To: UPS ”We are a Union – not a Social Club.”

[altimaklr]

Considering how many UPS guys are ex-military, I'm surprised this guy didn't end up in the hospital or worse. I would have used anything in the bathroom (toothbrush/hair dryer etc) as a potentially lethal weapon if I saw two men forcing their way into my locked hotel room.

 

[CrewDawg]

I don't want to derail the thread but are cargo pilots allowed to take a firearm on trips, for protection, at the destination city? (provided the country allows)

 

[shroomwell]

Safety would not cut it. The intent was clearly to serve him papers.

 

[nitefr8dog]

I don't want to derail the thread but are cargo pilots allowed to take a firearm on trips, for protection, at the destination city? (provided the country allows)

Only an FFDO would be allowed to have a handgun with him.

 

[canadflyau]

If I were going to do due diligence before busting in to rob an overnighting pilot, I think stating I was a CP would be a good one... therefore, he should have gotten a butt whooping being in a secured hotel room. I don't care who "paid" for it.. May be B&E in ANC. Press charges on top of a grievance.

 

[ual321]

Hello Fellow IPA Crewmembers,

This is IPA President Bob Thrush with an update on recent events and a few issues of concern.

I’ll start with the solidarity policy. It is working. Those of you who have been out in the system in the past several days have seen the chaos that is ongoing. We are now seeing system service failures on a daily basis primarily due to inadequate crew staffing.

The system is in disarray. Crews are timing out for duty. Outbound crews are getting delayed due to lack of reserves. Line crews are timing out while waiting on reserve crews to report and we are also seeing increased maintenance issues due to lack of adequate maintenance technicians. The system is hanging on by a thread and we believe the system cannot be sustained going into the next bid beginning September 12. We have increased block hour flying over bid 10-05 and once the 10-06 bid period starts all 757 spare aircraft will be in use. In addition we have 5 new aircraft coming on line in the following 12 weeks, including 3 new 767 aircraft and two new 747 aircraft. These five aircraft will require at least 72 additional crew staffing positions which have not been accounted for in the Company’s current numbers.

Now, more than ever, we need 100% participation from every crewmember in the Association. We must hold the line and not pick up any Open Time or JA. Recent pick ups of Open Time by two senior Captains bailed the Company out of a serious dilemma that likely would have resulted in multiple system service failures with crews out of position. I am asking those individuals to refrain from any future Open Time Pick ups.

Regarding policing our own crewmembers, the EB policy is clear. Report all pick ups of Open time and JA’s to the EB and let us handle it internally. The Bar & Grill, APC, and other public access forums is not the place to discuss these issues nor is it appropriate to bash one of our own members in these forums. It does little to help our solidarity and unity and can have the exact opposite result we hope to achieve. There have been a couple of recent events where IPA crewmembers were ridiculed, called names, had inappropriate phone calls made to their homes and were even denied jumpseats to get home. This behavior is not condoned nor is it acceptable to me or the Executive Board.

The fact is these crewmembers were told they were being given legal revisions as Captains to operate in the FO seat or the IRO seat under the contract and they had a limited window in which to get in touch with IPA Scheduling or EB members and weren’t sure of their contractual rights. As they were unsure of their contractual rights they were unwilling to play bet your career. In hindsight both have accepted that they should have made an extra effort to verify the contract but did have concerns as to what may happen if they declined the revisions.

In that regard we have put out a Friday fact from IPA scheduling and I will clarify here: A Captain sitting reserve and given an assignment to the FO seat for JA2 is obligated to accept the assignment as it is allowed under the contract for Reserve Captains. Line holding Captain on scheduled days off have a right to decline JA assignments to the right seat or for that matter, any other JA assignment for which they are not available. Line Holding Captains who are on a trip have the right to decline any revision which requires them to perform duties in the right seat as FO or as an IRO. I’ll repeat that – Line holding Captains who are on a trip have the right to decline any revision which requires them to operate in the FO seat or as an IRO. You do not have to do it under any circumstance.

FQS:

Next, I want to update you in the status of our efforts to accrete the Flight Qualified Supervisors. Last week, information packets were mailed to all FQS’. The packets contained 34 pages of information addressing the concerns they had relayed to us, as well as a benefits comparison package, a retirement comparison prepared by our ERISA and Retirement attorney and a pay comparison table. The full packet can be viewed on the public IPA site at ipapilot.org, under the FQS tab. Cards are still coming in and we are getting close to achieving our goal. We do have a full year from the time we initiated the accretion action in March but hope to have the necessary number of cards much sooner. Please continue to speak with your FQS friends and let them know the benefits of becoming an IPA member. We want to put an end to the airline-within-an-airline once and for all.

CONTACT Periods:

I ask all crewmembers to thoroughly familiarize yourselves with the no contact period language in the contract under Article 13.A.2.e. You will be receiving a mailing to your homes within the next two weeks. The mailing will contain information about contact during required rest periods and FAR rulings on the issue. You will also receive a letter prepared on your behalf with your signature block and an explanation of the FAR rulings and the reason for the letter. Once you receive the letter and the associated information, please review it sign the letter and return it in the self-addressed, stamped envelope ASAP. The Association will then address the issue with UPS.

In the past few days the Company has made accusations towards the EB and specifically towards me and IPA Secretary Tom Kalfas accusing us of telling IPA crewmembers to refuse flights in an effort to cause intentional service failures. This is absolutely untrue and neither of us have ever told a crewmembers to refuse a flight. In one of the incidents we actually advised the crewmember to contact crew scheduling and affirm he would operate the trip but under protest and would file a grievance. In another we told the crewmember to ensure he made every effort to operate normally and not do anything that could be construed or misinterpreted as an attempt to deliberately delay the flight.

Your EB and our crewmembers do not have to go out of our way to force service failures. The system will do that all by itself due to the lack of foresight and planning and poor business decisions by UPS. They need no help from us.

In that regard, I ask that you adhere to your training and be 100% professional at all times. As the system becomes less reliable and service failures continue to increase over the next weeks the Company will seek to place blame on us and they will seek hostages if given the opportunity. Do not give them that opportunity. Fly the FAR’s, the FOM, the AOM and the Contract. Be on time, Be in proper uniform, be professional. You are not required to grant favors or waivers.

We are nearing the finish line of a very arduous journey and we must continue to keep the pressure on the Company over the next few weeks.

We are a union – not a social club!

Good afternoon.