AWAPPA
AMERICA WEST AIRLINES PILOTS PROTECTIVE ALLIANCE
"Protecting the interests of America West pilots"
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Who is managing AWAPPA?
Currently, America West pilot volunteers are building AWAPPA's infrastructure. AWAPPA will be governed and led by an AWAPPA Board of Directors, as defined in the AWAPPA by-laws. AWAPPA Board of Director positions will always be occupied by America West pilots, and the staffing of those positions will be governed by a democratic process defined in the AWAPPA By-Laws. Expect to see more information in the coming weeks.
Should I join or pay dues to USAPA?
AWAPPA will have a recommendation on this important question only in the unlikely event that USAPA is successful in the NMB election. Regardless of that recommendation, we anticipate that it will take some time before AWAPPA is able to solicit membership applications and install a dues billing structure. We strongly recommend that you disregard USAPA's current efforts to collect membership applications and dues check-off forms.
Regardless of the recommendation for or against joining USAPA, we strongly recommend that America West pilots never complete a USAPA dues check-off form.
Do I need to cancel my ALPA dues check-off?
For the moment, there is no need to cancel your ALPA dues check-off. In the unlikely event that USAPA wins the NMB election, your current dues check-off agreement is "personal" to ALPA and should not transfer to a new bargaining agent. However, we would not be surprised if USAPA tries to claim that your ALPA dues check-off agreements transfer to it if it wins the election. Another so-called "independent union" that USAPA's lawyer also represented unsuccessfully attempted a similar circus stunt.
So although your current check-off authorization should not automatically transfer to USAPA if they succeed, we are going to be sure we are prepared to thwart any similar effort here if USAPA is successful and thereafter claims that the check off agreements transfer to it.
In short, you do not need to cancel your ALPA dues check-off now. Look for another communications from us on this subject next week.
Never complete a USAPA dues check-off form.
Can USAPA succeed at imposing date-of-hire on us?
AWAPPA is confident that USAPA's failure is a matter of when, not if. Unfortunately, USAPA will succeed in causing all of us to pay dearly for their failure in legal fees and prolonged substandard contracts. That is one of many reasons why the best defense against USAPA is a vote for ALPA in the election. You might then wonder why USAPA is so confident in its assertions about achieving a date-of-hire seniority list. The short answer to that question is: because they're trying to win an election!
The facts show that USAPA's assertions are nothing more than arrogance fueled by seriously flawed legal advice. USAPA's purported "right" to impose date of hire on us is based solely upon two things:
Ø The legal opinion of an attorney who has a track record of representing independent unions that regularly fail.
Ø The assumption that Doug Parker is willing to undo his acceptance of the Nicolau Award, or that USAPA will have the leverage to compel Parker to negotiate around that Award.
Let's review the facts about each of those points. First, consider the fate of the following so-called independent unions, each of which USAPA's lawyer represented:
United Airlines Aircraft Mechanics - AMFA, a client of USAPA's lawyer, displaced the IAM a few years ago. It failed miserably; United promptly subcontracted a huge number of mechanics' jobs with the result that thousands of United mechanics are on furlough. An NMB representation election seeking to displace the independent union with the Teamsters is in the works. Knowledgeable airline industry observers have predicted with great confidence that the result will be either that the Teamsters will win or no union will win. In either case, the independent union is finished at United.
Northwest Airlines Aircraft Mechanics - The independent union USAPA's lawyer represented displaced the IAM and later went on strike. The strike was a complete failure. All of the strikers were permanently replaced, mostly by subcontractors, and the actual mechanic class and craft that the independent union would in theory represent (if it actually had the support of the scabs, which it does not) would be a fraction of the original workforce.
Northwest Airlines Flight Attendants - USAPA's lawyer represented an independent flight attendant union which won a representation election against the Teamsters. Apparently the flight attendants concluded that this so-called union was unable to represent their interests, because after only a few years of representation it was ousted in an NMB election and the AFA now represents the Northwest flight attendants.
Continental Flight Attendants - USAPA's lawyer (through his actual paying client, a company called the McCormack Advisory Group) helped form an independent union for flight attendants in an effort to displace the IAM as the Continental flight attendant's union. The IAM sued the independent union, its officers, and McCormack for misappropriating IAM membership lists (sound familiar?). McCormack consented to a judgment against it and paid damages to the IAM. The independent union and its officers ultimately settled with the IAM and those officers are now suing McCormack who is represented by USAPA's law firm. In other words, USAPA's lawyer's client in that case (McCormak) is being sued by the independent union that same lawyer helped start.
And those unions failed without the disadvantage of having 1800 of their constituents actively opposing the mere existence of the union from the day they were certified.
Aside from the flawed legal analysis on which USAPA bases its assertion that it will bargain away the Nicolau award, USAPA's leadership has publicly admitted that they do not know if Parker will negotiate a date-of-hire seniority list (or, for that matter, any list that deviates from the Nicolau award) with them (even if it is accompanied by a cheap contract), and that there is no "Plan B" if Parker refuses. In that regard, in the unlikely event that USAPA wins the NMB election, AWAPPA will put the Company on notice that it will seek monetary damages against both USAPA and the Company in the event that it agrees to any modification of the Nicolau award.
We also learned this week that USAPA believes that they can defy the laws of negotiating by achieving their demands with zero leverage (video of that discussion coming soon). After all, what leverage will USAPA really ever have when over a third of the group it represents is "unsupportive", and the unity of the other 2/3 is questionable? There is already obvious evidence of large fissures in the "majority" 2/3 of the group. It remains to be seen if USAPA will be able to retain a majority of support for more than a few days past a narrow election victory.
As you can see, Lee Seham is leading a group of very emotional pilots straight off of a cliff, and USAPA's failure is almost certain. Your ALPA vote will prevent us (East and West) from having to pay for that failure. AWAPPA will fight hard to minimize that price of failure, if your ALPA vote is not enough to prevent paying in the first place.
How do I donate to AWAPPA?
AWAPPA will likely not accept donations unless ALPA is actually removed as our bargaining agent. Prior to soliciting any pilot donations, AWAPPA will publish our financial policies so that any potential donor knows exactly how the war-chest will be managed. However, donation monies will be used almost exclusively to cover legal expenses. We have installed an inexpensive, yet comprehensive infrastructure that will incur minimal expense going forward.
For now, the only donation we seek is your time in reading our updates.
NEED MORE ANSWERS?
You may submit your questions to info@awappa.org and we will do our best to post your question with an answer to the page within a couple of days.
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