre-merger career expectations, improves upon the majority of West pilot’s pre-merger career expectations and most importantly will lead to a contract that the membership will ratify.
Considering those facts, we believe pilots on both sides of the Mississippi will choose to move forward rather than once again holding the entire airline hostage through another fruitless litigation.
As we wrap up the seniority topic, we would like to leave you with a couple thoughts: there have obviously been some serious wounds between our two groups, and we would ask each of you to do what you can to begin healing these wounds. Introduce yourselves to your fellow West pilots when you get the chance. Put a face on the East because our West pilots are not our enemies – they are our much needed allies.
We are all in this together. The sins of ALPA that were wrought upon the East pilots happened to our former America West pilots too. Despite the beliefs of a minority that oppose the majority of all US Airways pilots, we are far more alike than we are different. It is important to remember that the six Addington Plaintiffs are just that, six pilots with an ever-declining minority point of view.
Finally on this topic, we want you to understand that although the three of us are CLT Representatives, we each take our duty to protect the interests of all of our pilots very seriously, and we intend to do just that regarding all issues including seniority. We will not be moving from our position that date-of-hire is the “gold standard” as recognized by the courts, but you can also be assured that we will look very closely to make sure our “Conditions and Restrictions” do indeed protect our West pilots’ career progression.
Not so fast CLT, the dispute is not over by a longshot
Seniority
It has been many, many months since your Union has been allowed to openly address seniority issues outside the realm of court proceedings. That all changed August 3rd when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals locked the already-closed door on the Addington litigation. Judge Wake must, once the mandate is received, dismiss the case in its entirety, and the Addington litigation and the Addington Class of Plaintiffs will then cease to exist. Make no mistake, this is a monumental victory for all pilots, not just the East.
Why? Notwithstanding the Company’s ill-conceived attempt to slow negotiations again, we can now negotiate an industry-standard contract including seniority provisions that will have a chance of passing a membership ratification vote. Membership ratification of any agreement that would have included the Nicolau award was very unlikely to ever happen; in fact, the Ninth Circuit acknowledged that it would never happen. This is a fact that Judge Wake refused to acknowledge, but shortly his opinion will be erased from the equation.
Can the Addington group sue again? Folks, this is America, and unfortunately as we all know, anyone can sue anyone else. There is no exception here. After a contract is signed, it is possible that another group or perhaps the same group will attempt to force litigation once more. However, your CLT Representatives believe future litigation is unlikely for numerous reasons, the biggest being that labor law is on USAPA’s side regarding seniority. Remember that when all was said and done, it was USAPA’s legal team that was “right on the money” with regard to our legal position; the plaintiffs’ attorneys essentially wasted somewhere in the vicinity of $2,000,000 of their clients’ money, all of which had to be raised through donations (we do not write this to rub salt in anyone’s wounds, and we would ask that each of you take care not to either). In addition to the plaintiffs’ questionable legal position is the fact that certifying another class of plaintiffs is unlikely because there are so many West pilots who would actually be harmed if the Nicolau list were ever to be implemented. Say again? Certainly.
Remember, George Nicolau put approximately 500 East pilots at the top of the list. Many of those pilots are former PSA pilots who are still commuting from the West Coast and would likely bid PHX under the Nicolau proposal (something they cannot do under USAPA’s proposal) in order to shorten their commutes. This would cause great harm to West pilots, particularly any pilot who is in his/her 50s or older. In addition to the above and contrary to the rhetoric about “East trying to destroy West careers” that has been coming from some whose job it was to raise money for the plaintiffs, we believe the truth will now come out and clearly show that USAPA is not trying to “destroy” anyone’s career. USAPA is proposing a legal seniority list that maintains East pilots’ pre-merger career expectations, improves upon the majority of West pilot’s pre-merger career expectations and most importantly will lead to a contract that the membership will ratify.
Considering those facts, we believe pilots on both sides of the Mississippi will choose to move forward rather than once again holding the entire airline hostage through another fruitless litigation.
As we wrap up the seniority topic, we would like to leave you with a couple thoughts: there have obviously been some serious wounds between our two groups, and we would ask each of you to do what you can to begin healing these wounds. Introduce yourselves to your fellow West pilots when you get the chance. Put a face on the East because our West pilots are not our enemies – they are our much needed allies.
We are all in this together. The sins of ALPA that were wrought upon the East pilots happened to our former America West pilots too. Despite the beliefs of a minority that oppose the majority of all US Airways pilots, we are far more alike than we are different. It is important to remember that the six Addington Plaintiffs are just that, six pilots with an ever-declining minority point of view.
Finally on this topic, we want you to understand that although the three of us are CLT Representatives, we each take our duty to protect the interests of all of our pilots very seriously, and we intend to do just that regarding all issues including seniority. We will not be moving from our position that date-of-hire is the “gold standard” as recognized by the courts, but you can also be assured that we will look very closely to make sure our “Conditions and Restrictions” do indeed protect our West pilots’ career progression.
Not so fast CLT, the dispute is not over by a longshot
