2014 Pilot Discussion

[MUTATIS MUTANDIS]

Trader, the APA can try all they want for as long as they want! NEVERGIVE is correct, !

 

[algflyr]

Looks like we have a protocol agreement with the APA.
 
And USAPA will be around to represent the US Airways pilots AFTER the APA becomes the union... Guess Silver was wrong afterall...
 
And it also says no NIC and no separate representation for the West... As well as drops the litigation in DC.

 

[nevergiveup]

Looks like we have a protocol agreement with the APA.
 
And USAPA will be around to represent the US Airways pilots AFTER the APA becomes the union... Guess Silver was wrong afterall...
 
And it also says no NIC and no separate representation for the West...

Better get those checkbooks out, Marty is waiting!

 

[algflyr]

Merger Committee Update – Protocol Agreement Tentative Agreement
 
The Merger Committee has reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on a Proposed Protocol Agreement (PA) with the APA and the Company.  The Merger Committee, including counsel (Pat Szymanski and Bill Wilder) will strongly recommend the BPR approve the TA at this week's Special BPR Meeting. We have attached the TA to this email, and encourage you to read it.
The TA satisfies all of the issues that existed with the previous proposals from the APA which led to our impasse and to the McCaskill-Bond lawsuit in the DC Federal District Court.  It guarantees:

• The right of our pilots under McCaskill-Bond to a Seniority List Integration (SLI) through arbitration before a panel of three impartial arbitrators based on the “fair and equitable” standard.
• Selection of the three-member SLI panel of arbitrators by the USAPA Merger Committee and the APA Merger Committee through a fair procedure and without any participation by the Company.
• APA will not interfere in any way with the USAPA Merger Committee.  Our Merger Committee will be able to represent our pilots without any interference or oversight by APA.
• The relationship between the USAPA Merger Committee and USAPA will not be affected by the certification of APA as the collective bargaining representative by the NMB.  Our Merger Committee will continue to be responsible to USAPA and the BPR, and not to APA or other parties.
• The USAPA Merger Committee is a party to the Protocol Agreement and the Protocol Agreement cannot be changed without the agreement of all parties, including the USAPA Merger Committee. 
• The status quo at the beginning of the SLI procedure is three lists – East, West and American.  This excludes the Nicolau Award, which has been found in multiple federal lawsuits to not be part of the status quo.
• The $4 million in Company reimbursement for merger expenses under the MOU will be equally shared by the Merger Committees.
• The Merger Committees will certify the accuracy of their seniority lists.
• The Merger Committees will immediately begin meeting with respect to certification of seniority lists, fleet and other information, in an effort to eliminate issues that otherwise would need to be presented in arbitration.

The TA does not create a separate merger committee for former America West Pilots.  The TA instead establishes an orderly and exclusive process for having any alleged claims concerning such a committee considered before a separate preliminary panel of three impartial arbitrators, after APA is certified, and prior to any hearings by the main McCaskill-Bond Board of Arbitration.  This provision drops the dispute currently pending before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and puts it before a separate panel of three impartial and experienced labor arbitrators.  USAPA and the USAPA Merger Committee are parties in that process and retain all arguments and positions with respect to the existence of such a separate committee, including that Judge Silver decided the McCaskill-Bond Amendment does not give any subgroup of US Airways pilots a right to separate representation in the McCaskill-Bond process.
The Merger Committee and its Counsel strongly believe the TA is a positive agreement for our pilots, which guarantees a fair and equitable SLI process that is not controlled by APA.  We believe this comprehensive and enforceable seniority process agreement is far superior to continuing litigation which will lead to further delay and expense in the SLI process, and takes away the risk that we may not be successful in the lawsuit.  In short, we believe the best interests of our pilots is in having a guaranteed written agreement that ensures a fair process, free from APA’s unilateral control, rather than risking the uncertainty of litigation.
So why the delay over the last several weeks?  Because of a single issue concerning the implementation timing of the final SLI award.  The PA proposed by the APA and the Company before the August 12 BPR Meeting provided that the final SLI award would be implemented “as soon as practicable.”  Following the August 12 meeting, USAPA proposed a change in paragraph 16 to say that implementation would be “as determined by the Board of Arbitration.”  After considerable back-and-forth with APA and the Company, the Merger Committee reached tentative agreement on the following version of paragraph 16:
 
