jetflier
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Posts
- 718
Hi All,
The following is an open letter from our ALPA council rep in DTW to the
membership explaining the failure of our NWA ALPA MEC to represent the best interests of the pilot group.
IMHO this is not the way to negotiate a contract....
Until the TA, we had limits on executive compensation which started with the Bridge Agreement. That effort was abandoned with the TA.
I will acknowledge that NWA used the 1113c process much more effectively to destroy our careers than we did to protect them. We had legal counsel that was reluctant to engage NWA in court and consistently told us that any TA was better than imposed terms and conditions.
Our MEC Chairman and our Negotiating Committee Chairman were �Chicken Littles� who effectively convinced the majority of our pilots that the sky was falling. (At the November Interim Agreement Road Show in DTW, our MEC Chairman told the DTW pilots that NWA was in a cash flow crisis, that we needed DIP financing and couldn�t qualify, and that Chapter 7/liquidation was a real possibility. In response, I pointed out that the MEC had been told during the previous week that the 3rd quarter results were MUCH better than expected, cash flow was not a problem, and that we were in the process of buying airplanes for DIP collateral, if that was needed.)
We had legal counsel that told us pre-Chapter 11 proposals would not prejudice later positions in Chapter 11, but once in Chapter 11 they told us the same proposals HAD prejudiced our position.
We had legal counsel, an MEC Chairman, and a Negotiating Committee Chairman who told the MEC that NWA management had informed them they wanted an 1113c Extension (Interim Agreement) to avoid a USAirways-type Christmas meltdown over the holidays, but later informed our pilots (in writing) that the holidays had nothing to do with the Interim Agreement.
The MEC�s ****Negotiating Committee presented our overall 1113c proposal to NWA management on December 20 without the MEC�s input or review****. We were briefed on the details during a conference call nine days later. (The MEC called had a Special MEC Meeting during the first week in January because we had been effectively ignored in the process.) IMO, we had a leadership, competency, and an integrity problem.
Our former MEC Chairman and current Negotiating Chairman have little regard for the truth. They would and did sell their position to the pilots using any and all means. The MEC direction (by resolution) was that TA Communications were to be objective, fair, and balanced. They were not.
The claims that NWA would: impose their original proposal, gut our scope, and that our pension legislation was dependent on a ratified TA were absolute fear mongering. Although it is certainly not an absolute apples-to-apples comparison, the DAL pilots were able to negotiate a much better overall TA because they had better leadership, and they were willing to take the risk of a rejected TA. That was the ONLY leverage we had in the 1113c process, and our leadership was afraid to use it. (Our Negotiating Committee Chairman�s excuse, as he wrote in an ATT to our pilots, for the DAL pilots getting 10% better pay rates was that historically, NWA pilots had always been paid less than DAL Pilots!)
With that attitude, it should be no surprise that we conceded over $100M/yr in concessions in this TA WITHOUT credit. If you read pages 33-34 of the attached adobe file, which is Judge Gropper�s decision on the PFAA case, you should realize that you have been duped.
Our negotiators (and the NWA negotiators) were working under the same premise as those of the other NWA unions, i.e. no regressive bargaining. Although some of us who were there for the 1113c proceedings interpreted Judge Gropper�s comments to reflect a position of not permitting regressive terms and conditions to be imposed, our attorneys and negotiators evidently had instructions which reflected this same intent, and those instructions were NOT shared with the MEC.
We now face a long �nuclear winter� at NWA, and if we protect, coddle, and defend those who have proven themselves unworthy of our trust, we will do nothing but contribute to the duration of these painful concessions.
With regard to �spin�, I can stand behind ALL statements I made during the 1113c process. Our former MEC Chairman and our Negotiating Chairman can NOT.
In the months and years ahead, it will become painfully obvious that we conceded much more than necessary, and our means to recover is/will be very limited.
I am over 55 years old, and I will likely be long gone before this group has the opportunity to start the long recovery process. I have NOTHING to gain politically or otherwise by exposing the flaws in how we (ALPA) mismanaged the 1113c process. I plan to RETIRE from ALPA politics at the end of my current term, 3/1/07.
My only concern, motive, and intent are that this organization does a MUCH better job in the future of protecting pilot careers. Otherwise, your dues are wasted.
Regards,
Ray Miller
LEC 20 Chairman
P.S. You may have heard, or was told that the duration of this TA should not be a concern due to the probability of a merger; but were you told that the TA conceded the part of our scope language which had previously given us the ability to open the contract in the event of a merger or acquisition? Now, that is a good example of �spin�.
P.P.S. And I KNOW you were told that not ratifying the TA would jeopardize our pension legislation, and ratification would facilitate the same; where is the legislation?
