Dear Fellow Pilots:
In the last several months, the United MEC hired professional firms, consultants, financial advisors and attorneys who are experts with the Railway Labor Act (RLA), negotiations, communications and legislative affairs. Together, they worked with our MEC Committees of Legislative, Grievance, Communications, Strategic Planning and Strike Preparedness, Family Awareness, the Officers and the MEC. There were many obstacles encountered at every corner, and most pilots are aware of these obstacles but have seemingly quickly forgotten about them. But the team of ALPA volunteers and hired professionals worked tirelessly on our behalf to secure us the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) we so richly deserved. We are at that point.
Now, instead of enjoying the fruits of that labor and moving forward to a better life for ourselves and our families, we have throwbacks from previous administrations who think they suddenly now know how the RLA works, what the National Mediation Board (NMB) is thinking, hidden interpretations within the TPA, and how to exploit the companys innermost secret weaknesses. Some have even purported intimate inside knowledge of the NMB and of managements worries. Anyone who thinks this company is cowering like a scared bunny in a corner is a fool. Somehow, the power of email lists, forums and Adobe pdf is able to trump the best of expert advice that the MEC has relied upon these past months. Many of the leverage points now being raised were the leverage points relied upon during the first 18 months of these negotiations, and we are painfully aware what that strategy has gotten us 18 months of negotiations with not one of the major sections of the JCBA completed.
The fact is this MEC pushed the envelope farther than anyone considered possible, practical or comfortable. We were advised by our political advisors last spring the realities of life within the Washington Beltway even with an Obama reelection. All options were continued to be explored and evaluated utilizing experts inside the AFL-CIO and within and outside ALPA. You reach a certain point in any business dealings (and this is a business deal) where you reach a point of diminishing returns. We have reached that point where the return on investments no longer makes business sense. The window of opportunity has already begun to close, and there is not a single event in the world that will open that window wider in the foreseeable future.
This total contract is richer than the Delta pilots contract beginning in 2014 despite slightly lagging in pay rates. How can anyone call this a concessionary contract? The fact that not everyone can see that value outside of Section 3 of the JCBA should not be lost on anyone. What value can be placed on reducing the hull count of the Express operation? Nearly all the negatives that have been pointed out in this TA have been refuted.
The difference between fear-mongering and giving false hope is perspective. I am providing neither. What I am providing is reality and common business sense. Go back and read the MEC Updates from the last several months. Recall the obstacles and tribulations this MEC and this Pilot group have encountered over the last two years and try to envision prolonging that any longer for the remote possibility of achieving one more thing. Watch the news and evaluate the political climate, the stagnant economy and the tensions around the world. Think of the tomb raider who couldnt carry out that last golden sack while the tomb door was closing and was trapped forever inside.
Take the emotions out of your TA decision. Learn from our recent history and apply those lessons to the current environment. The United MEC worked together as a team to capitalize on the resources and minds of the experts at our disposal. The MEC talked with some of those experts and the NMB just prior to voting on the Tentative Agreement. Dont be fooled that there is suddenly now a better plan or a silver bullet. The return on the investment is not worth the risk.
We are United,
Chairman, United Master Executive Council
Air Line Pilots Association, International
In the last several months, the United MEC hired professional firms, consultants, financial advisors and attorneys who are experts with the Railway Labor Act (RLA), negotiations, communications and legislative affairs. Together, they worked with our MEC Committees of Legislative, Grievance, Communications, Strategic Planning and Strike Preparedness, Family Awareness, the Officers and the MEC. There were many obstacles encountered at every corner, and most pilots are aware of these obstacles but have seemingly quickly forgotten about them. But the team of ALPA volunteers and hired professionals worked tirelessly on our behalf to secure us the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) we so richly deserved. We are at that point.
Now, instead of enjoying the fruits of that labor and moving forward to a better life for ourselves and our families, we have throwbacks from previous administrations who think they suddenly now know how the RLA works, what the National Mediation Board (NMB) is thinking, hidden interpretations within the TPA, and how to exploit the companys innermost secret weaknesses. Some have even purported intimate inside knowledge of the NMB and of managements worries. Anyone who thinks this company is cowering like a scared bunny in a corner is a fool. Somehow, the power of email lists, forums and Adobe pdf is able to trump the best of expert advice that the MEC has relied upon these past months. Many of the leverage points now being raised were the leverage points relied upon during the first 18 months of these negotiations, and we are painfully aware what that strategy has gotten us 18 months of negotiations with not one of the major sections of the JCBA completed.
The fact is this MEC pushed the envelope farther than anyone considered possible, practical or comfortable. We were advised by our political advisors last spring the realities of life within the Washington Beltway even with an Obama reelection. All options were continued to be explored and evaluated utilizing experts inside the AFL-CIO and within and outside ALPA. You reach a certain point in any business dealings (and this is a business deal) where you reach a point of diminishing returns. We have reached that point where the return on investments no longer makes business sense. The window of opportunity has already begun to close, and there is not a single event in the world that will open that window wider in the foreseeable future.
This total contract is richer than the Delta pilots contract beginning in 2014 despite slightly lagging in pay rates. How can anyone call this a concessionary contract? The fact that not everyone can see that value outside of Section 3 of the JCBA should not be lost on anyone. What value can be placed on reducing the hull count of the Express operation? Nearly all the negatives that have been pointed out in this TA have been refuted.
The difference between fear-mongering and giving false hope is perspective. I am providing neither. What I am providing is reality and common business sense. Go back and read the MEC Updates from the last several months. Recall the obstacles and tribulations this MEC and this Pilot group have encountered over the last two years and try to envision prolonging that any longer for the remote possibility of achieving one more thing. Watch the news and evaluate the political climate, the stagnant economy and the tensions around the world. Think of the tomb raider who couldnt carry out that last golden sack while the tomb door was closing and was trapped forever inside.
Take the emotions out of your TA decision. Learn from our recent history and apply those lessons to the current environment. The United MEC worked together as a team to capitalize on the resources and minds of the experts at our disposal. The MEC talked with some of those experts and the NMB just prior to voting on the Tentative Agreement. Dont be fooled that there is suddenly now a better plan or a silver bullet. The return on the investment is not worth the risk.
We are United,
Chairman, United Master Executive Council
Air Line Pilots Association, International