The integrated seniority list resulting from the process established by the MOU and this Protocol Agreement shall be implemented under the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement as soon as operationally feasible following the date the final award is issued or the date the FAA issues a single operating certificate covering the carriers, whichever is later.  Upon receipt of the final award, the Company will promptly meet with the APA and the Merger Committees to discuss the process and timing for implementation of the final award.  After these discussions occur, if a dispute arises regarding whether the Company’s implementation of the final award meets the “as soon as operationally feasible” standard set forth herein, such dispute may be submitted to the Board of Arbitration for resolution. (emphasis added)
In addition to this language expressly giving authority over implementation disputes to the Arbitration Board, paragraph 14 of the Protocol Agreement gives express continuing authority to the Arbitration Board over implementation disputes that may come up after the SLI award is effective.  In the judgment of the Merger Committee and counsel (Pat Szymanski and Bill Wilder) this provision is fully sufficient to prevent the Company from delaying implementation.  The parties will discuss implementation as soon as the final award is issued and any party (including the USAPA Merger Committee) will be able to immediately refer a dispute to the panel if they are not satisfied with the Company’s proposed schedule.
The alternative to entering this SLI Protocol Agreement is litigation, which is uncertain, time consuming, and expensive.  A Protocol Agreement will guarantee the important protections listed above.  Litigation will not, particularly if it is unsuccessful.  In short, it is the considered judgment of the Merger Committee and counsel (both Pat Szymanski and Bill Wilder) that the attached Protocol Agreement fully protects the interests of our pilots while pursuing litigation has significant risk and does not.  The BPR will be briefed this week at a Special BPR Meeting.  After being fully briefed, they will vote to approve or reject the PA.  We will strongly urge the BPR to approve the Protocol Agreement TA as we believe it is in the best interest of our pilots.  We encourage our pilots to contact their BPR representatives to discuss this important issue that will affect all of our seniority rights.
USAPA Merger Committee

 

[dariencc]

Looks like another bad day for the Ayatollah Munn.

 

[Phoenix]

It appears to provide the West an opportunity to try one more time, before an arbitrator. First impression is it looks reasonable to me, considering...

"In short, it is the considered judgment of the Merger Committee and counsel (both Pat Szymanski and Bill Wilder) that the attached Protocol Agreement fully protects the interests of our pilots while pursuing litigation has significant risk and does not."

Imagine that... Negotiating reduces risk... Marty? Marty? Marty? (In the tone of Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?)

Or Ferggie? Ferggie? Ferggie? ... if you prefer.

 

[Hawkhunter]

Wait a minute! no way is that correct. The Westoffs, Munn and Traderjerk already told us how it will be. I am still waiting to get ***** slapped. Tic toc,cupcake Spinthis say its not so!!!!!  We better really look hard now when we switch aircraft with a Westoff crew. LMFAO.

 

[luvthe9]

Wait a minute! no way is that correct. The Westoffs, Munn and Traderjerk already told us how it will be. I am still waiting to get #### slapped. Tic toc,cupcake Spinthis say its not so!!!!!  We better really look hard now when we switch aircraft with a Westoff crew. LMFAO.

Yea the above is not correct Traitor said to "mark my words the west will have a seat", so there must be some mistake.

 

[luvthe9]

Mark this post:
 
This is going to arbitration and there will be a West MC.
 
Your fear of a fair and enforcable arbitration is noted.

It has been marked fool.

 

[luvthe9]

Read this:
 
The West will have a merger committee at the MB arbitration.

Can't forget this one either.

 

[dariencc]

 
Finally realizing this is going to arbitration.
 
 APA will see that there is a West MC.
 
 

Any other predictions, LT?

 

[Piedmont1984]

Anyone have a link to the actual PATA? The attachment won't open on the Merger Committee update.

 

[dariencc]

We better really look hard now when we switch aircraft with a Westoff crew. LMFAO.

 
Rumor is that Captain Gay can be a bit of a problem with that.

 

[luvthe9]

USAPA Update: May 1, 2014"From our P4P feedback, we have heard there may be some confusion when pilots read the BPR Resolutions from the BPR Special Meetings of April 23 and April 28. There is not yet any approved Protocol Agreement with the APA, but the upshot of the Resolutions is that the BPR has approved a set of proposals that have been sent to APA."
 
"Since we are in negotiations, we cannot provide any more information at this time on the agreements; however, we do expect a timely response from the APA."
 
 
I guess my speculation that APA will cave to USAPA's DOH seniority list demands by the end of the week is wrong.  

Well we do have a response now, to bad Traitor, now you run along and get a hug from you mentor Munn.

 

[algflyr]

Anyone have a link to the actual PATA? The attachment won't open on the Merger Committee update.

Sent it to you in a PM...