The following is an open letter from our ALPA council rep in DTW to the
membership explaining the failure of our NWA ALPA MEC to represent the best interests of the pilot group.
IMHO this is not the way to negotiate a contract....
Until the TA, we had limits on executive compensation which started with the Bridge Agreement. That effort was abandoned with the TA.
I will acknowledge that NWA used the 1113c process much more effectively to destroy our careers than we did to protect them. We had legal counsel that was reluctant to engage NWA in court and consistently told us that any TA was better than imposed terms and conditions.
Our MEC Chairman and our Negotiating Committee Chairman were �Chicken Littles� who effectively convinced the majority of our pilots that the sky was falling. (At the November Interim Agreement Road Show in DTW, our MEC Chairman told the DTW pilots that NWA was in a cash flow crisis, that we needed DIP financing and couldn�t qualify, and that Chapter 7/liquidation was a real possibility. In response, I pointed out that the MEC had been told during the previous week that the 3rd quarter results were MUCH better than expected, cash flow was not a problem, and that we were in the process of buying airplanes for DIP collateral, if that was needed.)
We had legal counsel that told us pre-Chapter 11 proposals would not prejudice later positions in Chapter 11, but once in Chapter 11 they told us the same proposals HAD prejudiced our position.
We had legal counsel, an MEC Chairman, and a Negotiating Committee Chairman who told the MEC that NWA management had informed them they wanted an 1113c Extension (Interim Agreement) to avoid a USAirways-type Christmas meltdown over the holidays, but later informed our pilots (in writing) that the holidays had nothing to do with the Interim Agreement.
The MEC�s ****Negotiating Committee presented our overall 1113c proposal to NWA management on December 20 without the MEC�s input or review****. We were briefed on the details during a conference call nine days later. (The MEC called had a Special MEC Meeting during the first week in January because we had been effectively ignored in the process.) IMO, we had a leadership, competency, and an integrity problem.
Our former MEC Chairman and current Negotiating Chairman have little regard for the truth. They would and did sell their position to the pilots using any and all means. The MEC direction (by resolution) was that TA Communications were to be objective, fair, and balanced. They were not.
The claims that NWA would: impose their original proposal, gut our scope, and that our pension legislation was dependent on a ratified TA were absolute fear mongering. Although it is certainly not an absolute apples-to-apples comparison, the DAL pilots were able to negotiate a much better overall TA because they had better leadership, and they were willing to take the risk of a rejected TA. That was the ONLY leverage we had in the 1113c process, and our leadership was afraid to use it. (Our Negotiating Committee Chairman�s excuse, as he wrote in an ATT to our pilots, for the DAL pilots getting 10% better pay rates was that historically, NWA pilots had always been paid less than DAL Pilots!)
With that attitude, it should be no surprise that we conceded over $100M/yr in concessions in this TA WITHOUT credit. If you read pages 33-34 of the attached adobe file, which is Judge Gropper�s decision on the PFAA case, you should realize that you have been duped.
Our negotiators (and the NWA negotiators) were working under the same premise as those of the other NWA unions, i.e. no regressive bargaining. Although some of us who were there for the 1113c proceedings interpreted Judge Gropper�s comments to reflect a position of not permitting regressive terms and conditions to be imposed, our attorneys and negotiators evidently had instructions which reflected this same intent, and those instructions were NOT shared with the MEC.
We now face a long �nuclear winter� at NWA, and if we protect, coddle, and defend those who have proven themselves unworthy of our trust, we will do nothing but contribute to the duration of these painful concessions.
With regard to �spin�, I can stand behind ALL statements I made during the 1113c process. Our former MEC Chairman and our Negotiating Chairman can NOT.
In the months and years ahead, it will become painfully obvious that we conceded much more than necessary, and our means to recover is/will be very limited.
I am over 55 years old, and I will likely be long gone before this group has the opportunity to start the long recovery process. I have NOTHING to gain politically or otherwise by exposing the flaws in how we (ALPA) mismanaged the 1113c process. I plan to RETIRE from ALPA politics at the end of my current term, 3/1/07.
My only concern, motive, and intent are that this organization does a MUCH better job in the future of protecting pilot careers. Otherwise, your dues are wasted.
Regards,
Ray Miller
LEC 20 Chairman
P.S. You may have heard, or was told that the duration of this TA should not be a concern due to the probability of a merger; but were you told that the TA conceded the part of our scope language which had previously given us the ability to open the contract in the event of a merger or acquisition? Now, that is a good example of �spin�.
P.P.S. And I KNOW you were told that not ratifying the TA would jeopardize our pension legislation, and ratification would facilitate the same; where is the legislation?
